Big win for LA. They look so much better with Nneka out there too to help space the court. Great showing by Gray tonight....she gives Toliver a run for her money as the most clutch player in the league. Parker was fantastic despite a poor shooting night--14 points, 14 boards, 8 assists and was very active defensively. Taurasi was a no show tonight, fouling out in the 4th and didn't get into rhythm besides a solid of nice plays in the 3rd. Griner was pretty unstoppable in stretches hitting fade aways and hooks that simply can't be defended, but LA's double team improved and Phoenix stopped going to her.
In the consistently inconsisent season the W has had so far, it now appears that Vegas, Dallas, Minnesota and Phoenix are in a race to the bottom to miss the playoffs. Dallas has thrown away several close games during their current 5 game losing streak, Vegas has lost their last 2 and possibly 3 if the Mystics game counts as a forfeit, Minnesota has lost 3 bad by double digits, and Phoenix is 2-8 over their last 10.
5-6 games left for most teams. The coveted #2 seed is still in attainable reach for Atlanta, LA, and Washington with Connecticut having an outside chance. LA @ Atlanta on the 9th will be a huge game. They've split the first two meetings, so the winner gets the tie break if they finish with the same record. LA is 1 game back, so if they can knock off the Dream they'll likely move into 2nd place and have games remaining against dreadful New York, Phoenix who they've consistently beat the last few years, Mystics and the Sun. Should be an exciting finish to the regular season.