The New York Liberty look to remain unbeaten and beat the Washington Mystics for the second time this season when the two teams face off Thursday in D.C.
The Liberty (7-0) won 85-63 over the Mystics (3-5) last Friday and are coming off a dominant 100-52 win over the Connecticut Sun on Sunday.
Washington just dropped its second consecutive game after falling 85-76 to the Indiana Fever on Tuesday in a Commissioner’s Cup game.
First-year Liberty player Natasha Cloud, named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week on May 28, told the media after Sunday’s win that it’s time to pay attention to the Liberty.
“Pay attention to Liberty basketball. I mean, they won last year. I’ve been seeing a lot of tweets talking about how we haven’t won a championship (in New York) since 2011. I know it’s not my championship, but I just feel like there needs to be respect here.”
Cloud, a champion with the Mystics in 2019, has played a key role in the hot start, averaging 10.9 points per game in her first season with the Liberty. She’s been a huge playmaker as well, dishing out a team-high 6.9 assists per outing.
Breanna Stewart is pouring in a team-best 18.1 points per outing while Sabrina Ionescu is putting up 17.9. Jonquel Jones ranks third on the team in scoring at 15.7 points per contest.
As for Washington, it started the year 2-0 but has dropped five of its last six games.
Brittney Sykes has been leading the way for the Mystics, averaging 21.4 points and 4.4 assists per game.
In the last meeting against New York last Friday, she scored 20 as she became the 42nd-fastest player to reach 3,000 career points.
“It’s just a blessing to be able to reach that type of milestone, and I’m grateful I got to reach it here in D.C.,” Sykes said after the game against New York. “They’ve really provided a space for me to just do what I do best, just getting downhill and creating for my teammates, and just being able to trust me to go and score the basketball and be a primary option.”
Sykes is one of three boasting a double-digit scoring average for the Mystics, who are averaging 76.8 points per game but will need to ramp things up even more offensively to keep pace with the Liberty, who are putting up 91.9 points per contest.
Kiki Iriafen is averaging 14.6 points and 10.0 rebounds per game while fellow rookie Sonia Citron checks in with a 14.1 points per game average.
–Field Level Media
