June Monthly Overview: Washington Mystics hit the road; host two theme nights this month

In the month of June, the Washington Mystics play 11 games, six on the road and five at home. Of their games this month, five are WNBA Commissioner’s Cup games. They meet up twice each with the Seattle Storm, Chicago Sky and the Atlanta Dream. Mystics also will have two theme nights at home: Wear Orange Game and Pride Night.

Here are the games for the month below.

Friday, June 2 vs. Dallas Wings (Wear Orange Game)

The Mystics will start this month welcoming a team to their home court who has four players averaging double figures. The Dallas Wings leading scorer is Arike Ogunbowale averaging 25.3 points per game along with 4.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists. Satou Sabally is close to averaging a double-double with 22.3 points and nine rebounds. Natasha Howard is now with the Dallas after being traded from the New York Liberty and she contributes 18.8 points a game. The Wings also just signed Kalani Brown to a contract for the rest of the season as well as she averages 12 points and seven rebounds.

Offensively and defensively, Washington will have a match to prepare for as the Wings as a team are averaging 90 points a game while the Mystics only average 76 points a game.

This game, the Mystics are asking fans to wear orange in order to bring awareness around gun safety and advocate against gun violence as it’s the Wear Orange Game.

Saturday, June 3 vs. Minnesota Lynx

The Minnesota Lynx are currently winless, but that doesn’t mean it’ll be a sure win game. These type of games can sneak up on a team like Washington. Napheesa Collier has been their leading scorer, but Coach Cheryl Reeves has a lot of young talent on the roster that’s being used and also not being used. Aerial Powers who was a powerhouse for the Lynx has seen her minutes plummet significantly. The Mystics are aware of what Powers can do as she won a championship with them in 2019.

Friday, June 9 & Sunday June 11 at Seattle Storm

Washington will be out west for some days as the Seattle Storm will be their opponent for two games in a row. The Storm are without Sue Bird now who has retired and Breanna Stewart who has gone to the New York Liberty. Jewel Loyd has taken the lead of the team, but the end results have not been productive as the Storm haven’t won a game just yet. Eventually Loyd will need some help to accompany her 26 points a game.

Tuesday, June 13 at Indiana Fever

Shakira Austin, the third overall pick in 2022, will face the first overall pick in Aliyah Boston from the recent 2023 WNBA Draft. Boston is second in scoring for Indiana averaging 15.8 points and Austin is second as well for the Mystics averaging 14 points. It should be a show to watch. Another player for the Mystics to keep an eye on is NaLyssa Smith as she has a double-double average throughout the season so far. Indiana doesn’t have the most depth as their record has shown, but you never know. This game counts toward the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup.

Friday, June 16 vs. Phoenix Mercury (Pride Night)

Pride Night is the second theme night of the month as they host the Phoenix Mercury. Brittney Griner leads the Mercury in scoring since returning back to the court. Diana Taurasi isn’t far behind and doesn’t seem to be letting up as she has been in the league since 2004. A sight for Washington is the come up of Sug Sutton who is third in scoring for the Mercury. Sutton was drafted by the Mystics in the third round of the 2020 WNBA Draft and now she is shining for Phoenix.

Sunday, June 18 vs. Chicago Sky/Thursday, June 22 at Chicago Sky

Another double game for the Mystics. This will be the second and third meeting between both teams. Washington won the first meeting in May after a go-ahead three-pointer from Elena Delle Donne to secure the win. The first game and the game on June 18 are both WNBA Commissioner’s Cup games as well. Look out for other Mystics players to get down offensively as Delle Donne and Shakira Austin handled majority of the load to get the win over Chicago.

Sunday, June 25 at New York Liberty

This game, hopefully, will be a must watch as the Mystics opened up the season facing the New York Liberty and blew them out with a 80-64 victory. Washington’s defense showed up early in that game holding Breanna Stewart to just 12 points despite a double-double. Jonquel Jones only had five points and five rebounds in that loss. However, at the moment that loss is the only one New York has so this will be a game to prove whether it was just trying to live up to the hype for the Liberty or Washington is really the better team.

Wednesday, June 28 vs. Atlanta Dream/Friday, June 30 at Atlanta Dream

Both of these games are under the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup, so it would be wise to win both. Top draft pick in the 2022 WNBA Draft, Rhyne Howard, has been constantly proving why she was the best in the draft and one of the best guards in the league. Washington will get an early taste of both teams to end out the month. By the end of the month if not before, the Mystics true identity and go-to players will soon surface and show their true colors.

Current Record: 2-2 (as of May 27)

June Regular Season Games Prediction: 8-3

In the previous monthly review, the prediction was that Washington would go 3-1 and their loss would be to the New York Liberty. The shock came when their two losses came both from the Connecticut Sun and the Mystics actually beat the Liberty in the season opener.

The prediction for June is 8-3 with potential losses coming from the Liberty, Sky and Mercury. Prediction is that the Mystics will end the month with a record of 10-5.