Mystics at Fever preview: Washington looks to start post-Olympic stretch with a win

UPDATE at 1:15 p.m. ET on Saturday, August 27:

A lot has happened since this post went up. Bria Hartley is pregnant and will miss the season. She’s suspended until 2017 when she returns. In her place, the Mystics signed Australian Opals PG Leilani Mitchell. They also waived Tianna Hawkins who is going through concussion protocol. We’ll digest this more in the coming days, but an initial take is here.

The original post is below.

The Mystics will continue their season with a road game against the Indiana Fever. It is their first game in over a month, and they will go for their first win in nearly two months. Here’s the scoop.

Game Info

Date and Time: Saturday, August 27, 2016, 7 p.m. ET

TV: NBA TV

Online: WNBA League Pass (Subscription)

Storylines for the game

Catchings comes back with another Gold Medal - I’m not sure if she will play tomorrow because she didn’t have much time to rest. But Paul George’s “big sis” should have a big homecoming that will rile up the fans.

LaToya Sanders is a frontcourt boost - I don’t expect Sanders to start on Saturday, but I expect her to wreak some havoc coming off the bench. She’ll find more than her fair share of minutes with the starting unit.

The Mystics finally got to practice together in earnest during the break. So how will they fare? We can pout that the Mystics don’t have talent to win consistently, they don’t have anyone good enough to be on the USA Basketball women’s national team, and that no active player in the pre-Olympic break was on any Olympic team.

But that can also be an advantage from a wins and losses perspective.

The Mystics have been able to play for two straight weeks together. As a result, Stefanie Dolson told Wilson Tarpeh Jr. of My Mind on Sports that their practices were basically a “training camp they never had.” Before the start of the regular season, multiple players were missing either due to injury, or late arrivals from European play.