Mystics vs Storm Analysis: Washington Poised to Bounce Back

The Washington Mystics are off to the West Coast for two games against the Seattle Storm, the first of which tips off Friday at (10 p.m. ET).

Who has the edge in this matchup? Read on for our Mystics vs Storm analysis.

Washington Looks to Bounce Back

The Mystics fell victim to one of the WNBA season’s biggest upsets last weekend, losing 80-78 to Minnesota as a -400 favorite. The Lynx, who had dropped six straight to open the season, took the lead for good with 3.0 seconds left on a putback by Tiffany Mitchell.

Was it a fluke? Or a harbinger of things to come for Washington? Regardless, Washington hopes to bounce back on the first leg of its back-to-back at Seattle. The Mystics are opened as 7-point favorites before ballooning well into the double digits and laying as high as 11 points at some books. The total opened at 161 and nudged down to as low as 157.5.

Big picture, the Mystics are still in decent shape, sitting sixth in the WNBA standings at 3-3. Oddsmakers seem to agree, as the Mystics hold the third-best title odds at +1500, albeit significantly behind the two favorites: Las Vegas (-105) and New York (+160).

The good news for the Mystics is that Elena Delle Donne looks healthy again after dealing with extensive back issues. The six-time All-Star and two-time Most Valuable Player is averaging 19.8 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.2 blocks. And she’s doing so while playing 33.3 minutes a game, matching her career-high from 2015.

Washington has a lot of talent surrounding the 33-year-old Delle Donne, including Ariel Atkins and Natasha Cloud, both of whom were on the 2019 WNBA championship team. That said, the Mystics need Delle Donne at her best in order to make the most of this season. That’s important to remember in our Mystics vs Storm analysis.

Seattle Starting Over

The four-time WNBA champion Storm is in the first steps of a major rebuild following a transformative offseason in which Breanna Stewart walked in free agency and Sue Bird retired. The Storm selected Tennessee standout Jordan Horston ninth overall in April’s draft, but there’s still plenty more work to do to get Seattle back into contention.

Seattle picked up its first win Tuesday following an 0-4 start, rallying from a 21-point deficit in the first half to beat Los Angeles, 66-63. Jewell Loyd engineered the comeback, the second-largest in franchise history, with 25 points. Houston scored a career-high 14 points and Ezi Magbegor added 13 points, 10 rebounds, and three blocks.

With Stewart and Bird both gone, Loyd has taken over as Seattle’s No. 1 option. The 2015 first-overall pick is averaging a WNBA-best 28.0 points while shooting 40%. She also leads the league in 3-pointers per game, with 3.6. Magbegor, meanwhile, ranks fifth in rebounding with 10 per game.

Still, the team has a lot of growing to do. Seattle ranks 11th in the WNBA in scoring (76.8 PPG), a smidge ahead of only Washington (76.5), and last in defense (88.2). Its scoring differential of minus-11.4 is easily the worst in the league, though it’s somewhat bloated due to a 41-point loss to defending champion Las Vegas.

Handicapping The Game

Seattle has a ways to go to get back to contention. After all, it’s still picking up the pieces after saying goodbye to a pair of future Hall of Famers. As exciting as Tuesday’s comeback was, the reality is that Seattle isn’t close to being ready to compete with the WNBA’s upper tier. Thus, this matchup with the veteran-laden Mystics should serve as a reality check.

In our Mystics vs Storm analysis, Washington looks like a comfortable road favorite.

For WNBA scores, betting news, analysis, and more, visit pointspreads.com

Can’t get enough? Here’s more!

• Nuggets vs Heat Betting Odds: Denver Feeling at Home in South Beach
• Aces vs Sun Betting Preview: Undefeated Las Vegas Open as Solid Favorites
• NBA Defense Team Rankings: Heat Flexing Muscles Till the End
• Mercury vs Wings Betting Preview: Thrilling WNBA Showdown in Arlington on Wednesday
• Bob Myers Warriors: The End of a Dynasty