Washington Mystics vs Seattle Storm: Preview and Prediction for August 26 | 2024 WNBA Season

The Washington Mystics will face the Seattle Storm for the fourth and final time this season on Monday. Washington, which lost 83-77 to the Storm on Tuesday, looks to get over the hump in the rematch. Brittney Sykes, Shakira Austin and Ariel Atkins will again lead the Mystics.

Meanwhile, the Storm will try to keep fourth place in the battle for playoff spots. Seattle (18-10) opens the postseason with a first-round home-court advantage if it can fend off the two-time defending champion Las Vegas Aces (18-11). Coach Noelle Quinn will count on Jewell Loyd, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Nneka Ogwumike and Ezi Magbegor to stay unbeaten against Washington.

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Washington Mystics vs. Seattle Storm: Preview and prediction

The Climate Pledge Arena will host the Washington Mystics and Seattle Storm showdown. FOX 13, Amazon Prime Video - Seattle and Monumental Sports Network will air the game locally. Basketball fans can also stream the action by subscribing to the WNBA League Pass.

Moneyline: Mystics (+350) vs. Storm (-450)

Spread: Mystics (+9.5) vs. Storm (-9.5)

Total (O/U): Mystics (o161.0 -110) vs. Storm (u161.0 -110)

Editor’s Note: The odds could change closer to the game. The odds listed were as per available information at the time of writing.

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Washington Mystics vs. Seattle Storm: Game preview

The Mystics will continue to rely on their 3-point shooting to have a chance of finally beating the Storm this season. Washington’s 36.0% clip from long range is second in the WNBA. If Ariel Atkins and Co. have their touch on Monday, the Mystics might be able to pull off an upset.

Eric Thibault’s group has to take care of the ball well to avoid another loss. In their last encounter with the Storm, they committed 22 turnovers, leading to 29 Seattle points. The Mystics’ superb shooting from deep will hardly matter if they continue to cough up the ball.

Washington’s strength in shooting is Seattle’s weakness. The Storm are dead last in the WNBA, averaging 28.7% from behind the arc. To compensate for that, the home team consistently pounds the ball inside the paint.

In the Storm’s last win against the Mystics, they had a 38-28 advantage in interior scoring. The strategy worked well, particularly late in the game as several Washing players were in foul trouble. It’s a strategy Seattle coach Noelle Quinn could continue in the rematch.

Quinn can also count on his team's defense to cause problems for the Mystics. Seattle’s 94.6 defensive rating is fourth in the WNBA. They will be tough to beat if they can back up that statistic on Monday.

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Washington Mystics vs. Seattle Storm: Prediction

The Seattle Storm has been a bad matchup for the Washington Mystics this season. Washington has had trouble going up against Seattle’s defense, an issue that isn’t likely to go away on Monday.

The Storm are desperate for wins to hold off the Las Vegas Aces in the race for the fourth spot in the playoffs. They should successfully defend their home court against the Mystics here.