The Washington Mystics play the Phoenix Mercury on Tuesday night. Here is the preview

Game Info

When: Tuesday, Sept. 5 at 10 p.m. ET

Where: Footprint Center, Phoenix, AZ

How to Watch: NBC Sports Washington, CBS Sports Network

Injuries

Mystics: Shakira Austin, Ariel Atkins and Kristi Toliver are out.

Mercury: Sophie Cunningham, Shey Paddy, Skylar Diggins-Smith (out). Diana Taurasi (toe) is day-to-day

Pregame notes

So much for a healthy roster a couple games ago. The Mystics have many of their core players injured again. Toliver is the most notable of them after suffering a knee injury last Sunday. It’s unclear what her injury is.

Sunday’s loss hurt the Mystics in another way: playoff positioning. Just two games ago, Washington was fifth place in the WNBA. Now, they are seventh where they would be likely fodder for the New York Liberty, the No. 2 seed. The Mercury are 9-28 and will be the WNBA’s worst team this season. That said, they can still play spoiler for other teams’ playoff or playoff positioning hopes.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Washington fall in a #SoWizards-like type of performance. At the same time, Brittney Sykes has been awesome all year round, and she could will Washington out of a “trap game” situation.