In the week leading up to Friday night’s game against the Chicago Sky, the Washington Mystics were eager to take the court armed with renewed confidence from their month of practice.
But when it came time to resume the regular season, all the improvements the Mystics showed in practice went missing, as the visiting Sky upended them 79-75.
“We spent the last month working on our defense and it was almost nonexistent tonight,” Mystics interim coach Jessie Kenlaw said. “I have no explanation why we came out lethargic.”
But despite their shortcomings, the Mystics had a five-point lead early in the fourth quarter - only to squander it in a mess of mental mistakes and poor execution. They missed shots, gave up offensive rebounds and committed turnovers, allowing the Sky to regain the lead and hold them off.
Washington had a chance to tie in the closing seconds, but forward Monique Currie missed two layups with less than 10 seconds remaining.
“I should have made it,” Currie said. “I had two chances to make it, and I don’t know how I missed it. I went up soft and that’s what happens when you go up soft.”
With a win, the Mystics would have drawn to within a game of Indiana, which lost to Connecticut Thursday, for the fourth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot. Washington (10-17) now has seven games left in the regular season to make up the deficit.
“It’s a problem transferring what we do in practice into the game,” Currie said. “We box out in practice, we play great defense in practice, but then we get in the game and it’s not there.”
It took until the third quarter for the Mystics to display some of the intensity and aggressive defense Kenlaw had worked to drill into her team over the Olympic break. Trailing 51-43, Washington was in danger of letting the game slip away. But the team scored six consecutive points, which prompted Chicago to call a timeout.
The break failed to halt the Mystics’ momentum, as they responded to a Jia Perkins’ jumper with another six-point outburst, fueled by two steals that led to fast-break layups.
When that 12-2 run began, the Mystics looked decrepit, but by its end, they had a 55-53 lead.
But the advantage proved short lived, as Chicago (10-17) outplayed the Mystics in the fourth quarter.
“We didn’t try to run. That’s supposed to be our identity,” Kenlaw said. “That’s all we practice is our defense and our running game, and we didn’t have it tonight. I’m kind of baffled about that. I didn’t expect this.”
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