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Hawks

Dallas Wings forward Satou Sabally has been named the 2023 Kia WNBA Most Improved Player, the WNBA announced today.
Sabally received 37 of 60 votes from a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. Los Angeles Sparks guard Jordin Canada finished in second place with 18 votes, and Chicago Sky forward Alanna Smith was third with three votes. Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier and Washington Mystics guard Brittney Sykes each received one vote.
Sabally, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 WNBA Draft presented by State Farm, averaged career highs of 18.6 points, 8.1 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.8 steals this season, up from 11.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 0.5 steals in 2022. She ranked ninth in the league in scoring, 10th&nbsp;in rebounding, 13th&nbsp;in assists and fourth in steals. Sabally improved her three-point shooting from 23.3 percent last season to 36.1 percent in 2023. She also raised her overall field goal percentage to a career-best 43.5 percent.
The 6-4 forward was selected to the AT&amp;T WNBA All-Star Game for the second time overall and for the first time as a starter. She also participated in the Kia WNBA Skills Challenge at AT&amp;T WNBA All-Star 2023 as part of Team Wings alongside Dallas teammate Arike Ogunbowale.
A four-year WNBA veteran, Sabally helped the Wings post their most wins (22) and highest regular season winning percentage (.550) since 2008, when the franchise was known as the Detroit Shock. She also helped guide the Wings to the No. 4 seed in the WNBA Playoffs presented by Google. The Wings will tip off their Semifinals series against the Las Vegas Aces on Sunday, Sept. 24 at Michelob ULTRA Arena (5 p.m. ET, ESPN2).&nbsp;
Sabally was named the WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week for games played from June 5-11 after averaging 19.3 points and a league-best 12.3 rebounds to help lead the Wings to a 2-1 record in that span.
Sabally has played for the German Women&rsquo;s National Team and was an All-America selection at the University of Oregon. She is the second player in Wings franchise history to win the Kia WNBA Most Improved Player Award, joining Skylar Diggins-Smith (2014, when the team was known as the Tulsa Shock).
In honor of being named the Kia WNBA Most Improved Player, Sabally will receive $5,150 and a trophy designed to commemorate the achievement.
Below are the voting results for the 2023 Kia WNBA Most Improved Player Award:
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Dallas Wings forward Satou Sabally has been named the 2023 Kia WNBA Most Improved Player, the WNBA announced today.

Dallas Wings' Satou Sabally wins WNBA's Most Improved Player award

The Portland Trail Blazers and NBA G League announced that the Blazers have acquired the right to own and operate an NBA G League team that will play in the Chiles Center on the University of Portland&rsquo;s campus in North Portland.
The team name and branding (as well as the front-office and coaching staff) will be announced at a later date, but the team is expected to debut in the 2023-24 season. With this announcement, the NBA G League expands to a record 31 teams for the 2023-24 season.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m excited to welcome Jody Allen and the Trail Blazers ownership group to the NBA G League family,&rdquo; said NBA G League president Shareef Abdur-Rahim. &ldquo;The NBA G League continues to grow to meet the developmental demands of NBA teams, and today&rsquo;s announcement is further proof of the value the league provides to the NBA every day. I can&rsquo;t wait to watch the team tip off at the Chiles Center next season.&rdquo;
&ldquo;It was very important to our organization to enter the G League with an affiliate here in Portland and strategically strengthen our dedication to player development,&rdquo; said Blazers general manager Joe Cronin. &ldquo;I would especially like to thank Jody Allen, who is aligned with Dewayne Hankins and myself, to make it a priority to have this team ready for next season as it will serve not only as a developmental tool for players but also for aspiring coaches and staff while we continue to be a mainstay in the community as a whole.&rdquo;
To finish the 2022-23 NBA season, nine players on the Blazers had NBA G League experience: Ibou Badji, John Butler Jr., Chance Comanche, Drew Eubanks, Keon Johnson, Skylar Mays, Justin Minaya, Anfernee Simons and Jeenathan Williams. Since the NBA G League was established in 2001, Portland has called up a total of 20 players, including 13 over the last two seasons. The Blazers have assigned 27 players to the NBA G League for development or injury rehabilitation, while Portland assistant coaches Jonah Herscu, Steve Hetzel and Roy Rogers spent time coaching in the G League.
"Entering the G League with a team of our own will increase development in numerous areas,&rdquo; said Blazers president of business operations Dewayne Hankins. &ldquo;Not only will this team be an asset for developing young talent on the court, but developing talent off the court as well. We&rsquo;ll be leaning into an innovative approach that will improve all aspects of our business across both teams. With the team launching at the University of Portland, we&rsquo;re excited to continue engaging with the North Portland community.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Pilot Nation is thrilled to welcome the Trail Blazers G League franchise to their home on The Bluff,&rdquo; said&nbsp;University of Portland president Robert D. Kelly, PhD. &ldquo;UP has a rich and storied athletic tradition, and we couldn&rsquo;t be more excited to continue that tradition by hosting this new franchise on our beautiful campus. I am grateful to our friends from the Portland Trail Blazers and our Athletic Department staff for making this wonderful partnership happen, and I can&rsquo;t wait for the inaugural season to begin!&rdquo;
The NBA G League is a proven developer of NBA talent while also acting as the league&rsquo;s research and development laboratory, testing out innovative rules now used at the NBA level, including the Coach&rsquo;s Challenge and the 14-second shot-clock reset rule.&nbsp;
Currently, more than half of the players on NBA rosters have G League experience, while six NBA head coaches spent time honing their craft in the G League. In addition, half of the first-round picks in the 2022 NBA Draft played games in the G League this season.

The Portland Trail Blazers have acquired the right to own and operate an NBA G League team starting next season.

Blazers launch NBA G League team that they'll own and operate

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) &mdash; The Golden State Warriors set an NBA record by scoring 55 points in the first quarter on their way to a 157-101 rout of the Portland Trail Blazers in their regular-season finale on Sunday to secure the sixth seed in the Western Conference.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve played really well the last couple of weeks,&rdquo; Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. &ldquo;I think we&rsquo;ve won eight of 10. Today guys were locked in right from the beginning. Guys knew what was at stake and controlled the game from the opening tap so hopefully that carries over to next week.&rdquo;
Klay Thompson, who scored 20 points, became the third player in NBA history to hit at least 300 3-pointers in a single season.
&ldquo;I pulled Klay aside two minutes before the game and said, &lsquo;Just let it happen,&rsquo;&rdquo; Kerr said. &ldquo;He said &rsquo;no problem Coach&rdquo; and then he made five 3s in the first five minutes. That&rsquo;s Klay.&rdquo;
Teammate Stephen Curry, who did it four times, and James Harden are the other two players.
Thompson also had the most 3-pointers by a player this season, getting to 301 by making six in Sunday&rsquo;s finale.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s cool to lead the league in 3s made,&rdquo; Thompson said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s something I&rsquo;ve never done before. It&rsquo;s a testament to my hard work over the last few years, some dark times that have turned into some beautiful moments.&rdquo;
Curry led the Warriors with 26 points and hit five three-pointers to go along with five rebounds. Moses Moody added 25 points off the bench, while Jordan Poole had 21 points and four rebounds for Golden State (44-38).
Skylar Mays led Portland (33-49) with 21 points along with 11 assists. Shaedon Sharpe had 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists, and Jeenathan Williams added 17 points in the Blazers&rsquo; final game of the season with regular starters Damian Lillard, Anfernee Simons, Jusuf Nurkic and Jerami Grant all sidelined.
Golden State led 55-27 after the first quarter and 84-53 at the half.
TIP-INS
Warriors: The Warriors will face the Sacramento Kings in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
Trail Blazers: Before the game, Portland re-signed guard Skylar Mays for the rest of the season after his 10-day contract expired. &hellip; They also signed center Chance Comanche, who had previously played for the Stockton Kings of the G League. &hellip; Guard Shaquille Harrison&rsquo;s 10-day contract with the Blazers expired Saturday, and he signed a contract with the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.
UP NEXT
Warriors: Clinched the sixth seed in the Western Conference playoffs and will face the Sacramento Kings in the first round.
Trail Blazers: Finished the season with the fifth-worst record in the NBA and a 10.5% chance at winning the No. 1 overall pick at the May 16 draft lottery in Chicago.

The Warriors set an NBA record by scoring 55 points in the first quarter on their way to a 157-101 rout of the Blazers on Sunday.

Warriors set NBA record with 55-point 1st quarter in rout

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It's almost play-in and playoff time, folks!
This season has felt more jumbled than ever, which has led to more teams in some sort of contention. Naturally, most conversations around the league will focus on the contenders and the various seeding battles still happening.
It's easy for the teams at the bottom to get lost in the shuffle. They generally reach a point where lottery odds take precedence; in some instances, important young pieces are getting shut down like veterans.
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/views-from-the-bottom-young-players-to-keep-an-eye-on" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Much like last year</a>, I wanted to take a moment to highlight some players who are likely flying under the radar. You have to take post-All-Star break stretches with at least two grains of salt, but this is a time for unheralded players to stretch themselves. In a best-case scenario, they wind up showing you something that transfers to the next season.
</div>
<div>
Here are a few players &mdash; just a few! &mdash; who have caught my eye recently.
All stats are updated through games played on April 4.
JALEN GREEN, HOUSTON ROCKETS
The Stats: 23.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists (2.2 turnovers) since the All-Star break&nbsp;
The Skill: Foul-Drawing Craft
For the second year in a row, Jalen Green is popping off the screen after the All-Star break.&nbsp;
He represents a rare blend of athleticism &mdash; slippery and explosive &mdash; and skill. Watching him try to harness that has been equal parts fun and frustrating, depending on how invested you are in his growth.&nbsp;
Drives from Green have been an adventure since he set foot in the league. He's blessed with a handle that can get him most places, a first step that only a handful of guys can slide with and vertical pop that nobody can really deal with if he has a launching pad.&nbsp;
Green hasn't had much issue accessing the paint in his career. How he's gotten there, and what he does once there, has been the work in progress.
Quietly, he's become a little more selective with the turbo button when putting his head down. He's taking advantage of defenders scrambling to stay attached to him. He's feeling out the defender more in a literal sense; if he senses a defender out of position or leaning towards him, he's going right into their shoulder or chest, absorbing the blow and getting a shot up.&nbsp;
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Green is living at the line these days. He's averaging nearly seven free throw attempts per game since the break. Per Cleaning The Glass, Green is drawing fouls on 14.5% of his shot attempts during this stretch, a mark that ranks in the 97th percentile among his position group.
Filter specifically for drives, and Green is still drawing shooting fouls on 14.5% of them &mdash; 10th among 100 players with at least 100 drives, per Second Spectrum.
There's still growth to be had inside the arc. There's a little Anthony Edwards there, where he feels like he can defeat anyone &mdash; or any amount of bodies &mdash; at the rim when easier kicks are available. There's more comfort to be developed as an inside-out passer versus the interior feeds he likes.&nbsp;
But, man, being able to generate freebies at this rate is a welcomed sight. We're not that far away from teams not having a real answer for him as a scorer.
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SVI MYKHAILIUK, CHARLOTTE HORNETS
The Stats: 16.2 points, 3.7 rebounds, 5.2 assists (1.5 turnovers), 1.3 steals over last six games&nbsp;
The Skill: Avoiding Danger
Mykhailiuk is in the midst of one of his most productive stretches. He's provided a healthy dose of shooting, converting 44.4% of his threes (6.0 attempts) over his last six games. Due to the injuries around him, he's gotten to do more with the ball in his hands. Nothing particularly wild on the playmaking front, but he's proven compentent as a second-side creator.&nbsp;
None of the offensive productivity surprises me. The fact that we're even getting to see it to this degree speaks to his work on the other end. I am not here to argue that Mykhailiuk is an elite defender; in fact, most of the numbers I'd use to highlight defensive growth don't paint him in a favorable light. As <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-film-breakdown-charlotte-hornets-defense-steve-clifford-dennis-smith-jr-theo-maledon-gordon-hayward-jt-thor-mark-williams-nick-richards" target="_blank" rel="noopener">I wrote recently</a>, the Hornets aren't afraid to switch-and-double against matchups they deem unfavorable to them; they've done so with Mykhailiuk.
I'd just like to say that man is&nbsp;working&nbsp;defensively. He's had to take up defensive assignments well above his pay grade as of late: Zach LaVine, Scottie Barnes, some Luka Doncic possessions during their two-game series and it hasn't been a disaster.
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The shift from "obvious weak link" to "best option to attack available" is a subtle, yet important mark of growth. It feels like he's starting to land in the latter camp. All the Hornets, or any team moving forward, needs from him is for him to hold his own. If he can do that, he'll have more opportunities for the shooting and ball skills to pop.&nbsp;
SANDRO MAMUKELASHVILI, SAN ANTONIO SPURS
The Stats: 13.0 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.9 assists (1.9 turnovers), 2.8 steals over last eight games&nbsp;
The Skill: Passing Chops
I am an absolute sucker for tall players with passing ability. I gravitate towards playmaking wings, and I especially enjoy watching actual big men dice up defenses with nifty feeds.&nbsp;
Insert Mamu, whom the Spurs have thankfully given room to do stuff with the ball in his hands.
That simply wasn't going to happen in Milwaukee, who needed Mamu to either space or defend &mdash; preferably both, of course &mdash; at a certain level in order to garner consistent playing time. He isn't there yet on either end, and the rest of the roster was too good to justify letting him run things with the second unit.
Because that isn't the case with the Spurs, we've gotten to see stuff like this:
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For those keeping track at home, that was:
<ul>
<li>a transition push after a board, then a kick to a three-point shooter on the move</li>
<li>a slip against a switch, followed by a no-look pass to the corner in an attempt to manipulate Steph Curry's weakside responsibilities</li>
<li>a leaping lay-down pass to Zach Collins</li>
<li>a quick feed to Collins versus a fronting defender, conveniently timed as Talen Horton-Tucker is leaning the wrong way</li>
<li>A pass fake into a skip to Tre Jones for a three</li>
<li>A pump-and-drive, followed by a Haliburton-esque jump-pass for a dunk</li>
<li>A baseline drive against&nbsp;Brook Lopez,&nbsp;puncutated by a kick to the corner</li>
</ul>
There's still plenty of work to be done, particularly on the non-glamour end of the floor. The Spurs, or whoever commits to him moving forward, has to find a coverage for him, have a strong defensive infrastructure around him or both.&nbsp;
If nothing else, though, there's some Hartenstein-lite potential here as a second-unit hub. The passing pops. The screens are good. Being able to credibly drive as a 5 is valuable stuff. More Mamu, please!
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MARKELLE FULTZ, ORLANDO MAGIC
The Stats: 16.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 6.3 assists (2.4 turnovers), 1.5 steals since the All-Star break&nbsp;
The Skill: Big Man Things
It's been a joy watching Markelle Fultz graduate from the "really good redemption story" arc to the basic reality that he's good at basketball. Period. Full stop.
A smooth operator in ball screens; a crafty finisher at the rim; he's quietly reliable as a pull-up option inside the arc &mdash; did you know he's canned <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/player/1628365/shots-dash?Season=2022-23" target="_blank" rel="noopener">45.1% of his pull-up 2s</a> this season? He remains a dogged point-of-attack defender.
&nbsp;What's popped for me in a few matchups &mdash; against the Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards, in particular &mdash; is his willingness to do the little things. Or rather, the "big" things. Both teams stashed their centers on Fultz &mdash; the Jazz with Walker Kessler, the Wizards with Kristaps Porzingis &mdash; in a way to keep them near the basket.
Fultz countered by setting screen, after screen, after screen, creating opportunities for his teammates and himself.&nbsp;
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Fultz has set 131 on-ball screens this season, after setting 77 over his first five seasons combined, per Second Spectrum.&nbsp;
STRAY THOUGHTS
<ul>
<li>Though the Jazz are techincally still in the play-in hunt, It's worth noting the heater that Talen Horton-Tucker has been on since becoming a starter after the All-Star break. He's averaging 31-5-7 over his past four games, shooting 36% from deep on a heavy diet of pull-ups and getting to the line nearly nine times per contest. It's still hard to have faith in the jumper, and he remains a little tunnel vision-y for my sensibilities, but this has been a nice stretch for him. </li>
<li>Corey Kispert has slotted in nicely as a starter. I've enjoyed his usage under Wes Unseld Jr., running him <a href="https://twitter.com/NekiasNBA/status/1638566356005146626?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">through staggers</a> or, when spaced, often being the <a href="https://twitter.com/NekiasNBA/status/1638567273832095747?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">only player on his side of the floor</a> to stress out help defenders. It helps that Kispert's been shooting the leather off the ball too: 21.3 points while converting 49.1% of his threes (9.2 attempts) over his last six games is nothing to sneeze at.&nbsp; </li>
<li>Hawks legend Skylar Mays is averaging 17 points and 7.3 assists across three starts with the Blazers. Not quite sure what it means, but I've enjoyed his pacing inside the arc. I also don't think I've seen him miss a floater or a pull-up middy, so that's fun.</li>
</ul>
</div>

Before focusing on the NBA playoffs, Nekias Duncan breaks down young players on lottery teams who have caught his eye lately.

Views from the bottom: 5 young NBA players to keep an eye on

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; Desmond Bane scored 30 points and keyed a fourth-quarter rally, Ja Morant added 23 points and nine assists and the Memphis Grizzlies defeated the short-handed Portland Trail Blazers 119-109 on Tuesday night.
Luke Kennard added 20 for Memphis, converting 6 of 10 3-pointers.
Skylar Mays, who signed a 10-day contract with Portland last weekend, led the Trail Blazers with 24 points and seven assists. Shaedon Sharpe added 20 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Jabari Walker finished with 16 points.
Portland held the lead with nine minutes left, but Bane connected on a trio of 3-pointers over a four-minute stretch midway through the fourth. That was part of a 22-2 Memphis run to put away the feisty Trail Blazers.
&ldquo;We tied it up, and we went on a nice run,&rdquo; Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins said of the fourth quarter when Memphis outscored Portland 23-14. &ldquo;Des (Bane) helped spark that.&rdquo;
As it has in recent games, Portland played without key pieces, such as leading scorers Damian Lillard (32.2 points a game), Anfernee Simons (21.1 points) and Jerami Grant (20.5 points), along with top rebounder Jusuf Nurkic (9.1 boards per game).
That left a number of reserves to carry the Trail Blazers, who are out of the playoff hunt. But Portland coach Chauncey Billups praised his team for their fortitude in a hostile environment.&nbsp;
Memphis not only won its 50th game of the year, but finished the season 35-6 at home, clinching the best home slate in the league.
&ldquo;I thought we definitely played hard,&rdquo; said Walker, who was 6 of 11 from the field, including a trio of 3-pointers. &ldquo;We were in it the whole game, and that speaks volumes to all the guys, how competitive we are and how much heart we have.&rdquo;
The Trail Blazers chipped away at a 19-point Memphis lead in the first half when the Grizzlies became lackadaisical with the ball. That, and a much more focused Portland defense, led to Memphis holding a slim 66-62 lead at the break.
&ldquo;We just went to old habits,&rdquo; Morant said of the lackluster play in the game&rsquo;s middle stages. &ldquo;Just no energy. That was pretty much it. We weren&rsquo;t taking them lightly at all. We&rsquo;d seen what they&rsquo;ve done the last couple of games.&rdquo;
At the start of the third quarter, Portland&rsquo;s intensity continued, and the Trail Blazers not only pulled even, but took the lead. They were still tied until Bane and the Grizzlies pulled away with the late burst.
&ldquo;For us to be able to stay together and come back and get a win was big-time,&rdquo; Morant said.
TIP-INS
Trail Blazers: Portland was one of the few visiting teams to defeat the Grizzlies this season, winning 122-112 on Feb. 1. ... Portland already had eight players listed as &ldquo;out&rdquo; with the early injury reports. By the time Billups got to the podium for his pregame comments, three more previously listed as questionable were not available. That left nine Trail Blazers in uniform. ... Jeenathan Williams, the rookie out of Buffalo signed by Portland on Saturday, started his first game and finished with four points.
Grizzlies: F Dillon Brooks took the night off with right hip soreness. Kennard started in Brooks&rsquo; spot. ... The win snapped a four-game losing streak to Portland at FedExForum.
KENNARD ACCURACY
Kennard started the game hitting all four of his 3-pointers before finishing 6 of 10 from outside the arc. He has made better than 50% of his 3-pointers since joining the Grizzlies in a trade deadline deal in February. Morant told Kennard to keep shooting when he is on that kind of streak. &ldquo;Whatever shot he likes, we love,&rdquo; Morant said.
UP NEXT
Trail Blazers: Play Thursday at San Antonio against the Spurs.
Grizzlies: Play the Pelicans in New Orleans on Wednesday.&nbsp;

Desmond Bane scored 30 points and keyed a fourth-quarter rally, Ja Morant added 23 points and 9 assists.

Bane’s late burst leads Grizzlies past Trail Blazers 119-109

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) &mdash; Shaedon Sharpe scored 27 points, Kevin Knox II added 19 points and the short-handed Portland Trail Blazers beat the playoff-hopeful Minnesota Timberwolves 107-105 on Sunday.
Trendon Watford had 15 points and Skylar Mays finished with 13 points and nine assists in his second game with Portland, which had lost 11 of 12 and was without four regular starters.
The Trail Blazers trailed by 12 late in the third quarter before rallying to beat Minnesota, which started the day ninth in the Western Conference.
&ldquo;Every single person that got out on that floor tonight, they gave it all they had and that&rsquo;s all I want from our guys,&rdquo; Portland coach Chauncey Billups said. &ldquo;To play as hard as you can, play unselfish and be a good teammate and see what happens.&rdquo;
Anthony Edwards scored 37 points for the Timberwolves, who have lost three in a row and started the day a half-game behind the Los Angeles Lakers and a game ahead of Oklahoma City for the 10th and the final play-in spot in the West.
&ldquo;We have too many guys not playing really well right now,&rdquo; Minnesota coach Chris Finch said. &ldquo;This was kind of who we&rsquo;ve been all season in these types of games and we do it again. You know, obviously, timing of it is extra painful, but we got to get guys playing better.&rdquo;
While they&rsquo;re in the running for the playoffs, the Timberwolves are 5-10 against the five teams with the worst records in the NBA.
&ldquo;We always fall short, it seems,&rdquo; Edwards said of struggles against the bottom teams. &ldquo;It always haunts us. And tonight, once again, yep.&rdquo;
Edwards&rsquo; dunk gave Minnesota an 84-72 lead with 3:37 left in the third quarter before the Trail Blazers went on a 19-4 run to take a fourth-quarter lead with 7:57 left. The Timberwolves shot 6 of 17 in the fourth and Portland outscored them by six.
&ldquo;I think we executed plays,&rdquo; said Mays, a 2020 second-round draft pick by Atlanta who signed a 10-day contract with the Trail Blazers on March 30. &ldquo;I think we defended and made shots tough on them and attacked mismatches. I thought we were pretty good.&rdquo;
Edwards put Minnesota ahead with 2:22 left, but Sharpe converted a lay-up on the other end. Sharpe, the rookie who was the No. 7 overall draft pick, scored six points during an 8-3 run.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s just growing up, man,&rdquo; Billups said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s just growing up and it&rsquo;s fun watching him.&rdquo;
Trailing by two, the Timberwolves couldn&rsquo;t get a clean shot off on their final possession as Anderson&rsquo;s wayward attempt landed on top of the backboard.
&ldquo;You have to have the appropriate fear in this league and a respect for, I don&rsquo;t want to say these type of teams, but the teams that ain&rsquo;t doing so well,&rdquo; Anderson said. &ldquo;We got to be able to handle business.&rdquo;
TOUGH FINISH
Portland was 26-26 on Feb. 3 and had won five of six, firmly in the playoff race. Five days later, the Blazers made moves at the trade deadline to acquire Knox, Cam Reddish, Matisse Thybulle and Ryan Arcidiacono while trading Josh Hart and Gary Payton Jr.
They went 5-17 following the trade deadline. Damian Lillard and Jusuf Nurkic have missed six games in a row, Anfernee Simons has been out for seven straight and Jerami Grant missed his 10th in a row on Sunday.
Without Reddish (lumbar soreness) and Nasir Little (left ankle sprain) on Sunday, the Trail Blazers were missing nine of their top 12 scorers in total points this season either due to injury or trades.
TIP-INS
Trail Blazers: Portland scored 21 points off 18 Minnesota turnovers. The Blazers only had 10 turnovers and also had 25 fast-break points. ... Jeenathan Williams made his Portland debut with seven points in 13 minutes.
Timberwolves: An illness has gone through the team. Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns were questionable because of illness and Austin Rivers missed the game with the issue. Towns finished with eight points and nine rebounds in 25 minutes. ... Naz Reid missed his second game with a broken bone in his left wrist. ... Rudy Gobert had 10 points and 15 rebounds.
UP NEXT
Trail Blazers: At Memphis on Tuesday night.
Timberwolves: At Brooklyn on Tuesday night.

Shaedon Sharpe scored 27 points and the short-handed Blazers beat the playoff-hopeful Timberwolves 107-105 on Sunday.

Shaedon Sharpe scores 27 points, Blazers edge Timberwolves

As the WNBA world continues to wait for the Breanna Stewart domino to fall &mdash; she's reportedly choosing between joining the New York Liberty or returning to the Seattle Storm &mdash; we're starting to get free-agency movement elsewhere.
First reported by <a href="https://twitter.com/howardmegdal/status/1619814344363220992?s=20&amp;t=S6WqaY1FLW70tND4miw-4A" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Howard Megdal of The Next</a>, the Washington Mystics are set to sign guard Brittney Sykes once deals are eligible to be finalized. A few minutes later, <a href="https://twitter.com/Khristina/status/1619816053445640192?s=20&amp;t=S6WqaY1FLW70tND4miw-4A" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Khristina Williams of Girls Talk Sports</a> reported that Sykes' deal will be for three years.&nbsp;
The Mystics were The W's best defense last season, allowing just 96 points per 100 possessions. Their guard duo of Natasha Cloud and Ariel Atkins led the way &mdash; both earned a spot on the All-Defensive First Team last season. Adding Sykes to this group seems to be an aggressive double-down of their ethos.
Sykes is coming off a strong defensive campaign in her own right. She was selected to the All-Defensive Second Team behind her event creation. Not only did she lead The W in steals (2.0, 65 total), she was <a href="https://stats.wnba.com/players/traditional/?sort=BLK&amp;dir=-1&amp;Season=2022&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;PerMode=Totals&amp;Height=LT%206-0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one of two players under 6-feet</a> to block at least 20 shots (22), with Mercury star Skylar Diggins-Smith (30) being the other.
Adding Sykes to a roster with Cloud, Atkins, rookie standout Shakira Austin and underrated Elena Delle Donne is unfair for opposing offenses. The cast could be stronger if they're able to retain any of Shatori Walker-Kimbrough (UFA), Elizabeth Williams (UFA) or the point-of-attack hounding of Rui Machida (reserved free agent).
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The offensive fit seems less clear, at least on the surface.
While the Mystics were an elite defense last season, they ranked seventh (out of 12) in offensive rating (101.7) &mdash; and were closer to 10th (Sparks, 97.6) than fourth (Wings, 104.6). Delle Donne missing 11 games played a part into that, as they scored <a href="https://www.pbpstats.com/wowy-combos/wnba?TeamId=1611661322&amp;Season=2022&amp;SeasonType=Regular%2BSeason&amp;PlayerIds=203399" target="_blank" rel="noopener">at an elite clip</a> with her on the floor, but that undersells some of the issues they worked through in half-court settings.
Even with Delle Donne on the floor, teams were able to comfortably sag off at least two players (Cloud, Austin) to shrink the floor. Sykes doesn't solve that spacing issue; she's a career 28.9% shooter from deep, and has effectively cut that shot out of her diet over the past two seasons (averaging 1.5 attempts).
There are areas where Sykes can help. Her downhill juice &mdash; and willingness to push outside of traditional transition settings &mdash; could help put pressure on defenses. She took 114 shots at the rim, and got to the line 3.5 times a game last season; the rim number would've led the Mystics, and the free-throw attempts would've ranked second to Delle Donne (3.7).
The Mystics as a whole struggled to garner much traction inside. Only 25.2% of their shots came at the rim last season, the third-lowest mark in the league. Their free throw rate &mdash; the percentage of possessions that ended in a free-throw attempt &mdash; ranked eighth in the league.&nbsp;
Sykes also showcased the ability to handle more on-ball opportunity last season. Scoring is still Sykes' primary calling card, but it's worth noting that she averaged a career-high 3.7 assists last season. She's had even more responsibility overseas, where she's averaging nearly 5 assists per game, via InStat tracking.

The Washington Mystics are reportedly signing guard Brittney Sykes. Nekias Duncan breaks down how she fits with her new team.

WNBA Free Agency: Brittney Sykes to sign with Washington Mystics

STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) &mdash; Zia Cooke scored 16 points and Aliyah Boston added 12 to help No. 1 South Carolina remain unbeaten with a 58-51 win over Mississippi State on Sunday.
The Gamecocks were held to a season-low point total but were able to find a way. Boston added 15 rebounds in the win.
South Carolina (16-0, 3-0 SEC) had a massive advantage at the free throw line where the Gamecocks were 14 of 24 while MSU was 2 of 5. The Gamecocks also dominated the boards with a 53-35 edge including 22 offensive rebounds.
Jerkaila Jordan led the way for the Bulldogs (12-5, 1-3) with 13 points and five rebounds. Jessika Carter had 11 points and nine rebounds.
NO. 2 STANFORD 60, CALIFORNIA 56
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Haley Jones scored the go-ahead layup with 1:17 to play, Cameron Brink had 25 points, 17 rebounds and three blocked shots as NBA pal Stephen Curry watched courtside, outdueling Leilani McIntosh down the stretch as Stanford held off California.
Jones wound up with 12 points and 11 rebounds as the Cardinal (16-1, 4-0 Pac-12) ran their winning streak to 11 games.
McIntosh finished with 19 points for the Golden Bears (10-5, 1-3).
Stanford won its 38th straight game against Pac-12 teams including the past two conference titles and postseason.
NO. 3 OHIO STATE 87, ILLINOIS 81
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) &mdash; Taylor Mikesell scored a game-high 31 points as Ohio State erased a halftime deficit and avoided an upset.
Mikesell shot 50% from the field and Cotie McMahon added 22 points for Ohio State (17-0, 6-0 Big Ten). Taylor Thierry had 12 points and swiped four steals.
Kendall Bostic notched her sixth double-double of the season behind 27 points and 15 rebounds. Genesis Bryant finished with 20 points, Makira Cook had 12 and Brynn Shoup-Hill tallied 10 for Illinois (14-3, 4-2).
NO. 22 NORTH CAROLINA 60, NO. 4 NOTRE DAME 50
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) &mdash; First-year guard Paulina Paris scored 11 of her season-high 16 points in the fourth quarter to help North Carolina push past Notre Dame.
Deja Kelly added 14 points for the Tar Heels (10-5, 1-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), who snapped a four-game skid that had drained some of their early season buzz.
Olivia Miles had 15 points and seven rebounds to lead Notre Dame (12-2, 3-1), which had entered Sunday as one of two unbeaten teams in ACC play.
NO. 6 INDIANA 72, NORTHWESTERN 50
EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) &mdash; Mackenzie Holmes scored 24 points and grabbed 13 rebounds and Indiana beat Northwestern.
Grace Berger finished with 16 points and five assists for the Hoosiers (14-1, 4-1).
The Wildcats got a boost off the bench as Jasmine McWilliams added eight points on 3-for-3 shooting in the third. McWilliams and Sydney Wood led Northwestern (6-9, 0-5 Big Ten) with 10 points each in their seventh loss in nine games.
NO. 7 LSU 67, KENTUCKY 48
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) &mdash; Flau&rsquo;jae Johnson scored 26 points, including eight during a 12-0, second-quarter run to break the game open, Angel Reese also scored 26 and LSU earned its best start in school history.
Reese had 13 rebounds for her nation&rsquo;s-best 16th double-double. The Tigers (16-0, 4-0 Southeastern Conference) outshot Kentucky just 40%-35% but dominated nearly every other statistical category including rebounding (45-23).
Maddie Scherr had 22 points for Kentucky (8-8, 0-4), which dropped its fourth in a row and lost its second game this season in Rupp Arena, home of the men&rsquo;s basketball team.
MIAMI 77, NO. 9 VIRGINIA TECH 66
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Jasmyn Roberts scored a career-best 23 points, Haley Cavinder added 19 and Miami held off Virginia Tech.
Roberts was 8 for 12 from the field, 5 of 7 from 3-point range for the Hurricanes (10-6, 3-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who won their third straight game. Cavinder was 6 for 12 from the field, and Miami shot 54%.
Elizabeth Kitley scored 20 for Virginia Tech (13-3, 3-3), which had beat Miami five consecutive times. Georgia Amoore added 13 for the Hokies.
NO. 10 NC STATE 87, VIRGINIA 62
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Jada Boyd scored 13 points and No. 10 North Carolina State snapped a two-game home losing skid.
Camille Hobby and Mimi Collins both had 12 points, and Diamond Johnson and River Baldwin added 10 points apiece for the Wolfpack (13-3, 3-2). Jakia Brown-Turner and Madison Hayes each finished with nine.
Camryn Taylor scored 16 points, Taylor Valladay had 13 and Sam Brunelle 12 for Virginia (13-3, 2-3), which dropped a game to a top-10 team for the second time in four days after losing Thursday at No. 9 Virginia Tech.
NO. 17 OKLAHOMA 82, NO. 11 IOWA STATE 79
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) &mdash; Ana Llanusa scored 23 points, Skylar Vann hit the final go-ahead basket, and Oklahoma defeated Iowa State in a matchup of the Big 12&prime;s top two offenses.
In a game with 25 lead changes, Oklahoma struck last.
Vann finished with 13 points and eight rebounds for Oklahoma (12-2, 2-1 Big 12). Nevaeh Tot also scored 13 points, and Taylor Robertson finished with 10.
Ashley Joens finished with 27 points and nine rebounds. She made 12-of-13 free throws. Lexi Donarski scored 20 and Nyamer Diew 14 for the Cyclones (10-3, 2-1).
NO. 12 UCLA 61, SOUTHERN CAL 60
LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; Freshman Londynn Jones scored 13 of her career-high 22 points in the second half and UCLA used a big fourth-quarter run to beat Southern California.
Emily Bessoir hit 3 of 5 from 3-point range and finished with 11 points for UCLA (13-2, 2-1 Pac-12). Charisma Osborne scored six of her nine points in the fourth quarter.
Rayah Marshall had 15 points, eight rebounds and three blocks for Southern Cal (11-4, 1-3) and Kayla Williams also scored 15 points. Okako Adika added 11 points and Destiny Littlejohn 10.
NO. 15 ARIZONA 79, NO. 18 OREGON 71
TUSCON, Ariz. (AP) &mdash; Madison Conner scored 16 second-half points to lead five Arizona players in double figures and the Wildcats beat Oregon.
Shaina Pellington had 14 points, six rebounds and six assists, Jade Loville scored 13 points and Esmery Martinez 11 for Arizona (14-2, 4-1 Pac-12). Kate Reese had 10 points.
Grace VanSlooten led Oregon (12-4, 3-2) with 18 points. Te-Hina Paopao and Endyia Rogers scored 17 apiece, Chance Gray added 10 and Phillipina Kyei had six points and 10 rebounds. The 6-foot-8 Kyei has grabbed at least 10 rebounds in eight consecutive games.
NO. 24 ST. JOHN&rsquo;S 71, XAVIER 52
NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Jayla Everett scored a season-high 26 points and St. John&rsquo;s bounced back after its first loss of the season.
Jillian Archer had 16 points and 13 rebounds for the Red Storm (14-1, 5-1 Big East Conference).
Mackayla Scarlett had 18 points for the Musketeers (7-9, 0-7), who have lost six straight as well as 15 straight to St. John&rsquo;s.
NO. 25 CREIGHTON 68, MARQUETTE 42
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) &mdash; Lauren Jensen scored 19 points and Creighton defeated Marquette after holding the Golden Eagles to 14 points in the first half.
Chloe Marotta scored 20 points for Marquette and Jordan King added 13. Only four players scored for the Golden Eagles (10-6, 3-4 Big East).
Jensen made 9 of 14 shots and added three rebounds and five assists. Morgan Maly had 10 points and seven rebounds, and Emma Ronsiek scored 10 for the Bluejays (10-5, 4-3) who had lost four of their last five games.

A recap of Sunday's women's college basketball slate features the top-ranked Gamecocks in a battle with the Bulldogs.

No. 1 South Carolina battles back to beat Mississippi State

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) &mdash; Aliyah Boston had 11 points and 10 rebounds for her 68th career double-double to keep No. 1 South Carolina undefeated with a 102-39 victory over Coastal Carolina on Wednesday.
Boston, who played just 13 minutes, moved four games away from matching the program&rsquo;s all-time mark for double-doubles held by Sheila Foster established four decades ago.
Freshman Ashlyn Watkins had a career high 16 points and Zia Cooke 14 as the defending national champs improved to 12-0 for a second straight season and fourth time in Dawn Staley&rsquo;s 15 years as coach.
This figured to be a challenge for the Chanticleers (5-6), who have just two players 6 feet or taller while South Carolina had 10.
NO. 3 OHIO STATE 84, NO. 16 OREGON 67
SAN DIEGO (AP) &mdash; Rebeka Mikulasikova scored 27 points, Taylor Mikesell added 25 and Ohio State remained undefeated to win the San Diego Invitational.
Ohio State (13-0) is off to its best start since 2011-2012, when the Buckeyes won their first 15 games
Oregon (10-2) was led by forward Grace VanSlooten, who scored 29 points on 7-of-9 shooting. Freshman teammate Te-Hina Paopao, who grew up in Oceanside, California, just outside San Diego, added 17.
NO. 4 INDIANA 67, BUTLER 50
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Mackenzie Holmes scored 17 of her 21 points in the first half, and Indiana completed an unbeaten nonconference schedule with a win over Butler.
Yarden Garzon added 13 points and Sydney Parrish 10 for the Hoosiers (12-0).
Rachel McLimore scored 13 and Sydney Jaynes 11 for Butler (5-7).
Indiana is nearing the program record for most successive wins to open a season: 15-0 in 1972, the first year for women&rsquo;s basketball at the school. The Hoosiers were 14-0 in 2013-14.
NO. 5 NOTRE DAME 85, WESTERN MICHIGAN 57
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Maddy Westbeld scored 10 points in four minutes and Notre Dame started the second half on a 17-0 spree en route to a big win over Western Michigan.
The Fighting Irish (10-1) led 38-30 at the half, but scored on seven of their first eight possessions during the third quarter with a trio of 3-pointers. Westbeld scored a season-high 23 points, including 15 in the third quarter, and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.
The Broncos (5-6) missed their first nine shots from the field in the period and saw their three-game winning streak snapped. Lauren Ross led Western Michigan with 15 points.
NO. 8 VIRGINIA TECH 86, HIGH POINT 66
HIGH POINT, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Elizabeth Kitley scored 25 points and dished out a career-best seven assists as Virginia Tech captured a road victory over High Point.
Kitley, the reigning ACC Player of the Year, shot a season-high 78.5% from the floor, making 11-of-14 field goals, and had seven rebounds and four blocks for the Hokies (11-1). Taylor Soule added 24 points and Kayana Traylor chipped in 22 for Virginia Tech.
Claire Wyatt led High Point (2-8) with 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting from 3-point land. Callie Scheier added 11 points and Nakyah Terrell had 10.
NO. 9 UCONN 98, SETON HALL 73
STORRS, Conn. (AP) &mdash; Aaliyah Edwards had 23 points, leading six players who scored in double figures for UConn in its rout of Seton Hall.
Caroline Ducharme and Nika Muhl each had 16 points and were a combined 8 of 11 from 3-point range. Lou Lopez Senechal had 14 points, Aubrey Griffin added 13 points and seven rebounds, and Dorka Juhasz had 10 points and 10 rebounds for UConn (9-2, 2-0 Big East).
Sidney Cooks had 18 points and Lauren Park-Lane finished with 17 for Seton Hall (9-4, 2-1), which had its seven-game winning streak snapped.
UConn coach Geno Auriemma missed his second straight game due to illness. Associate coach Chris Dailey ran the team and improved to 15-0 when filling in for Auriemma.
NO. 13 IOWA 92, DARTMOUTH 54
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) &mdash; Caitlin Clark&rsquo;s 20 points tied her for the quickest men&rsquo;s or women&rsquo;s Division I player to reach 2,000 career points since at least 1999-2000, and Iowa beat Dartmouth for its fifth straight victory.
Clark hit the career scoring mark in her 75th game, tying Elena Delle Donne for the quickest DI player to hit the mark, according to ESPN Stats &amp; Info. And Clark did it in style with her 242nd career 3-pointer.
Clark also had 10 rebounds and six assists. Teammate Monika Czinano, who entered with 1,969 career points in 98 games, also scored 20 points for Iowa (10-3).
Iowa scored 34 points in the first quarter and held Dartmouth to just five points in the second quarter.
Allie Harland led Dartmouth (2-11) with 11 points.
NO. 15 MARYLAND 88, PURDUE FORT WAYNE 51
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Shyanne Sellers scored 18 points, Diamond Miller had 17 points, six rebounds, four assists and four blocks and Maryland beat Purdue Fort Wayne in the final nonconference matchup for the Terps.
Abby Meyers added 14 points and Brinae Alexander had 13 off the bench for Maryland (10-3).
Shyanne Sellers, Miller, Meyers and Alexander were all in double figures by the end of the third quarter when Maryland led 71-35. Amellia Bromenschenkel led Purdue Fort Wayne (4-8) with 25 points and 10 rebounds.
SOUTH FLORIDA 66, NO. 17 ARKANSAS 65, OT
SAN DIEGO (AP) &mdash; Elena Tsineke scored all four of South Florida&rsquo;s points in overtime and finished with 23 points lifting the Bulls over Arkansas in the San Diego Invitational.
Maria Alvarez forced overtime against Arkansas by making three free throws with 17 seconds left to tie it at 62-all. Arkansas was trapped in the corner at the other end and wasn&rsquo;t able to get a shot off before the buzzer.
Fankam Mendjiadeu finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds for South Florida (11-4).
Erynn Barnum scored 21 points and Daniels added 20 for Arkansas (13-2).
NO. 18 ARIZONA 78, UT ARLINGTON 59
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) &mdash; Esmery Martinez scored 13 points and was part of dominating Arizona rebounding performance with nine boards in a win over UT Arlington.
Lauren Fields, Shaina Pellington, and Cate Reese scored 10 points apiece for Arizona (10-1), which won its third straight game. Maya Nnaji grabbed nine rebounds to go with six points before fouling out at the start of the fourth quarter.
Arizona outrebounded the Mavericks 47-26, including 17-7 on the offensive glass resulting in a 22-4 bulge in second-chance points.
Starr Jacobs scored 15 points, Kayla White 13 and Taleya Jones 12 for the Mavericks (6-6), who lost their first home game this season after four wins.
NEBRASKA 85, NO. 20 KANSAS 79, 3OT
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) &mdash; Jaz Shelley scored 24 points, hitting two of Nebraska&rsquo;s three 3-pointers in the third overtime, and the Cornhuskers handed Kansas its first loss of the season.
Alexis Markowski had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Cornhuskers (10-3), who are now 2-2 against ranked teams with their next two games against ranked Big Ten rivals. Sam Haiby had 12 points in just her third game after an offseason injury and Isabelle Bourne scored 10.
Zakiyah Franklin finished with a career-high 27 points in 54 minutes for Kansas (10-1). Taiyanna Jackson had 18 points and a career-high 21 rebounds, Holly Kersgieter had 12 and 11. Ioanna Chatzileonti had 10 points and Chandler Prater had 10 rebounds as Kansas had a 68-46 advantage on the boards, including 25 offensive rebounds.
NO. 22 GONAZAGA 82, MONTANA 67
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) &mdash; Brynna Maxwell scored 23 points and Kaylynne Truong added 18 and the pair combined to hit nine of Gonzaga&rsquo;s 12 3-pointers to lead the Bulldogs over Montana.
Maxwell made 8 of 12 from the field and 5 of 9 from 3-point range and Truong finished with five rebounds, seven assists and three steals.
Yvonne Ejim had 15 points and nine rebounds, Eliza Hollingsworth scored 13 points and McKayla Williams finished with 11 points, five assists and two steals for Gonzaga (12-2).
Carmen Gfeller had 22 points and eight rebounds for Montana (4-7) and Sammy Fatkin added 21 points and five steals. Libby Stump scored 14.
NO. 23 OKLAHOMA 95, FLORIDA 79
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Madi Williams had had 22 points and 11 rebounds, Taylor Robertson added 18 points on six 3-pointers, and Oklahoma defeated Florida at the Jumpman Invitational.
Robertson made 6-of-7 3-pointers and matched her own Big 12 record of 53 consecutive games with a 3-pointer. It marked the 14th time during the current streak that she has made at least five 3-pointers.
Skylar Vann had 15 points and Nevaeh Tot scored 12 for the Sooners (10-1), who have won seven in a row.
Florida&rsquo;s KK Deans made a career-high seven 3-pointers, scored 28 points and had nine assists. Ra Shaya Kyle had 16 points and 13 rebounds for her second consecutive double-double, the fifth in her career. Nina Rickards added 15 points for the Gators (11-2).
NO. 24 BAYLOR 73, LONG BEACH STATE 52
WACO, Texas (AP) &mdash; Caitlin Bickle scored 17 points, Sarah Andrews missed a triple-double by one point and Baylor pulled away for a win over Long Beach State.
Andrews had career highs of 14 assists and 12 rebounds to go with nine points on 2-of-11 shooting. Je&rsquo;Mee Asberry and Bella Fontleroy both had 11 points for the Bears (9-3).
Tori Harris scored 14 points for the Beach (5-5) and Ma&rsquo;Qhi Berry and Kianna Hamilton-Fisher had 10 each.
NO. 25 ST. JOHN&rsquo;S 80, WAGNER 51
NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Jayla Everett scored a season-high 24 points to lead St. John&rsquo;s over Wagner and its best start in program history.
St. John&rsquo;s (12-0), ranked for the first time in almost seven years, surpassed the 11-0 start of the 2004-05 team for the best in the history of the program&rsquo;s 48 years.
Kadaja Bailey added 14 points for the Red Storm, who had 11 of 12 players reach the scoring column.
Lina Loceniece scored 13 points for Wagner (5-6) and Zhaneia Thybulle had 10.

A recap of Wednesday night's women's college hoops slate includes Aliyah Boston notching another double-double for South Carolina.

Boston four double-doubles from tying Gamecocks’ all-time mark

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) &mdash; Zia Cooke scored 17 points, Aliyah Boston had the 61st double-double of her career and defending national champion No. 1 South Carolina opened with a dominating 101-31 victory over East Tennessee State on Monday night.
Boston finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds in 20 minutes.
The Gamecocks celebrated their 2022 NCAA Tournament title with championship rings and a banner unfurled in the arena rafters to the cheers of a boisterous, happy crowd at Colonial Life Arena.
South Carolina held its opponent to 4-of-28 shooting in the first two quarters. ETSU missed 15 straight shots during one stretch.
East Tennessee&rsquo;s Jiselle Thomas, a first-year transfer from Temple, led East Tennessee with seven points on 2-of-20 shooting.
NO. 2 STANFORD 86, SAN DIEGO STATE 48
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Kiki Iriafen had a team-leading 16 points and six rebounds, sending Stanford past San Diego State to open the season.
Iriafen was one of four players who had double-digit points for the Cardinal, including Elena Bosgana (15 points), Cameron Brink (13) and Indya Nivar (13). Alex Crain and Meghan Fiso each had nine points for the Aztecs, who were held to 31.6% shooting (18 of 57) by the Cardinal defense.
NO. 4 IOWA 87, SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY 34
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) &mdash; Caitlin Clark scored 20 points as Iowa opened the season with a win over Southern.
Clark, a junior guard who was a unanimous Associated Press preseason All-American, shook off a couple of early injuries to finish with a 6 of 10 shooting night.
Iowa center Monika Czinano, back for a fifth season after leading the nation in field-goal percentage the last two seasons, scored 10 points on 3 of 4 shooting.
Amani McWain led Southern with eight points.
NO. 7 LOUISVILLE 87, CINCINNATI 68
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) &mdash; Hailey Van Lith scored 28 points to lead Louisville to a victory over Cincinnati in the season opener for both teams.
The Cardinals broke the game open with a 15-0 first-quarter run and led 46-25 in the final minute of the first half. The Cardinals shot 51.7% and outrebounded the Bearcats 39-27.
Sophomore Braylyn Milton led the Bearcats with a career-high 28 points on 9-of-12 shooting. Milton was perfect on five 3-point shots. Mya Jackson and A&rsquo;riel Jackson added 12 points apiece.
NO. 8 IOWA STATE 87, CLEVELAND STATE 54
AMES, Iowa (AP) &mdash; Ashley Joens had 28 points, 11 rebounds and five assists, and Iowa State opened the season with a victory against Cleveland State.
Joens, a preseason All-American, nearly recorded a double-double in the first half with 24 points and nine boards. She has 50 career double-doubles.
Stephanie Soares added 15 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks for the Cyclones. Gabriella Smith led Cleveland State with 16 points and Brittni Moore added nine.
NO. 9 NOTRE DAME 88, NORTHERN ILLINOIS 48
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Olivia Miles had 17 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and six steals to help No. 9 Notre Dame rout Northern Illinois.
Transfer post players Kylee Watson (Oregon) and Lauren Ebo (Texas) made their Notre Dame debuts. Watson started and scored nine points, while Ebo added 10 points off the bench.
Janae Poisson led NIU in scoring with 14 points.
NO. 10 NC STATE 82, QUINNIPIAC 45
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Jada Boyd scored 14 points as North Carolina State led wire-to-wire in a season-opening victory over Quinnipiac.
Boyd shot a perfect 4-of-4 from the floor and 6-of-6 from the free-throw line. The junior forward also had five rebounds, a block and two steals in just 20 minutes of play. Quinnipiac was led by Cur&rsquo;Tiera Haywood&rsquo;s eight points and five rebounds. Jackie Grisdale also had eight points for the Bobcats.
NO. 13 VIRGINIA TECH 101, MOUNT ST. MARY&rsquo;S 45
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) &mdash; Cayla King made a school record nine 3-pointers and scored a career-high 33 points, All-American Elizabeth Kitley added 17 points and Virginia Tech rolled over Mount St. Mary in both teams&rsquo; season opener.
Virginia Tech never trailed thanks to King&rsquo;s opening 3-pointer and after Mount St. Mary&rsquo;s answered with a basket the Hokies reeled off 20 straight.
Michaela Harrison scored 15 points for Mount St. Mary&rsquo;s, which shot 27% and was outrebounded 45-23.
NO. 15 OKLAHOMA 105, ORAL ROBERTS 94
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) &mdash; Madi Williams scored 19 points, Skylar Vann added 18 and Oklahoma opened the season with a win over Oral Roberts.
The Sooners finished at 47.6% shooting after hitting 60% of their shots in the first half.
Oral Roberts outscored Oklahoma 24-6 in the final 5:18 to get the margin down to 11. Tirzah Moore scored 25 points and grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds for the Golden Eagles.
NO. 16 LSU 125, BELLARMINE 50
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) &mdash; Angel Reese scored 31 points on 11-of-14 shooting and grabbed 13 rebounds in her debut with LSU and the Tigers coasted past Bellarmine in the season opener.
The transfer from Maryland, where she was an All-American, had 14 points in the first quarter when the Tigers took a 31-8 lead and went on to a school record for points in a game.
West Virginia transfer Jasmine Carson added 17 points and Alexis Morris 16 for LSU, which returned only one starter (Morris) and five players from Kim Mulkey&rsquo;s first team, which had the greatest turnaround by a first-year coach in Southeastern Conference history.
Hayley Harrison scored 19 points for the Knights.
NO. 17 MARYLAND 88, GEORGE MASON 51
FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) &mdash; Abby Meyers scored 19 points in her debut for Maryland as the retooled Terrapins defeated George Mason.
Meyers, an AP honorable mention All-American at Princeton and one of nine new Terrapins, made 5 of 6 from 3-point range.
Taylor Jameson scored 15 points for George Mason, which was 5 of 22 from 3-point range and had 18 turnovers.
NO. 18 BAYLOR 88, LAMAR 50
WACO, Texas (AP) &mdash;Jaden Owens had a career-high 12 assists to go with 11 points for her first career double-double and Baylor pulled away for a season-opening win over Lamar.
Missouri transfer Aijha Blackwell and freshman Bella Fontleroy both added 17 points for the Bears, who used a 7-0 run early in the second quarter and a 9-0 late to go up 47-31 at halftime.
Lamar shot 32% in the second half and finished just 3 of 12 behind the 3-point line. Akasha Davis led the Cardinals with 13 points and eight rebounds.
NO. 20 OREGON 100, NORTHWESTERN 57
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) &mdash; Freshman Grace VanSlooten scored 20 points and Oregon downed Northwestern for the Ducks&rsquo; 10th straight season-opening win, and ninth straight under coach Kelly Graves.
Jennah Isai added 17 for the Ducks, who went 20-12 overall last season and advanced to the NCAA Tournament but lost in the first round to Belmont.
Caileigh Walsh had 15 points and six rebounds for Northwestern, which went 17-12 last season.
NO. 21 CREIGHTON 73, NO. 23 SOUTH DAKTA STATE 64
BROOKINGS, S.D. (AP) &mdash; Lauren Jensen scored 17 of her 30 points in the fourth quarter and Creighton pulled away from South Dakota State in the only Top 25 matchup on the opening day of the season.
Creighton, the surprise team of the NCAA Tournament last year when they beat No. 8 Iowa and No. 10 Iowa State, made 10 of 12 free throws in the fourth quarter.
Myah Selland scored 22 points to lead South Dakota State, which won the WNIT last season.
NO. 22 NEBRASKA 100, OMAHA 36
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) &mdash; Isabelle Bourne had 21 points and nine rebounds, leading Nebraska to the runaway victory in its season opener.
Allison Weidner added 19 points and nine rebounds, and South Dakota transfer Maddy Krull had 18 points with four 3-pointers. Alexis Markowski had 13 points and eight rebounds for the Cornhuskers.
Elena Pilakouta had 10 points and eight rebounds for the Mavericks.
NO. 24 PRINCETON 67, TEMPLE 49
PRINCETON, N.J. (AP) &mdash; Kaitlyn Chen scored 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds, Ellie Mitchell added 12 points and 15 boards, and Princeton defeated Temple to spoil the debut of Owls coach Diane Richardson.
Princeton won its 16th straight regular-season game dating to last season. Prior to the game, the Tigers honored its 2021-22 campaign with a banner unveiling and ring ceremony. The Tigers pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the NCAA Tournament, upending Kentucky in the first round.
Jasha Clinton scored 15 points and Tiarra East had 11 points and 11 rebounds for Temple, which was just 18-of-62 shooting.

Opening night for women's college hoops was highlighted by Aliyah Boston and the defending-champion South Carolina Gamecocks.

Defending women's national champs, No. 1 Gamecocks, rout ETSU 101-31

HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) &mdash; Victor Wembanyama blocked a shot Thursday afternoon, ran to the other end of the court, went airborne from just inside the foul line, corralled an alley-oop pass with one hand and slammed home a dunk.
The entire sequence lasted eight seconds.
It may have been the signature moment &mdash; and there were a lot of candidates &mdash; from Wembanyama&rsquo;s two-game trip to the U.S., which ended Thursday with the French phenom&rsquo;s Metropolitans 92 team rallying from 16 points down to top the G League Ignite 112-106. He led the way, of course, with 36 points and 11 rebounds.
&ldquo;As a first impression of the American game, that was really great," Wembanyama said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Victor Wembanyama followed up his 37-point game on Tuesday with an equally impressive 36-point double-double in a win! 🔥 <a href="https://twitter.com/vicw_32?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@vicw_32</a>: 36 PTS | 11 REB | 4 AST | 4 BLK <a href="https://t.co/M5dy1WpUPT">pic.twitter.com/M5dy1WpUPT</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1578143067370127362?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 6, 2022</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>

So was he.
His final numbers from two exhibitions: 73 points on 22-for-44 shooting, nine 3-pointers, 15 rebounds and nine blocked shots. He flies back to France on Saturday, and the next time he plays in the U.S. there likely will be an NBA logo on his jersey, presumably after he becomes the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.
&ldquo;It's very, very special for France," Metropolitans 92 coach Vincent Collet said. &ldquo;Not only for France. He has huge potential. He's a huge talent."
The reviews are in from this two-game Vegas residency for <a href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-sports-basketball-las-vegas-6f4ac3d44f624ef36ddb00e314cf0401">Wembanyama, who stands 7-foot-3</a> in bare feet, and they were of the raving variety. The best of the bunch may have come from Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, who suggested that calling Wembanyama a unicorn might not fully indicate how unique he is.
Instead, James went with an out-of-this-world comparison.
&ldquo;Everybody&rsquo;s been a unicorn over the last few years, but he&rsquo;s more like an alien,&rdquo; James said. &ldquo;No one has ever seen anyone as tall as he is but as fluid and as graceful as he is out on the floor ... He&rsquo;s, for sure, a generational talent.&rdquo;
Added Golden State guard Stephen Curry: &ldquo;He&rsquo;s like the (NBA) 2K create-a-player, every point guard that wants to be 7-foot. Cheat-code type vibes, man. He&rsquo;s a solid talent. It's great to watch.&rdquo;
Sure enough, when Wembanyama&rsquo;s around, a viral moment can happen at any time. It might be a dunk. It might be a block. It might be a fadeaway 3-pointer from the corner while his momentum has him drifting toward the baseline. It might be a 28-foot 3-pointer from the wing. It might be him kicking a ball into a monitor and narrowly missing fellow French center Rudy Gobert.
Yes, all those things happened.
The scene: Gobert and fellow Minnesota Timberwolves standout D&rsquo;Angelo Russell, in town to play the Lakers in a preseason game later Thursday, decided to postpone their afternoon nap &mdash; a staple of the NBA gameday routine &mdash; and make the 20-minute ride from Las Vegas to watch the game, arriving at halftime.
Gobert made a quick appearance on the game&rsquo;s televised broadcast. Wembanyama, standing nearby, stuck one of his massive feet into the path of a pass by Ignite center Eric Mika. The ball ricocheted into the monitor near Gobert&rsquo;s seat, knocking it over.
Gobert laughed. Wembanyama raised his hand to apologize.
&ldquo;Hey, he played soccer too,&rdquo; Gobert said.
Gobert raves about Wembanyama, who almost certainly will be the first top-five draft pick from France. And he doesn&rsquo;t think there&rsquo;s any real comparison: Gobert said Wembanyama&rsquo;s defensive instincts remind him of himself, while his ballhandling and shooting remind him of Kevin Durant.
&ldquo;What strikes me the most about him is his maturity," Gobert said. &ldquo;Obviously, he's a very unique talent and he has a very unique physique. But his maturity and his confidence ... he's very unique."
Thursday&rsquo;s game had a bit of a scare, and the other top NBA draft headliner in this showcase got the worst of that moment.
Scoot Henderson, the guard whose 28 points led the Ignite to a 122-115 victory on Tuesday night in the exhibition opener, left Thursday&rsquo;s game after less than five minutes. The reason: He banged knees with Wembanyama.
Henderson switched onto Wembanyama, who was dribbling on the wing. Wembanyama made a move, collided into Henderson and tumbled to the court, looking initially like he got the worst of that exchange. But Henderson, who was called for a foul on the play, wound up limping off for evaluation and the Ignite quickly said he wouldn&rsquo;t be returning.
&ldquo;Scoot's fine," G League coach Jason Hart said. &ldquo;It was precautionary."
There are 31 games left on Metropolitans&rsquo; 34-game schedule in the French league, and the plan &mdash; as of now &mdash; is for Wembanyama to finish his season, which is slated to go through mid-May. The NBA Draft is June 22.
Bouna Ndiaye, one of Wembanyama&rsquo;s agents, said some NBA teams might not understand why he&rsquo;s playing. The reason, he says, is because nobody can get Wembanyama out of the gym.
&ldquo;He wants to live on the court,&rdquo; Ndiaye said.
What these two games showed, in many ways, was just that the tapes of Wembanyama that have been coming out of Europe over the last few years weren't lying. He needs to get stronger. There&rsquo;s much he can still polish. He is, by all accounts, exceptional already.
&ldquo;Just before we came in last Saturday, we had a meeting with our doctor and we are going to prepare to plan the next two months to increase what he is doing, besides the court, to strengthen the body,&rdquo; Collet said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re always careful also with how much time he is practicing, not to go too far. ... We plan so that we limit the risk.&rdquo;
When Thursday was over, when the comeback was complete, Wembanyama briefly lifted his arms skyward in celebration, then shook a lot of hands, partook in a lot of hugs and posed for a lot of pictures.
With that, the draft hype continued on.
&ldquo;I'm still excited and so happy about it," Wembanyama said. &ldquo;I know I'm so lucky to have this chance."
___
AP Sports Writer Janie McCauley in San Francisco contributed.

Wembanyama's final numbers from two exhibitions: 73 points on 22-for-44 shooting, 9 three-pointers, 15 rebounds and 9 blocked shots.

Victor Wembanyama's 2-game Las Vegas exhibition stay ends with win

The WNBA has announced the 2022 All-WNBA First Team and Second Team.&nbsp;
There was a shift in the process this season. In years past, voters were tasked with selecting two guards, two forwards and a center on each team. The W dropped the positional requirements this year, opening the door for voters to select the 10 best players (or the 10 best individual seasons, if that distinction matters to you).
Las Vegas Aces star A'ja Wilson and the Seattle Storm's Breanna Stewart headline the First Team. Wilson, of course, became the fifth player in WNBA history to win MVP and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season. Stewart was incredible in her own right, leading The W in scoring (21.8 points per game) and doing a little bit of everything defensively. Wilson and Stewart were the only unanimous selections for the First Team.
Joining them are Aces guard Kelsey Plum, Phoenix Mercury guard Skylar Diggins-Smith (hope everything's okay) and Chicago Sky forward Candace Parker.
The positionless ballot gave us a wonky-but-talented Second Team. New York Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu was the only guard selected. She's joined by two forwards &mdash; the Connecticut Sun's Alyssa Thomas and the Los Angeles Sparks' Nneka Ogwumike &mdash; and two centers, Thomas' teammate Jonquel Jones, and the legendary Sylvia Fowles of the Minnesota Lynx.
You can view the voting results below:
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/screen-shot-2022-09-15-at-5-14-22-pm.png" alt="" width="501" height="424" />
STRAY THOUGHTS
<ul>
<li>A 56-person panel voted on the All-WNBA teams, which means someone left Plum off their ballot entirely. She finished third in MVP voting, so I'm not exactly sure what the argument is against her having a top-10 campaign this year.</li>
<li>Similar to the All-Defensive Team selection, I'm both happy for Fowles getting her flowers on the way out and a little confused on her making the Second Team. There was room for another Ace (Jackie Young) or Sky (Kahleah Copper, Emma Meesseman) in her spot, in my opinion. Washington Mystics forward Elena Delle Donne was certainly better on a per-minute basis, and was arguably the biggest snub on the list. I, a man without voting privileges, didn't have EDD on my fake ballot because of the games she missed. She's absolutely one of the 10 best players on the planet, and was higher on my list than Fowles was despite the gap in games (and total possessions) played.</li>
<li>Parker and Thomas being eight points apart signifies how good they were, how close their campaigns were collectively, and, again, how much of a sham it is that Parker didn't make an All-Defensive Team. I'm still not over that.</li>
<li>This is a regular-season honor, and the votes were due on the last day of the regular season. We know this, or should know this. But boy is Chelsea Gray's exclusion from this list going to look funny in hindsight. She lit things up during the second half of the season, and has carried that over into ridiculously good postseason play.</li>
</ul>

Nekias Duncan gives his thoughts on the All-WNBA First Team and Second Team selections.

A'ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart headline 2022 All-WNBA teams

Chelsea Gray had 27 points and eight assists and hit a career-high seven of Las Vegas&rsquo; WNBA playoff-record 23 3-pointers and the Aces beat the Phoenix Mercury 117-80 on Saturday night to sweep the best-of-three series.
Las Vegas, which never trailed, also set WNBA playoff marks for consecutive field goals made to open a game (10) and most 3-pointers in a half (11, in the first). The top-seeded Aces beat Phoenix 79-63 on Wednesday.
Las Vegas will play the fourth-seeded Seattle Storm or the fifth-seeded Washington Mystics in the best-of-five semifinals. Seattle leads the best-of-three series with the Mystics 1-0.
Kelsey Plum added 22 points for Las Vegas.
Kaela Davis led short-handed Phoenix with 23 points, and Diamond DeShields had 21.
Phoenix was without Diana Taurasi, Skylar Diggins-Smith and Brittney Griner. Taurasi was out with a quadriceps strain, Diggins-Smith stepped away last week for personal reasons and Griner is being detained in Russia on drug charges.

Las Vegas will play the fourth-seeded Seattle Storm or the fifth-seeded Washington Mystics in the best-of-five semifinals.

Gray, record-setting Aces beat Mercury 117-80, sweep series

Breanna Stewart is always looking for ways to improve her game. This season, her efforts culminated in more career milestones.
The Seattle Storm forward led the WNBA in scoring for the first time in her career, averaging 21.8 points, and Tuesday she became the first player to repeat as The Associated Press WNBA Player of the Year.
Stewart received six votes for AP Player of the Year by the 10-member media panel narrowly edging A&rsquo;ja Wilson, who received the other four votes. Stewart is the first two-time winner of the award since the AP voting began in 2016.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s an honor to be recognized as the best in the league,&rdquo; said Stewart, who also was the 2018 player of the year. &ldquo;Since I started in the WNBA in 2016, just trying to get better. Elevate myself and the team, the league as a whole. A big honor, but we&rsquo;re motivated by more and that&rsquo;s trying to win a championship.&rdquo;
Stewart&rsquo;s fourth-seeded Seattle Storm began their playoff run on Thursday in a best-of-three series against Washington, defeating the Mystics in Game 1.
The WNBA has announced its league awards over the course of the postseason.
Wilson was selected as the AP&rsquo;s Defensive Player of the Year, edging Alyssa Thomas and Natasha Cloud. Wilson anchored the Aces&rsquo; defense, averaging 1.9 blocks and 1.4 steals a game.
Her Aces&rsquo; teammate Jackie Young was chosen the most improved player.
Tanisha Wright became the first former WNBA player to win the AP Coach of the Year award. She was one of six former players to be head coaches in the league this season &mdash; five led their teams to the playoffs.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s good practice to have former players on the bench whether they are head coaches or assistant coaches,&rdquo; Wright said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve come up through the fire and put our stamp on the WNBA. I&rsquo;m proud to be part of that group of players that have played in this league and impacted it in a different way now.&rdquo;
Other AP winners included:
&mdash; Sixth Woman of the Year. Brionna Jones was a unanimous choice a year after winning the AP&rsquo;s Most Improved Player. She averaged 13.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.2 steals for Connecticut.
&mdash; Comeback Player of the Year. Alyssa Thomas earned the award after missing all but two games during the regular season last year because of an Achilles injury that she suffered in January 2021. Thomas averaged 13.4 points, 8.2 rebounds and 6.1 assists.
&mdash; Rookie of the Year. Rhyne Howard was the No. 1 pick of the Atlanta Dream and a near unanimous choice the award. Howard averaged 16.2 points and 4.6 rebounds this season, helping Atlanta win six more games than last season.
&ldquo;Rhy put us on her back and made a statement for herself and the organization and franchise,&rdquo; Wright said. &ldquo;Carry that load and do it with the grace and poise she did it with, I&rsquo;m super proud of her and her accomplishments.&rdquo;
&mdash; All Rookie Team. Howard was joined on the AP all-rookie team by Shakira Austin of Washington, Rebekah Gardner of Chicago, NaLyssa Smith of Indiana and Sam Thomas of Phoenix.
&mdash; All-WNBA Teams. Stewart and Wilson were unanimous first-team selections. Joining them on the first-team are Candace Parker, Chicago; Kelsey Plum, Las Vegas; and Sabrina Ionescu, New York. The second team: Jonquel Jones, Connecticut; Nneka Ogwumike, Los Angeles; Alyssa Thomas, Connecticut; Courtney Vandersloot, Chicago; and Skylar Diggins-Smith, Phoenix.
POWER RANKINGS
Las Vegas finished the year atop the power poll. Chicago, Connecticut and Seattle followed the Aces. Washington was fifth with Dallas, New York and Phoenix rounding out the top eight. Minnesota, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Indiana finished off the poll.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Wilson of Las Vegas earned the final AP Player of the Week honors after averaging 20.3 points, 10 rebounds and 3.3 assists to help the Aces go 3-0 and clinch the top seed in the playoffs. Other players receiving votes included Ionescu of New York, Stewart of Seattle and Chelsea Gray of the Aces,&nbsp;

“It’s an honor to be recognized as the best in the league,” said Stewart.

Breanna Stewart earns AP WNBA Player of the Year honors

WNBA playoff basketball is finally here! With things kicking off on Wednesday night, I decided to highlight an X-factor I'll be keeping tabs on for each best-of-three first round series.
For Part I of this two-part series, let's kick things off with opening night, which features the Las Vegas Aces taking on the Phoenix Mercury and the Chicago Sky against the New York Liberty.
(For deeper thoughts on each series, listen to our playoff preview on the latest episode of&nbsp;<a href="NBA%20playoff%20basketball%20is%20finally%20here!%20With%20things%20kicking%20off%20on%20Saturday,%20I%20decided%20to%20highlight%20an%20X-factor%20I'll%20be%20keeping%20tabs%20on%20for%20each%20first-round%20series.%20Let's%20dig%20in,%20shall%20we?%20%20(For%20deeper%20thoughts%20on%20each%20series,%20listen%20to%20Part%20I%20and%20Part%20II%20of%20our%20series%20previews%20at%20The%20Dunker%20Spot.)" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Dunker Spot.</a>)
(1) LAS VEGAS ACES vs. (8) PHOENIX MERCURY
THINGS TO KNOW
<ul>
<li>Aces swept the season series, 3-0
<ul>
<li aria-level="3">May 6: 106-88</li>
<li aria-level="3">May 17: 86-74&nbsp;</li>
<li aria-level="3">May 21: 100-80</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li aria-level="2">Mercury head coach Vanessa Nygaard <a href="https://twitter.com/eliavgabay/status/1558959934963740672?s=20&amp;t=zqp_Sll_zu_tCNAC8DEF2g" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hasn&rsquo;t ruled out</a> Skylar Diggins-Smith (personal reasons), Diana Taurasi (quad strain), or Kia Nurse (torn ACL) playing in the postseason. I'm not sure I buy it, but it's worth noting at least.</li>
<li aria-level="2">The Aces (26-10) finished No. 1 in offense (109.6 ORTG), No. 6 in defense (102 DRTG), and No. 2 in Net Rating (+ 7.7)</li>
<li aria-level="2">The Mercury (15-21) finished No. 8 in offense (101.7 ORTG), No. 8 in defense (104.1 DRTG) and No. 9 in Net Rating (-3.4)</li>
</ul>
KEY QUESTION: Can the Mercury win the paint battle?
It's fair to say that there's a sizable talent gap between these teams as presently constructed. The Aces have an MVP candidate in A'ja Wilson, two All-WNBA team candidates in Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray &mdash; a <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/wnba-las-vegas-aces-dont-forget-about-chelsea-gray-commissioners-cup-kelsey-plum-aja-wilson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">big-shot merchant,</a> <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/wnba-through-her-eyes-how-chelsea-gray-sees-what-you-cant-aja-wilson-jackie-young-dearica-hamby-kelsey-plum" target="_blank" rel="noopener">premier ball-mover</a> and All-Star-caliber guard in her own right.&nbsp;
The Mercury have been without Brittney Griner all season due to her wrongful detainment in Russia <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2022/03/05/russia-brittney-griner-arrest/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">since February</a>. The star backcourt duo of Diggins-Smith and Taurasi was one of the WNBA's best; you don't just replace that blend of shot-making and playmaking on a whim.
If there's a pathway to the Mercury making this series competitive, it's by owning the paint on both ends.
The Mercury have worked the math this season in terms of their shot profile. Roughly 68.5% of their shots have come from the rim or behind the arc, the highest mark in the WNBA per PBP Stats. Since inserting Sophie Cunningham into the starting lineup <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/sophie-cunningham-giving-phoenix-a-lift-at-the-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">as a small-ball 4</a>, that number has risen (71.1%).
Much will be placed on the shoulders of Diamond DeShields to act as the tip of the spear for the Mercury offensively. Across the last five games of the season, she led the team in shot attempts <a href="https://stats.wnba.com/players/traditional/?sort=FGA&amp;dir=-1&amp;Season=2022&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;LastNGames=5&amp;TeamID=1611661317&amp;PerMode=Totals" target="_blank" rel="noopener">by a wide margin</a>. WIth paint pressure specifically, DeShields took 32 shots at the rim (6.4 average) during that stretch per InStat tracking &mdash; an impressive number considering she's drawn the opposing team's best perimeter defender.
Beyond her, Shey Peddy (16-5-4 over last five games) will have to keep up her aggression. I've enjoyed the play of Jennie Simms as of late. Teams have attempted to stash their weakest defender on her, and she's made them pay with timely off-ball movement and strength-based drives. There may be opportunities to bully Plum if she draws the assignment, or burn Gray with her off-ball relocations.
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The Aces (62.2%) ranked sixth in that shot distribution metric, and have seen their number decline as the season as gone on. You really feel the drop at the rim, specifically.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
The Aces' percentage of shots to come at the rim this season: 1st 6 games: 29% next 6: 28% next 6: 24% next 6: 23% next 6: 30% (played CON, ATL, LA + IND x3) last 6: 16% Finished the season with a 25% rate, 2nd lowest share in the WNBA (SEA, 24%). I have questions.
&mdash; Nekias (Nuh-KY-us) Duncan (@NekiasNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NekiasNBA/status/1559261845160091651?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Because of the talent level of the Aces, they've been able to feast from 8 feet and out. Wilson is a face-up weapon; Young can sprinkle in pull-ups, and Gray might be the best tough shot maker in the league among guards. The three-point shooting for the Aces is self-explanatory with Plum leading the way.
I'm going to be especially interested in the Wilson-Brianna Turner matchup. Turner is one of the best defenders in the sport, and has the length, mobility and discipline to bother Wilson. Quiet as kept, Wilson only averaged 13.3 points against Phoenix this season, <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/wnba/players/w/wilsoa01w/splits/2022/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">easily her lowest average</a> against a singular team this season.
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Between Young and Gray (and sometimes Plum) getting "unders" in pick-and-roll &mdash; their defender ducking under picks when they call for a ball-screen &mdash; and the Mercury finding comfort with zone, it'll be on Wilson to force the issue and dominate inside.
(2) CHICAGO SKY vs. (7) NEW YORK LIBERTY
<ul>
<li aria-level="2">Sky won season series 3-1
<ul>
<li aria-level="3">May 11: Sky 83-50&nbsp;</li>
<li aria-level="3">June 12: Sky 88-86&nbsp;</li>
<li aria-level="3">July 23: Liberty 83-80&nbsp;</li>
<li aria-level="3">July 29: Sky 89-81</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
THINGS TO KNOW
<ul>
<li>Liberty wing Betnijah Laney missed all but one of the regular-season meetings (the blow-out loss)</li>
<li>The Sky (26-10) finished No. 3 in offense (105.6 ORTG), No. 4 in defense (99.7 DRTG), and No. 3 in Net Rating (+6.0)</li>
<li>The Liberty (16-20) finished No. 9 in offense (99 ORTG), No. 7 in defense (102 DRTG), and No. 8 in Net Rating (-3.0)</li>
</ul>
KEY QUESTION: Which frontcourt will show up in space?
It's a niche thing, but it's something my friend Mark Schindler pointed out <a href="https://www.wnba.com/news/2022-wnba-playoffs-presented-by-google-primer/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in his playoff preview</a> and something we fleshed out some on the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/podcasts/the-dunker-spot/episodes/basketballnews-com-episode-130-christmas-in-august" target="_blank" rel="noopener">latest pod episode</a>. From the man himself, on the Sky's offense:
<blockquote>
They love to initiate sets from the high post, the slots and the elbows, which makes sense considering Candace Parker and Emma Meesseman are two of, if not the best, at playmaking from those spots in the league.
Anytime the Sky offense has fizzled, it&rsquo;s been because those actions weren&rsquo;t respected with an, &ldquo;Okay, shoot it&rdquo; mentality. Even with Parker or Meesseman aggressively taking those shots, it takes them consistently punishing a defense over and over again to cause a shift.
The Aces got REALLY good at this and leaned into it during the Commissioner&rsquo;s Cup Final and their last regular season meeting, and I&rsquo;d consider it the blueprint to trying to contain Chicago.
</blockquote>
Sure enough, you can see the Aces dutifully sagging off and opting to cut off penetration &mdash; either drives or off-ball cuts &mdash; at the risk of leaving Parker or Meesseman open.
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Both bigs are capable shooters; neither are what you would consider a stretch big. It's an additive to what they do, not the main course.&nbsp;
Teams haven't consistently dared them to beat them from deep because they're mostly afraid of giving them free reign to pass without pressure. It's a fair position to hold; no team has scored more off of cuts than the Sky, and they lead the WNBA in assist rate.
The Liberty might make the gamble to dare them to shoot; considering their defensive personnel, they might&nbsp;have&nbsp;to make that gamble in order to prevent the Sky from scoring easy ones.
On the other end, the Liberty's bigs may have more on-ball responsibility. The Sky are one of The W's best defenses, spearheaded by Parker and her ability to hedge on ball screens and make life miserable for ball-handlers. Dialing up the pressure against Sabrina Ionescu isn't an ideal gambit &mdash; she's an incredible passer, and has grown more comfortable with traps as the season has gone on &mdash; but it's easy to see why the Sky may consider that the best of bad options.
In theory, forcing the ball out of Ionescu's hands will lead to a worse player making important decisions. It takes Ionescu out of her scoring rhythm. And considering the Liberty didn't finish far off from the Indiana Fever in terms of turnover rate, I'd feel pretty good about playing the "Let's alleviate our potential half-court issues by forcing a bunch of turnovers" card if I'm the Sky.
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If the Sky come out aggressive defensively, the Liberty's frontcourt will have to keep the chain moving. Pick-and-pops with Stefanie Dolson may need to be fruitful&nbsp;and&nbsp;plentiful. She shot 39.4% from three this season, but did so on fewer than 2 attempts per contest. Her season-high for three-point attempts was 5; one of the two times she hit that mark came against the Sky.
Short-rolling Natasha Howard will need to be in full effect. Han Xu will have to punish rotating defenses if she's the screener for Ionescu. If the Liberty are able to do that, the pathway to an upset becomes more clear.

Nekias Duncan previews two series in the first round of the WNBA Playoffs, highlighting a key question heading into each series.

2022 WNBA Playoff Primer Part I: Aces-Mercury, Sky-Liberty

It really took the entire season for the WNBA to solidify its playoff hierarchy.
We had four teams battling for two spots on the very last day of the regular season with the top seed also in flux. Late-season injuries, breakout players and roller-coaster games made it challenging to even visualize what the 2022 postseason would look like.&nbsp;
Now, the dust has settled, and we've arrived at what should be a chaotic, thrilling three rounds of playoff basketball.
I've listed one noteworthy statistic for each team that's worth remembering as we get into the games. This won't be a full playoff preview (we have one coming though!), but more a snapshot glance at the flavors and storylines surrounding each squad. Get yourself ready for Wednesday's first round here!
1. LAS VEGAS ACES
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Number to note: 37
The Aces have been on top of the league practically all season, and are led by an MVP frontrunner in A'ja Wilson. But the most impressive number I found came from Las Vegas' leading bucket-getter. Kelsey Plum canned 37 unassisted made triples in the regular season. According to the PBP Stats hub, which contains data back to 2009, that's the second-most of any player in a single season behind only Diana Taurasi (47 in 2018).&nbsp;
Plum's stepback game is just filthy. She can also rise into her shot so quickly, which flummoxes screening defenders hoping to contain her. Plum is averaging twice as many unassisted three-point makes per 100 possessions (4.57) as she has in any other season of her career, and she's still shooting over 42% from distance. She will be an instant highlight throughout this postseason.
2. CHICAGO SKY 
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Number to note: 11
The Sky have dished out a whopping 11 at-rim assists per game in the regular season. That's by far the most in PBP Stats' WNBA database, which dates back to 2009. Chicago has lead the league in at-rim assists each of the last five seasons, but the team hit an impressive new frontier in 2022.
Courtney Vandersloot led The W with 3.0 at-rim assists per game this season. Candace Parker (2.4) and Emma Meesseman (1.8) also placed in the top 15. With a dazzling playmaker like Vandersloot, big passing hubs like Parker and Meesseman and an all-world slasher in Kahleah Copper, Chicago can creatively pressure the paint like no other.
3. CONNECTICUT SUN
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Alyssa Thomas (<a href="https://twitter.com/athomas_25?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@athomas_25</a>) had herself a night recording her FIRST career triple-double, becoming the 11th player with a triple-double in WNBA history, and 4th player with a triple-double this season 👏 ✅15 PTS ✅12 AST ✅10 REB ✅3 STL <a href="https://t.co/zeVwHDj0kh">pic.twitter.com/zeVwHDj0kh</a>
&mdash; WNBA (@WNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/WNBA/status/1550897698563244034?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 23, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Number to note: 12.7
Don't be fooled by the third-seed billing; Connecticut has been perhaps the hottest team in the league since All-Star weekend. The Sun's 12.7 Net Rating ranks at the top since the break, and they also hold the league's best Defensive Rating (95.9) in that span.&nbsp;
The Sun are, amazingly, the only team with zero players averaging at least 15 points per game post-All-Star. They've had an incredible blend of spotlight stars in the last month. Alyssa Thomas posted the first two triple-doubles in franchise history. Jonquel Jones is maintaining her MVP-caliber dominance with a lighter minutes load. Natesha Hiedeman has drilled 48.6% of her threes since the break.&nbsp;
Connecticut's starting lineup of Hiedeman, Courtney Williams, DeWanna Bonner, Alyssa Thomas and Jonquel Jones has the third-best cumulative plus-minus in The W post-All-Star break &mdash; and the team has Brionna Jones coming off the bench. Everything seems to be clicking at the right time.&nbsp;
4. SEATTLE STORM
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Number to note: 84
No WNBA pairing has assisted each other more than the dynamic duo of Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart. They've connected a combined 84 times this season, with 62 assists coming from Bird and 22 from Stewart. Seattle has a high-octane offense, and these two help fuel the engine.
Several of these assists come from Stewart getting into her bag in the post. But Bird will also orchestrate sets that give Stewart driving and cutting chances. In return, Stewart recognizes help when she's posting up, and frequently hits Bird for open three-pointers. They've got some of the best chemistry you'll see between any two teammates in the playoffs.
5. WASHINGTON MYSTICS
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Number to note: 24.1
Shakira Austin has entrenched herself as a highlight of an impressive 2022 rookie class. The third overall pick is already one of the top rebounders in the WNBA, and her defensive rebound rate off of missed field goals (24.1%) is third among all players with at least 500 minutes played, per PBP Stats. Austin is also sixth in offensive rebound rate (9.5%). She racked up 40 putback points this season, tying her for seventh with Tina Charles.
Even at 6-foot-5, Austin isn't really a bruiser. The way she hones in on a rebound is almost falcon-like. She soars past boxouts with a burst and can high-point the ball with precision. As Mark Schindler <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/shakira-austin" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote earlier this season</a>, Austin's budding two-way skills are also worth following, but she's already arrived as one of the best on the boards.
6. DALLAS WINGS
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Number to note: 3.2
Arike Ogunbowale will miss at least the first round of the playoffs after suffering an abdominal injury. Rookie Veronica Burton has been thrust into the starting lineup in her absence, putting the Northwestern guard into the spotlight just as the young Wings prep for the postseason.
Burton's still experiencing the steep professional learning curve. But, as evidenced by her 3.3% steal rate, the second-best among WNBA players moving on to the postseason, she's already a defensive force.
Burton reads cutters like a fortune teller, as shown in the first two clips above. She also has the lateral movement to play uber-aggressively on digs and help because she can recover; in addition, she's spectacularly active with her arms and timing. It's just fun to watch her play defense, and it can help provide a spark for Dallas as it looks to upset Connecticut in the opening round.&nbsp;
7. NEW YORK LIBERTY
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Marine Johann&egrave;s just hit her sixth three with a one-legged jumper off the screen. 🤯 WHAT?! <a href="https://t.co/hZpcTDUDoL">pic.twitter.com/hZpcTDUDoL</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Ownthecrown?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Ownthecrown</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WNBATwitter?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WNBATwitter</a>
&mdash; Landon Thomas (@sixfivelando) <a href="https://twitter.com/sixfivelando/status/1558900506512203777?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 14, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Number to note: 41.4
The Liberty generate 41.4% of their team's shots from beyond the arc &mdash; the highest percentage in the WNBA this regular season. Sabrina Ionescu leads the squad from a volume perspective (7.3 attempts per game), but New York sends the ball around to several perimeter-oriented players.
Per PBP Stats, Sami Whitcomb and Marine Johann&egrave;s have the highest three-point attempt rates among anyone who logged at least 500 minutes this season. Whitcomb has made 35.1% of her triples this season, while Johann&egrave;s is a red-hot 43.7% from deep. Rebecca Allen (17th) and Ionescu (19th) also rank among the top 20 players in three-point attempt frequency.
8. PHOENIX MERCURY
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Another crazy stat: Diamond DeShields with 15 points in 18 minutes 🤯🤯<a href="https://t.co/151tuZHl3k">pic.twitter.com/151tuZHl3k</a>
&mdash; WSLAM (@wslam) <a href="https://twitter.com/wslam/status/1558291799755587584?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 13, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Number to note: 236
The Mercury have played a grand total of 236 minutes without Skylar Diggins-Smith and Diana Taurasi on the floor this season. That's a small sample size &mdash; 160 of those minutes have come after Aug. 4, the last time either of them suited up for Phoenix. Diggins-Smith is currently out for undisclosed reasons with no timetable; Taurasi also has no updated timetable as she deals with a quad strain. Returning two stars would obviously be beneficial, but for now, Phoenix has to defend its 2021 Finals run with its supporting cast.
Fortunately, several players have stepped up when the Mercury has needed them. Sophie Cunningham has shined in a Swiss Army Knife-type role, as <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/sophie-cunningham-giving-phoenix-a-lift-at-the-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nekias Duncan detailed earlier this summer</a>. Diamond DeShields dropped a pair of 20-plus-point outbursts in two huge games to help Phoenix reach the postseason. Brianna Turner is one of the best shot-blockers in the league.
The Cunningham-Turner-DeShields trio has a minus-4.33 NET this season without Taurasi and Diggins-Smith. Phoenix's most-played lineup since Aug. 5 includes those three, Shey Peddy and Jennie Simms; they're a minus-1 in 68 minutes. We'll see how well they can hold up without the star backcourt duo.&nbsp;

Ethan Fuller lists one noteworthy stat to monitor for each team in the 2022 WNBA Playoffs.

2022 WNBA Playoffs: One key stat to know for each team

Kelsey Plum came out of the gates hot on Tuesday night.
No, this isn't a reference to the 4 three-pointers she made in the opening frame against the Chicago Sky; though, it probably could be. Plum's fourth triple of the quarter gave the Las Vegas Aces a 25-4 advantage, and they led by as many as 22 in the first quarter &mdash; a deficit the Sky ultimately were unable to overcome.
Plum came out firing after the game. After the scoreboard flashed a 91-83 final score. After her backcourt mate Chelsea Gray was named Commisioner Cup MVP for her 19-point, 5-assist, 4-rebound stat line.
There was competition for that award. Plum led the game in scoring (24 points) and tied for the game lead with 6 assists. Their MVP teammate A'ja Wilson scored 17 points, grabbed 17 boards and blocked a career-high 6 shots. Heck, Jackie Young quietly put up 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting, with timely pull-up middies, fiesty drives and airtight defense along the way.
It's that dynamic &mdash; the brighter-shining star talent with gaudier numbers &mdash; that allows Gray to fly under the radar.
Wilson and Plum are MVP candidates and All-Stars, primed to grace the All-WNBA First Team together. Young is the frontrunner for the Most Improved Player award, was an All-Star and has a strong chance to make an All-WNBA and All-Defensive team this season. Dearica Hamby (9-3-5, +12 in roughly 23 minutes on Tuesday night) joined the starting lineup this season after winning two of the last three Sixth Woman of the Year awards; she was an All-Star this year too.
Gray, a four-time All-Star in her own right, was the only starter to not make the team this season. She's somehow been lost in the fold &mdash; a testament to how good the Aces are, but a disservice to Gray's talent.
No more, says Plum.
"I just, for the record, want to set things straight," <a href="https://youtu.be/sj-SySVTZI0?t=341" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Plum began</a> after being asked about Gray's CC MVP designation.
"She's the best point guard in the world. She's the starting point guard on the Olympic team; she's an All-Star; she's an All-WNBA player. She's the clutchest player in the WNBA. Ask anyone, any GM, head coach, player. She got snubbed [from the All-Star team] this year, and it sucks because I felt like we deserved five All-Stars."
Plum wasn't done.
"I know that was tough for her, because she's a competitor. She leads our team. When we need big plays down the stretch, Chelsea consistently makes big plays. At the end of the day, you can talk about the numbers and this-and-that, but she wins games. That, to me, should be the most important thing. That's 'MVP' tonight, but she's been leading our team for the whole season. I feel like she doesn't get the love and credit she deserves, so I'm really, really glad people saw that tonight."
Gray's had a phenomenal July, averaging 13.6 points (56.9% from two, 40.9% from three) and 6.1 assists (2.0 turnovers) per contest. Those averages have perked up over her last five games: 14.0 points (48.6% from two, 42.1% from three), 7.0 assists (1.8 turnovers) and nearly 3 steals per game.
Gray's box score contributions just seem to hit differently.
Some of that is the timing. Half of Gray's made baskets on Tuesday night came in the third quarter, with those shots quelling the comeback effort of the Sky. They chipped the deficit down to 8 points, but Gray was right there to respond.
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That's 7 timely points and a near full-court dot to Young in the span of three minutes.
Most of it is the nature of what Gray does. She bullies smaller guards &mdash; and sometimes like-sized ones &mdash; off the bounce or on the block. Her intersection of ball-handling and strength allows her to get to her spots without blinding speed. She's converting nearly 73% of her shots inside the restricted area this season, which ranks third among guards who have taken at least 40 shots at the rim this season.
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She will sprinkle an array of pull-up, step-back and turnaround jumpers in your face. <a href="https://stats.wnba.com/players/shooting/?Season=2022&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;DistanceRange=By%20Zone&amp;DateFrom=07%2F01%2F2022&amp;sort=Mid-Range%20FGA&amp;dir=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Just this month</a>, Gray has converted nearly 62% of her mid-range jumpers. No, that's not a typo.
Her awesome footwork and high-release point make her a tough cover for defenders. You never quite know where she's going or when she's going to stop on a dime.
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And it's hard to get past the passing. The list of passers more audacious than Gray is a short one &mdash; in the WNBA or otherwise. Her film is filled with all kinds of nonsense: full-court bombs, no-look bounce passes through traffic, flick-tastic lead passes and over-the-head feeds to shooters. It's insane stuff.
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I still haven't gotten over the falling-down bounce pass from the Los Angeles Sparks game.
Quibble if you'd like about the "best point guard" comment from Plum &mdash; Skylar Diggins-Smith would certainly like a word &mdash; but it's hard to deny the general sentiment.
Gray is an absolute baller and should be respected as such.

Nekias Duncan highlights the play of Las Vegas Aces guard Chelsea Gray stemming from Kelsey Plum's passionate comments.

Why we can't forget about Chelsea Gray, leader of the Las Vegas Aces

The WNBA is locked into three tiers at this point of the season. There's the tippy top with the contenders: the defending champion Chicago Sky (who may need a tier of their own soon), Las Vegas Aces, Connecticut Sun, Seattle Storm and Washington Mystics.
The Indiana Fever are in their own Tier of Woe, sporting the worst record in the league (5-24) despite having an All-Star-caliber guard in Kelsey Mitchell, and plenty of young talent to be excited about moving forward.
And then there's the middle. A hodgepodge of teams seeded 6-through-11 that are a week away from earning praise or garnering "will-they-miss-the-playoffs-altogether?" discussions. There are six teams separated by three games, fighting for the final three playoff spots. It's a fun or stressful race, depending on who you root for.
The Phoenix Mercury are currently making a push in that middle tier.
We aren't far removed from wondering if it was <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/what-should-the-phoenix-mercury-do-with-skylar-digginssmith" target="_blank" rel="noopener">best to blow things up</a>. We've had a sideline star dustup, a future Hall-of-Famer leaving midseason and joining one of the contenders shortly after, and a clown emoji situation that I'm still cackling about. The Mercury haven't just been an underwhelming team this season, they ranked very low on the "good-vibes" scale.
Here they are though: 6-4 in their last 10 games, quietly pushing their way to the eighth and final playoff seed. <a href="https://stats.wnba.com/teams/advanced/?sort=OFF_RATING&amp;dir=-1&amp;Season=2022&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;DateFrom=06%2F25%2F2022" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Since June 25</a>, they have a better offense than the Storm and Sun, and a better defense and net rating than the Aces.
Despite ranking last in pace during this stretch, the Mercury are going full Moreyball to give themselves a shot. Nearly 70% of their shot attempts have come from three or at the rim; they lead the W in three-point attempts (29.6, 36.7 per 100 possessions) and their 20.7 free-throw attempts rank second behind the Dallas Wings (21.5).
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Skylar Diggins-Smith (23-5-6-2-1 in her last 10) continues to play MVP-caliber ball. Diana Taurasi is starting to perk up, averaging 24 points (while shooting 39.3% from three on 11.2 attempts) over her last five games after struggling beforehand (15.5 points and 32.5% from three on 8.0 attempts).&nbsp;
Right behind them in production is Sophie Cunningham, whose insertion into the starting lineup as a small-ball 4 has juiced the offense. She's averaging a shade under 17 points during this stretch behind ridiculous shooting. A 42.5% clip on 8.0 attempts is typo-level good, especially when you factor how many of her threes are coming off of movement.&nbsp;
To that point: Cunningham at the 4 has made life easier for everyone around her, while putting more strain on defenses.&nbsp;
The Mercury's Friday night beatdown of the Seattle Storm gave us plenty of examples. Cunningham herself had a solid outing &mdash; 19 points, including 5-of-10 shooting from three &mdash; but the way she was used continuously put the Storm in tough spots.
Take the opening bucket from Phoenix.
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The Mercury go with a high pick-and-roll between Taurasi and Brianna Turner. Even at this stage of her career, defenses have to respect Taurasi's ability to pull up. That's what makes Cunningham's positioning key; she's one pass away, which puts strain on Breanna Stewart as a helper since she's responsible for tagging Turner on the roll.
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/screenshot_2022_07_23_20_15_30_690w.png" alt="Breanna Stewart has a decision to make." width="578" height="325" />
With Tina Charles stepping up to take away Taurasi's space, Stewart is stuck between tagging Turner on the roll or sticking with Cunningham on the perimeter. Cunningham exacerbates this issue by lifting higher on the floor, and eventually gets an open three out of it.
I even think of quieter possessions like this, with Cunningham stashed in the weakside corner. It doesn't lead to a bucket, but look at who makes the rotation on this drive from Diggins-Smith, where it comes from (the strong side, a general no-no), and the difference in urgency compared to Cunningham's defender.
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The Mercury have found success using Cunningham as part of their HORNS or HORNS-adjacent sets. Using her as a screener or flare option means involving a big; most of whom aren't used to defending movement shooters. Stewart is a legitimate DPOY candidate and you see how she isn't exempt from making hard choices in space.
Beyond that, Cunningham embraces contact. That leads to #antics at times, but in general, her willingness to get her hands dirty makes her a pretty useful off-ball threat. She doesn't mind prying others open. And because of her shooting ability and spatial awareness, defenses&nbsp;really&nbsp;have to be connected or they risk giving up something easy.&nbsp;
I loved the Mercury going to this set on back-to-back possessions in the fourth quarter on Friday night. Cunningham starts in the corner this time, but the objective is for her to screen for Taurasi and see what opens up.&nbsp;
On the first trip, Cunningham's lead block creates a triple for the legend.
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On the next one, Cunningham slips into open space against a switch. Remember, folks: the best way to beat a switch is with a slip.
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It's important to stress that the Mercury are generating these looks against the Seattle Storm, the team that had the best defensive rating in the W <a href="https://stats.wnba.com/teams/advanced/?sort=DEF_RATING&amp;dir=-1&amp;Season=2022&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;DateTo=07%2F21%2F2022" target="_blank" rel="noopener">heading into Friday night's action</a>.
<a href="https://www.positiveresidual.com/shiny/wnba/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Since June 25</a>, the Mercury are outscoring teams by 9.3 points per 100 possessions with the Cunningham-Turner pairing on the floor. The starting unit with those two, Diggins-Smith, Taurasi and Shey Peddy has posted a plus-13.1 net rating in that time frame &mdash; one of the best marks in the W.
Long term, the bellwether for Sophie-at-4 lineups will continue to be the defense. Listed at 6-foot-1 and 170 pounds, Cunningham is at a size disadvantage against most 4s. Teams haven't been shy attacking her on the block; per InStat tracking, she's defended 16 post-ups in the last three games. She's held up for the most part; again, she embraces physicality, and she also contests pretty well without fouling.
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The issue is what happens after the shot. Her opponent may miss, but they'll likely have the fast track to an offensive rebound. And to that point: the Mercury have&nbsp;by far&nbsp;the <a href="https://stats.wnba.com/teams/advanced/?sort=DREB_PCT&amp;dir=1&amp;Season=2022&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;DateFrom=06%2F25%2F2022" target="_blank" rel="noopener">worst defensive rebound rate</a> in the W over their past 10 games, grabbing just 62% of misses.
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Overall, things have worked because Cunningham has been so good offensively. The shooting, and the multiple platforms it can be used in, has juiced the Mercury's attack.
As long as that continues, they'll be in good shape to hold onto a playoff spot.

Nekias Duncan breaks down the impact of Sophie Cunningham starting at the 4 for the Phoenix Mercury.

Sophie Cunningham giving the Phoenix Mercury a lift at the 4

Soccer player Megan Rapinoe admonished her fellow athletes for not doing enough to speak out and encouraged them to support detained WNBA star Brittney Griner at The ESPYS on Wednesday night.
Griner was arrested in Russia in February after customs officials said they found vape canisters containing cannabis oil in her luggage. She faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted on charges of transporting drugs.
&ldquo;For me, the most striking thing is that BG&rsquo;s not here. BG deserves to be free, she&rsquo;s being held as a political prisoner, obviously,&rdquo; Rapinoe said while accepting a trophy for best play at the show honoring the past year&rsquo;s top athletes and moments in sports.
&ldquo;Like what are we doing here dressed up like we are when our sister is detained abroad? We haven&rsquo;t done enough, none of us. We can do more, we can support her more, and just let her know that we love her so much.&rdquo;
&ldquo;First, bring BG home. Gotta do that,&rdquo; tennis great Billie Jean King said.
Griner has pleaded guilty in court and acknowledged possessing the canisters but said she had no criminal intent.
Rapinoe urged her fellow competitors to keep Griner&rsquo;s face and name on social media.
&ldquo;Every time we say it in interviews, it puts pressure on everybody,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;It puts pressure on the administration, it puts pressure on Russia, it puts pressure on Putin, it puts pressure on everyone, and it lets BG know also above everything that we love her and that we miss her and that we&rsquo;re thinking about her all the time.&rdquo;
NBA Finals MVP Stephen Curry hosted the show and joined WNBA players Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins-Smith in calling attention to Griner&rsquo;s plight.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been 153 nights now that BG has been wrongfully detained thousands of miles away from home, away from her family, away from her friends, away from her team,&rdquo; Diggins-Smith said. &ldquo;All throughout that time, we&rsquo;ve kept her in our thoughts and in our hearts even though we know that ain&rsquo;t nearly enough to bring her home, y&rsquo;all.&rdquo;
Wearing her Phoenix Mercury jersey under his track suit, Curry noted the effort being made to free Griner.
&ldquo;But as we hope for the best, we urge the entire global sports community to continue to stay energized on her behalf,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;She&rsquo;s one of us, the team of athletes in this room tonight and all over the world. A team that has nothing to do with politics or global conflict.&rdquo;
They were applauded by Griner&rsquo;s wife, Cherelle Griner, who was in the audience at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
Curry picked up a trophy, too, for best record-breaking performance, having set the mark for most 3-pointers made in league history. He also shared the best team award with the NBA champion Golden State Warriors.
Los Angeles Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani won best athlete in men&rsquo;s sports.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s an honor to be in the same category as all of you. You are the best at what you do,&rdquo; the Japanese player said, speaking in English via videotape. &ldquo;Have a wonderful everything and enjoy your afterparties.&rdquo;
Olympic swimming champion Katie Ledecky won best athlete in women&rsquo;s sports.
Ledecky earned two golds and two silvers at the Tokyo Games last year, giving her 10 career Olympic medals. She received her trophy from Maybelle Blair, the 95-year-old who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.
&ldquo;I represent one of the few sports that is also a really important life skill, so I want to encourage all the parents here, anyone watching, to make sure your kids learn how to swim,&rdquo; Ledecky said. &ldquo;Our planet is 70% water, so it&rsquo;s very important.&rdquo;
Former heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko was honored with the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage, having impacted the world beyond sports. Klitschko, mayor of embattled Kyiv, Ukraine, since 2014, wasn&rsquo;t present. He appeared in a pre-taped video.
King led off a tribute to the 50th anniversary of Title IX, the federal legislation that prohibits sex-based discrimination in schools that receive government funding.
She was joined by Lisa Leslie, Brandi Chastain, Chloe Kim, Allyson Felix, Aly Raisman and Rapinoe, among others. They spoke against a background of black-and-white photos showing women athletes in action, on the field or in the streets advocating for gender equality. Their comments were interspersed with country singer Mickey Guyton performing her songs &ldquo;What Are You Gonna Tell Her?&rdquo; and &ldquo;Remember Her Name.&rdquo;
The ESPYS were criticized by South Carolina women&rsquo;s basketball coach Dawn Staley for not inviting consensus player of the year Aliyah Boston to the show. Boston had hoped to attend and was disappointed not to be asked. She was issued a last-minute invitation but declined it.
ESPN said COVID-19 concerns and a smaller venue forced organizers to prioritize invitees to the show. Boston was nominated in a non-televised category that was handed out a night earlier. She lost to Oklahoma softball star Jocelyn Alo, who took part in the Title IX tribute.
ESPN college basketball broadcaster Dick Vitale received the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance. The 83-year-old has undergone multiple melanoma surgeries and six months of chemotherapy for lymphoma over the last year. In March, he said he was cancer free.
Vitale dismissed messages on the teleprompter urging him to conclude his remarks, which stretched to 20 minutes.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m gonna wrap up in about three minutes,&rdquo; he said in a raspy voice. &ldquo;Jimmy&rsquo;s dream was to beat cancer. We must do it because it doesn&rsquo;t discriminate. It comes after all.&rdquo;&nbsp;

Soccer player Megan Rapinoe admonished her fellow athletes for not doing enough to speak out in support of Brittney Griner.

Rapinoe, King urge freedom for Brittney Griner at The ESPYS

Boy, is there a lot going on with the Phoenix Mercury this season.
(You're welcome for avoiding the very obvious "Mercury in Retrograde" joke.)
Following a Finals appearance last season, expectations were high for the Mercury. The wrongful detainment of All-Star and future Hall-of-Fame center Brittney Griner in Russia has thrown things for a loop. The defense, in particular, has fallen apart in Griner's absence, dropping from seventh last season (101.3 DRTG) to 11th this year (104.4 DRTG).
But the team's struggles go beyond the absence of Griner &mdash; on and off the court.
Their premier free-agent signing, another former All-Star and future Hall-of-Fame center in Tina Charles, is no longer on the team; she joined the Seattle Storm after agreeing to a contract divorce with the Mercury. Also, the relationship between Diana Taurasi and Skylar Diggins-Smith has been, well... let's say rocky.
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Further complicating matters is a recent controversy surrounding Taurasi, Diggins-Smith and new head coach Vanessa Nygaard.&nbsp;
Diggins-Smith has been excellent this season, earning All-Star honors by posting averages of 19.1 points (fourth in the W), 5.0 assists (ninth), 1.8 steals (fourth) and 1.0 blocks (first among guards). Taurasi hasn't consistently hit that level, averaging 15.5 points and 4.1 assists while not defending nearly as well as Diggins-Smith has. She did not earn All-Star honors, something that rubbed Nygaard the wrong way.
"There will be a game played in Chicago," Nygaard said recently. "But it won't be an All-Star game without Diana Taurasi playing."
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It's easy to understand the sentiment. Taurasi is one of the greatest players in basketball history. Even in a down year, she's proven capable of turning a game on its head with her deep-range shooting. But it's hard to argue her All-Star candidacy this season with how deep and talented the guard group is. More importantly to this discussion, Nygaard making those comments, with&nbsp;Diggins-Smith being selected to play in the game, wasn't a wise move.&nbsp;
The Mercury's Twitter account posted video of Nygaard's comments. Diggins-Smith quote-tweeted the video with a clown emoji (before eventually deleting it).
Oof.&nbsp;
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With this much turmoil surrounding the team, it's fair to argue that changes are needed. According to the always-excellent <a href="https://twitter.com/howardmegdal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Howard Megdal</a> of The Next, the Mercury have put Diggins-Smith <a href="https://www.theixsports.com/basketball/nygaard-diggins-smith-mercury-clown/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on the trade block ($)</a>.&nbsp;
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To a certain extent, this could have ramifications for Diggins-Smith, who has asked out of one organization, worn out her welcome with another, and has left many others around the league wary of adding her. And Phoenix is shopping her, multiple teams confirmed to me.
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It goes without saying, but a trade featuring Diggins-Smith has the potential to shape this year's title race. Heck, if a move is made, it could affect the next couple. She is arguably the best point guard in the W &mdash; an MVP-caliber talent due to her blend of slashing, playmaking, pull-up shooting and fiestiness on the defensive end.
Finding a trade partner for Diggins-Smith could be tough. She's making max money, and there isn't a team flushed with cap space to absorb her deal. Beyond that, the pool would almost certainly be limited to contending teams. You're likely not bringing her into a rebuilding situation like Atlanta or Indiana, lest she becomes frustrated with the lack of championship equity surrounding her.
But among the contending teams, nearly all of them have high-level point guards and/or tight-knit groups that they may have to talk themselves into breaking up.
The Chicago Sky are likely content with Courtney Vandersloot; Sue Bird is hanging up her sneakers after this season, but it's hard to find a package that would land Diggins-Smith in Seattle. Several members of the Las Vegas Aces have highlighted the leadership that Chelsea Gray, yet another former All-Star, has provided since joining the team last season.
Maybe there's a conversation to be had with the Conneticut Sun, who are currently trucking along with sharp-shooting Natisha Hiedeman at point guard with Jasmine Thomas out for the season with a torn ACL. Owen Pence of Winsidr <a href="https://twitter.com/OwenPence/status/1544734219246735360?s=20&amp;t=3ktGRjR_GYkvNKLqqjmZKw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">suggested a package</a> around All-Star big Brionna Jones. It's worth a phone call at least.&nbsp;
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Megdal briefly mentioned the Los Angeles Sparks as a potential suitor. While they're not in the contender tier right now, the roster does have a great deal of talent headlined by Nneka Ogwumike. The guard room is also a bit crowded; as Megdal alluded to, maybe there's a package to be built around Chennedy Carter.
Of course, the possibility exists that cooler heads prevail. Maybe the market isn't there, or there's some sort of come-to-Jesus moment that leads to the season being played out with hopes of evaluating everything in the offseason.
For now, this becomes the most important on-court situation to track in the WNBA.

The Mercury have reportedly put Skylar Diggins-Smith on the trade block. Nekias Duncan digs into whether Phoenix should move her.