Mystic Loss Sets Up East Playoffs
The Eastern Conference playoff matchups won’t have to wait until today.
Washington’s 81-47 loss here Friday night to the first-place Connecticut Sun eliminated the Mystics from the playoffs and gave the Detroit Shock the fourth and final berth in the East on the next-to-last day of the regular season.
“It’s definitely heartbreaking,” said Mystic guard Alana Beard, who made three of 13 shots. “We put ourselves in this position and sometimes it doesn’t work out the way you want.”
The Sun victory gave Connecticut (25-8) home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. The Sun also tied a WNBA record for most regular-season wins by an Eastern Conference team, matching Detroit’s mark from 2003. The Sun was coming off consecutive losses to New York and Indiana.
“I was embarrassed after those games,” Connecticut’s Taj McWilliams-Franklin said. “We wanted to come out and play as hard as we could.”
Nykesha Sales’ 20 points led the Sun. DeLisha Milton-Jones’ 11 points topped the Mystics (15-18), who shot 29.2%.
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