The Washington Mystics couldn't punch their Eastern Conference Finals tickets on Sunday, where they lost 86-68 to the New York Liberty on Sunday. However, they have one more shot to do so tonight at 7 p.m. ET at Madison Square Garden. You can watch the game on ESPN2 and online on WatchESPN.
Here are some keys to winning Game 3.
1. Limit the turnovers and wreak some havoc on the opposition.
In Game 2, the Mystics committed 14 turnovers while only forcing the Liberty to 8. In Game 1, the Mystics only committed 8 turnovers while the Liberty committed 14. Yes, that stat just happened to mirror itself to a T in two games.
2. Tina Charles looked like Chris Bosh or Dirk Nowitzki out there, but again, she's inefficient from midrange.
The big story of Game 2 was Charles' 17-point performance. But let's show you that shot plot from the third quarter to see where she was taking her shots from:
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Yeah, I know Charles was making shots at a high rate, but look at where those shots are coming from. Most are from mid range, and we've also shown you that she isn't particularly efficient from there.
Anyone can have a really good day at the office, and Charles had that performance on Sunday. Hopefully, there's a regression to the mean tonight.
3. Rebound the basketball
This is a cliché but winning the rebounding battle will really help a team win games. The Mystics let the Liberty outrebound them 33-24 on Sunday, and that can't happen again. Especially when both starting post players in Monumental Red are All-Stars.
4.Keep shooting the three ball
If there's a silver lining to the loss, it's that the Mystics were having a field day from beyond the arc where Tayler Hill and Ivory Latta made nine of the team's 12 threes at a very efficient 57 percent rate. The Liberty doesn't shoot many threes at all, so this is something that should play into D.C.'s advantage, especially if they keep the turnovers down.
5. Listen to Mike Thibault
Mike Thibault gave a preview to Monumental Network's Dan Nolan which you can see embedded above or click here.