Unselfish Play, Hot Shooting Powers Washington Mystics To Historic Offensive Performance

Thu, Sep 8, 2016, 6:13 PM
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Jack Maloney

With only a few weeks left in the WNBA regular season, every remaining game is an important one. Especially for a team like the Washington Mystics who are locked in a tough battle for a spot in the postseason. So what better time to put on an offensive performance for the ages?

Lead by Tayler Hill’s 21, six Mystics scored in double figures as the team poured in 118 points, setting a new franchise record in their 37-point victory over the Sky Wednesday night at the Verizon Center. In the rout, the team also etched their name in the league record books, setting a new WNBA single-game record with 33 assists, and tying the WNBA single-game record with 16 made three-pointers.

Mystics’ 16 Three-Pointers

 

The three marks went hand in hand, as great ball movement and unselfish decisions lead to open threes, which lead to plenty of points. Of the Mystics’ 16 triples, just one was unassisted, but even that instance–a Leilani Mitchell pull-up off a pick–required teamwork.

As head coach Mike Thibault remarked postgame, “It’s a contagious thing both ways, I think. You see some teammates make shots early. When the ball goes in, everybody starts feeling good about themselves. You don’t feel as a player like you have to carry the load.”

Whether it was drive-and-kick, pick-and-pop, or swinging the ball around the perimeter, nothing the Mystics did to get open shots was particularly complex. They simply shared the ball well, made smart decisions, and, as Pokey Chatman said postgame, “shot the heck out of the ball.”

More important than the offensive records, however, was the fact that the Mystics kept pace in the playoff race. It’s been a bit of a disappointing season so far in the nation’s capital, but the Mystics still have a solid chance of making the postseason for the fourth straight season. The win over Chicago brought their record to 12-17, just half a game behind Seattle and Phoenix, who at 13-17, currently occupy the seventh and eighth seeds, respectively.

With a crucial matchup against the Storm looming on Friday night, the Mystics could certainly use another performance like this one, where the team was, according to Coach Thibault, “playing well and had a good feel about how we started the game and the way we were playing.”

He continued, “To have six players in double figures, we moved the ball great. We had 33 assists, 16 three’s – those are all signs of moving the ball and feeling comfortable.”

But how can the team carry that comfort over to Friday night? Well he doesn’t have an answer for that one.

“I wish I knew because I’d bottle it.”

*All quotes courtesy of Chicago Sky postgame notes*