Sonia Citron is expected back in the Washington Mystics lineup for Storm Vs Mystics this afternoon, giving the team a timely boost as it tries to hold the WNBA’s final playoff spot. She has not played since June 28 because of a knee injury, and her return would come just as Washington begins a demanding stretch of six games over the next 11 days.
That matters now because the Mystics need results quickly, not later. Their last game without Citron ended with just 49 points against Golden State, a reminder of how thin the offense can look when she is out. Washington is also second in the league with 41.5 paint points per game, so Citron’s presence changes more than one possession; it changes how the team can score in a game that could shape the first half of this run.
The matchup also lines up well on paper. The Seattle Storm bring a league-worst 2-10 road record, and they have lost 10 straight games following a road loss. That gives Washington a clear opening, especially with Shakira Austin rolling inside. Austin ranks in the WNBA’s Top 5 with 9.3 rebounds per game, has pulled down double-digit rebounds in four of her last five games and has gone over 8.5 rebounds in five straight.
There is still one catch. Citron is expected back, but she is also listed as questionable, and that leaves her final status unresolved until closer to tipoff. The most likely reading is that Washington wants her available if possible, then manages her minutes carefully if she is cleared. In a game that sits at the front end of a packed schedule, even a limited return would matter more than a clean pregame label.
Eric framed the afternoon the blunt way a team in this spot would like to hear it, calling a win over the Seattle Storm the perfect way to start the stretch. For the Mystics, that is the job now: get Citron back if she can go, protect the final playoff spot, and avoid wasting the one kind of margin this schedule does not leave room to rebuild.
