Without Napheesa Collier for the second straight game with a back injury, Smith had to step up and in the first half she did. Her Lynx teammates found her cutting to the basket for most of her scores. The Mystics defense lost sight of Smith on these cuts, keeping their attention glued to Lynx guards Kayla McBride and Courtney Williams. Smith hit 60% of her shots in the first half, but that changed in the second half where Smith was less efficient and her looks weren’t as easy. Shakira Austin was more keyed into Smith especially, contesting a lot of her jump shots.

Austin continues to go on a tear coming off her eastern conference player of the week honors. Austin made a bunch of difficult and acrobatic shots through multiple Lynx defenders in the first half. Austin was her most successful when she was guarded by less athletic and less lengthly post players in Jessica Shepard and Maria Kliundikova. The Lynx had trouble keeping up with Austin’s drives coming off closeouts. Austin read the defense well in the second half, drawing two and passing instead of trying to score through multiple Lynx defenders. Her final field goal, an offensive rebound putback in the fourth quarter, tied the game at 64 with 32 seconds remaining in regulation.

The Sky’s starting center was dominant against the Sparks’ front court out-muscling Los Angeles’ Azurá Stevens on the block and out running Dearica Hamby to the rim on pick-and-roll lob passes. Cardoso cut well in the quarter court and 80% of her made field goals were assisted mostly via Rachel Banham and Ariel Atkins. Tuesday night’s win over the Sparks was Cardoso’s final game before she jets off to Chile for the AmeriCup to compete for the Brazilian National team until the second week in July. In her absence expect more minutes from center Elizabeth Williams in addition to Michael Onyenwere when Sky head coach Tyler Marsh opts to play Angel Reese as a small ball center.

While Howard had a difficult night shooting the basketball, she was one of Atlanta’s best performers. The Dream shot a season-low 23.4 percent from the field and 7-of-34 from three, with Howard responsible for five of the makes. For the second time this season, she’s scored 20 points or more in consecutive games, and Rhyne finished Tuesday’s defeat an assist shy of a complete stat line. Outside of fantasy leagues in which field goal percentage is a scoring category, this was a good night to have Howard rostered. She and the Dream will look to bounce back when they host the Lynx on Friday.

Due to a lower right leg injury, Sykes will not be available for Washington’s first matchup of the season with the league-leading Lynx. Regarding production and leadership, not having Sykes is a significant issue for the Mystics. Jade Melbourne, who played 18 minutes off the bench in Sunday’s overtime win over the Wings, should figure more prominently in the rotation, and there may also be additional minutes for rookie Lucy Olsen.

Mabrey suffered a left knee injury during Connecticut’s June 20 game against Dallas, with the issue keeping her out of Sunday’s loss to Golden State. Tuesday afternoon, the Sun announced that she’ll miss at least 2-4 weeks. Bria Hartley started against the Valkyries and will likely retain that spot until Mabrey returns, while Lindsay Allen should also pick up additional playing time.

Ogunbowale had an opportunity to force a second overtime on Sunday, but her three-point attempt with nine seconds remaining in overtime was long. Paige Bueckers’ ensuing effort was short, resulting in Dallas’ win streak ending at two. Ogunbowale’s offensive production has been inconsistent thus far, with the veteran guard’s efficiency being an issue far more often than she or the Wings would hope. A career 39 percent shooter, Arike is shooting a career-low 35.1 percent from the field this season. While field goal percentage is not a scoring category in standard ESPN fantasy leagues, managers certainly hope Ogunbowale can clean some things up sooner rather than later.

Early in the game the Aces put two players on the ball which forced Clark to pass out of each double. As a result, she found Aliyah Boston for eight of her 10 assists. Clark dealt with the physicality of Jackie Young and the length of A’ja Wilson all afternoon, and as a result Clark didn’t have an efficient afternoon scoring the basketball. Only one of her 10 three-point attempts dropped. Most of her made field goals came from drives downhill to the basket and even one-on-one looks rather than on screening actions.

Three of the WNBA’s top rookies played in Sunday’s matchup between the Wings and Mystics, and all performed well. However, it was Citron who stole the show, recording new highs in points and rebounds. She was also responsible for the game’s final margin, as Citron’s three with 12.2 seconds remaining in overtime capped a 7-0 Mystics run and gave them the 91-88 victory. Citron is rostered in just over 90 percent of ESPN leagues, and that number is a bit low, given her consistency to begin her rookie season. Look for that percentage to increase, especially with the Mystics playing three games next week.