WNBA: A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces try to slow down Phoenix Mercury

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We have a jam-packed WNBA slate this Sunday, June 29, with five games beginning in the afternoon.

Must-watch matchups include a game between the defending champion New York Liberty (11-4) and Atlanta Dream (10-6), followed by the second meeting of the season between the Las Vegas Aces (7-8) and the Phoenix Mercury (12-4). The Seattle Storm (10-6) and the Golden State Valkyries (8-7) finish things off in the evening in a rematch of their own.

Can the Liberty overcome their absences against the Dream?

The Liberty were dealt a rough blow last week when reigning Finals MVP Jonquel Jones suffered an ankle sprain that will need 4-6 weeks to heal. Jones, who is averaging 12.1 points and 9.6 rebounds per game on the season, is the second starter the Liberty are missing; sharpshooting forward Leonie Fiebich has been away from the team for the last two weeks as she participates in FIBA Women’s EuroBasket.

These absences have put a strain on New York’s depth, and while the Liberty remain one of the top teams in the WNBA, they’ve cooled off considerably since their 9-0 start to the season, having lost four of their last six games. The defending champs are surely looking forward to their upcoming eight-game homestand, but they’ll first have to deal with an Atlanta team that gave them problems in their previous meeting.

New York’s Sabrina Ionescu scored 34 points the last time the Liberty played the Dream, but hasn’t shot the ball well since then.

Photo by Dustin Satloff/Getty Images

Back on June 17, the Dream nearly defeated the Liberty in New York, leading by as many as 17 points before succumbing to a furious fourth-quarter Liberty comeback. Sunday’s rematch will be held in Atlanta, where the Dream have been tough to beat (6-2); they’ve defended much better at home (95.1 defensive rating) than on the road (104.4), which could spell trouble for a Liberty offense that hasn’t been as consistent in recent weeks as head coach Sandy Brondello would like.

Sabrina Ionescu, in particular, has struggled. Since dropping back-to-back 34-point games—one of them coming against the Dream—Ionescu has shot 6-for-36 from the field (16.7 percent) as she’s faced increased attention from defenses in Jones’ absence. Ionescu is one of the WNBA’s most dynamic perimeter scorers, but she’s been prone to shooting slumps throughout her career, and she’ll need to break out of the one she’s currently in if the Liberty are going to field an efficient offense.

New York will have its hands full on defense, too, with Atlanta’s twin-tower duo of Brittney Griner and Brionna Jones. Griner and Jones are two of the WNBA’s best low-post players, and without the Liberty’s own All-Star center in the lineup, they may have a tough time controlling the paint.

A’ja Wilson leads the Aces against the red-hot Mercury

There aren’t many teams in the WNBA hotter than the Mercury. Phoenix is 8-2 in its last 10 games and has risen to second place in the WNBA standings, recently overtaking the Liberty with a record-setting 3-point barrage. It was the second-straight game in which the Mercury scored over 100 points, and with all of the team’s stars finally healthy, momentum is firmly on Phoenix’s side.

The Mercury’s current winning streak (six games) includes a June 15 victory over the Aces, who, for the first time in years, find themselves treading water. Reigning MVP A’ja Wilson is certainly doing her part to keep her team competitive, averaging 21.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and a career-high 2.8 blocks per game, but the infrastructure around her has begun to crumble: Most of the key players that factored into the Aces’ back-to-back championships in 2022 and 2023 are now either on the decline or playing elsewhere, and they’ve become more and more reliant on heroic efforts from Wilson to win games.

The Aces weren’t able to lean on Wilson the last time they played the Mercury, though. With its superstar sidelined due to a concussion, Las Vegas shot just 35.9 percent from the field, failing to take advantage of an equally unimpressive offensive showing from Phoenix.

Wilson is back on the court now, but the Aces will still have their work cut out for them on Sunday. The Mercury boast a trio of All-WNBA players in Kahleah Copper, Alyssa Thomas and Satou Sabally, and they’re playing terrific defense as a team, leading the league in opponents’ turnover percentage at 22 percent. For Las Vegas, this is a matchup in which guards Chelsea Gray and Jewell Loyd need to be at their best, particularly when it comes to taking care of the basketball; if the Aces aren’t efficient in their own offense, there won’t be much stopping Thomas and Copper from running roughshod in transition.

Can the Valkyries shut down Ogwumike and the Storm again?

It’s an exciting time to be a Valkyries fan. After struggling through the first month of its inaugural WNBA season, Golden State has played much better in June, going 6-4 and looking more and more like a team that could make some noise in the playoffs.

While the Valkyries have been one of the more trigger-happy teams in the WNBA thus far—a league-leading 44.7 percent of their shot attempts have come from 3-point range—defense has been just as crucial to their budding identity. They proved that when they played the Storm back on June 14, forcing 16 turnovers and holding Seattle to 26 points in the paint — something that’s much easier said than done when going up against an elite frontcourt scorer in Nneka Ogwumike and one of the best dribble penetration guards in the WNBA in Skylar Diggins.

Seattle Storm v Golden State Valkyries — Storm forward Nneka Ogwumike scored a season-low six points in Seattle’s previous game against the Valkyries.

If there’s one thing we’ve learned about Ogwumike and Diggins throughout their professional careers, though, it’s that they can’t be kept down for long. Since the pair of veterans signed to play in Seattle last season, both players have played some of the best basketball of their respective careers, and it wouldn’t be surprising if they each added yet another All-Star appearance to their resumes next month.

Together, Ogwumike and Diggins are averaging a combined 26.6 points per game, which is a level of offensive firepower that the Valkyries are going to have a hard time matching individually. Golden State will need to continue to play disciplined defense and hit timely shots from the perimeter if their going to improve to 2-0 against the Storm this season.