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The Washington Mystics couldn’t get the job done in Game 3. So Game 4 it is in Las Vegas in the WNBA semifinals series! The Mystics are still again one win away from securing the final spot in the WNBA Finals vs the Connecticut Sun.
Game Info
When: Tuesday Sept. 23 at 9 p.m. ET
Where: Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nev.
How to watch: ESPN 2
Injury Report
Mystics: Kiara Leslie (Knee, Out)
Aces: None
Pregame Notes
Washington cannot repeat what happened in Game 3
Clearly, Washington couldn’t complete the sweep on the road Sunday as the Aces dogged the Mystics 92-75 to keep the series alive. A’ja Wilson and Liz Cambage combined for 49 points and dominated the post offensively and defensively. Kayla McBride added 18 points as well.
Although the Mystics’ bench outscored the Aces’ bench 35-12, the starting core for Washington just wasn’t there in comparison to Las Vegas. Elena Delle Donne was the only starter in double figures with 22 points, but shot 2-of-8 from three-point.
The Mystics were unrecognizable in Game 3, especially Emma Meesseman who averaged 28 points in Games 1 & 2, but only had six points on Sunday. Washington’s head coach and general manager Mike Thibault said it clearly: “They played way better than us tonight.”
“It was a physical game, we didn’t shoot the ball anywhere close to the way we did the other night, they did a better job. We have been a low turnover team all season, in particular during games 1 and 2, tonight the eight turnovers we had in the second quarter were not good, we had too many live-ball turnovers,” Thibault said. “I thought they got into their post-game better tonight, we didn’t do as good of a job. They put more pressure on us, we didn’t shoot the ball well. The same people that made a lot of shots the other night didn’t make shots today, that was the difference.”
In order to end the series on Tuesday, Washington has to play Mystics ball and not play Aces’ basketball. Playing their game is what pushed them throughout the season keeping them as the top team in the league. And the Mystics need to continue to play like it!
Make Liz Cambage eat her words!
In a post-game interview on Sunday, Liz Cambage made a comment toward the Mystics that hopefully Washington has not taken lightly.
“If you can’t handle it, get in the weight room” @ecambage
— WSLAM (@wslam) September 22, 2019
via @RealDealJD pic.twitter.com/20VIUMdYe3
Well they didn’t. The Mystics responded in their own way and will surely show the Aces what it feels like to be at home and stay at home. And let’s make one thing clear Cambage wasn’t saying much after the Mystics won Games 1 & 2.
*checks in on the Mystics* pic.twitter.com/lOrs2T4okk
— Lindsay Gibbs (@linzsports) September 23, 2019