Jade Melbourne led Washington with 21 points.
I was hoping that I would post something positive on the Mystics today. And in some respects, I will. But ultimately, the team result is what matters most. As you might have guessed, the Mystics lost 93-88. The loss drops Washington to 0-12.
Like many Mystics games, Washington never got blown out in this game. They were never blown out in this one and the scoring differential was never in the double digits. But at the end of the day, the Liberty dominated in second chance points (20-5) and points off of turnovers (23-9) to get the win. If the Liberty didn’t commit 21 turnovers compared to Washington’s 12, this game could have very well been a blowout.
And like most Mystics games this season, this game was decided very late with seconds to go. Washington arguably could have seen this play go for an 8 second backcourt violation,
Eric Thibault was very upset in his postgame press conference about this play not being called an 8-second violation. He said he didn’t receive an explanation from the officials afterward but suspects they didn’t notice the game clock with the shot clock off. @TheNextHoops #WNBA pic.twitter.com/ljtuyBiUd0
— Jenn Hatfield (she/her) (@jennhatfield1) June 9, 2024
But the overriding reality is this. Washington has never seemed to have enough firepower to be leading late in games and closing them out. They had a small lead early in the fourth quarter but ultimately never took the lead again. It’s not just a game against the Liberty. It’s the game against the Indiana Fever last Saturday, and the game against the Los Angeles Sparks a few weeks ago.
Any one of these plays is upsetting when the refs don’t call a play Washington’s way. But this has been the theme the ENTIRE SEASON. They haven’t won a single game of any kind since September 10, 2023 in the regular season finale, coincidentally against New York.
Jade Melbourne led the Mystics with 21 points off the bench while Myisha Hines-Allen added 20 more off the bench. Jonquel Jones led the Liberty with 29 points and got the start.
The Mystics’ next game is on Tuesday against the Atlanta Dream on the road where Washington will have a chance to make franchise history by tying a franchise worst 13 game losing streak. Tip off is at 7:30 p.m. ET.
I hope that this kind of history won’t be made, but this horror movie feels like you know the freight train is coming, you see it coming in slow motion, but there’s nothing you can do to stop it. Hopefully something stops that freight train. Anyway, see you then.