The Mystics (15-7) will return home to face the Fever (8-15) for the second time this season. In their first meeting, Washington won 95-88 in overtime.

Game Info

When: Thursday August 8 at 7 p.m. ET

Where: Entertainment and Sports Arena

How to watch: CBS Sports Network, Monumental

Injury Report

Mystics: Kiara Leslie (Knee, Out)

Fever: Victoria Vivians (ACL, Out)

Pregame notes

Elena Delle Donne is going to need back up

In their last match up on July 19, Delle Donne kept the Mystics in the game after they were out-scored in the last three quarters. When the Mystics needed someone to take over, she did. In the fourth quarter, the all-star knocked down back-to-back three pointers to tie the game up and then hit a step back jump shot to force overtime. If it wasn’t for her the Mystics would have much earlier. She ended the game with a team-high of 28 points and 15 rebounds.

Kristi Toliver who put up 17 points in that first match up will relied upon by her team to have a good game again. Recently, Toliver has showed us a few decent offensive nights and a pair of incredible games. Washington needs her to have more incredible nights in order to secure wins.

The Fever are looking for revenge

After how close last game was, the Fever will be coming into this game with confidence. The Mystics will have to be aggressive when guarding leading scorers Kelsey Mitchell and Erica Wheeler but also be aware of Candice Dupree, Natalie Achonwa, and Tiffany Mitchell who can easily put up double-digits.

The Mystics win a lot but are prone to getting bad losses as well —

The Mystics have kept the past few weeks interesting. They’ve won five straight win, been blown out by Phoenix after beating them days before, and secure a win on a rescheduled game against the Aces Monday night.

While the wins are great, it’s the losses that will get a team to look in the mirror.

Perhaps the Mystics needed to get blown out to hopefully come back stronger and realize that they can’t get away with getting outscored most quarters. Washington needs to realize their depth and go hard the from tip-off through the end of the game. They’ve shown the ability to do so but they haven’t done that fully and consistently. It’s the second half of the season so now is the time.