The Washington Mystics came back from about two weeks off on Thursday night, and the first game waiting for them was Mystics Vs Sky in Chicago. Tipoff was set for 8:00 p.m. ET, the start of the final push after the WNBA resumed following the FIBA Tournament games.
That timing matters because Washington had only four games left and already had a playoff spot in hand. The Mystics were still tied with the Liberty and two games out of fourth place, which means the last stretch was not about getting in but about how far they could move up before the bracket was set.
The injury report gave the matchup an even sharper edge. Sonia Citron was out for personal reasons, Georgia Amoore was questionable with a knee injury, and DiJonai Carrington, Skylar Diggins and Rickea Jackson were all out with knee or foot injuries. For a team trying to make the most of every remaining night, that left very little margin for error.
Chicago brought a different kind of pressure. The Sky were already eliminated from playoff contention, but they still had a former Mystics player on the floor in Natasha Cloud, a veteran presence who knows Washington well. Sydney Taylor, an undrafted rookie for the Sky, was also part of a game that had more meaning for one side than the other, even if the standings gave it a clean label.
That is the part that makes this stretch matter. Washington could still improve its seed, and the math is simple: with four games remaining, every win can only help, while every loss narrows the path to fourth place. For Amoore, whose status remained uncertain because of the knee injury, Thursday night was also about availability, not just opportunity. If she played, the Mystics had another piece for a sprint that could still change where they land when the regular season ends.
What happens next is just as clear. Washington moves through the final four games with a chance to climb, while the Sky continue out of the picture. The question for the Mystics is no longer whether they belong in the postseason. It is whether they can turn this last week into a better address on the bracket.
