Tuesday night’s WNBA slate ties four playoff hopefuls together, each caught in the league’s late-summer stickiness. Entering this last week of August, the W’s sixth and ninth seeds are separated by just 1 1/2 games. That adds some weight to the Seattle Storm (20-18, No. 6 in the standings) at the Indiana Fever (19-18, No. 8). The Fever are treading in place as Caitlin Clark tries get back on the floor this season; the Storm are coming off this steely buzzer-beating win in the nation’s capital: N
NNEKA FOR THE WIN 🫡🫡🫡 pic.twitter.com/QZumZ7WTgz
— Seattle Storm (@seattlestorm) August 24, 2025
The nightcap whisks us to downtown L.A., where the Los Angeles Sparks (17-18, No. 9) host the Phoenix Mercury (22-14, No. 4) in another crucial contest. Alyssa Thomas has been a triple-double revelation for Scorch’s squad; Kelsey Plum is balling out for the team she once was a ballgirl for:
KELSEY PLUM IS HER! @Kelseyplum10 x @WNBApic.twitter.com/Bw2tAiHtar
— Los Angeles Sparks (@LASparks) August 21, 2025
How to watch WNBA’s Tuesday TV slate
Venues: Gainbridge Fieldhouse — Indianapolis | Crypto.com Arena — Los Angeles
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Seattle has been one of those storms that comes and goes with increasing intensity, letting up only to pour back down. Earlier this spring, it went through a flash stretch of three straight wins, then three straight losses, then three more Ws. Noelle Quinn’s crew opened August at a disastrous 0-6, before the Storm won four of their last five tries (all on the road, too). Nneka Ogwumike was magnetic in Sunday’s walk-off win; she finished with 30 points on 11-of-15 shooting and had a plus-12 mark in a two-point game.
The Storm are ranked third in defensive rating, and they average the fewest turnovers per game. Four of their five starters have at least seven seasons of WNBA experience. They are sound and well-tested, if maddeningly inconsistent. Fortunately for them, 19-year-old rookie Dominique Malonga looks eminently comfortable: up to 14.4 points per game on 57.9 percent shooting across her last five games, adding 1.6 blocks and a plus-9 mark (better than Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins in that span).
Indiana’s volatility has been more pronounced, because cameras hover around the injured Clark throughout every broadcast. Clark’s absence has proved seismic for the Fever, who are 2-6 in their last eight contests. There’s no shame in losing consecutive draws against the world-beating Minnesota Lynx. Recent home Ls versus the Dallas Wings (Aug. 12) and Washington Mystics (Aug. 15) are harder to shake. At least Kelsey Mitchell continues to ball, averaging more than 23 points this month while making almost 44 percent of her 3s. Aliyah Boston, Natasha Howard and the league’s best second-chance front court cleans up whatever she misses. Indy begins a three-game West Coast run (L.A., Golden State and Phoenix) after Tuesday’s hosting.
The late tipoff should run up the digits. Los Angeles is third in offensive rating and second-to-last on defense. Plum and the Sparks sprint end-to-end with the creativity and breathlessness of a caffeinated chihuahua. Buckets and turnovers, wholesale. L.A. survived Paige Bueckers’ thermonuclear breakout in its last home game. For all their perimeter speed, the Sparks rank third in the league in paint scoring ratio. Rickea Jackson has gained a lot as a driver and slasher. Plum’s twitchiness yields a lot of looks at the rim. Dearica Hamby is putting together a rare campaign in year No. 11, with career highs in scoring (17.9 ppg) and also efficiency (57 percent from the field).
The Sparks will try to graft into the playoff picture, but Phoenix offers one of the sport’s most balanced opponents. The Mercury are fourth in defensive rating and net rating and third in pace. Three lead options (Thomas, Satou Sabally and Kahleah Copper) are each averaging between 15 and 17 points. Thomas, of course, is far more than just a scorer. After 11 seasons in Connecticut, “The Engine” paces all players in assists per game (9.2). As it stands, that’s the second-best mark in WNBA history, trailing Courtney Vandersloot’s 9.95 apg in 2020.
Nate Tibbetts and his Mercury have won three of their last four games. They get three uninterrupted home dates following this Sparks clash.
2025 single-game scoring leaders playing Tuesday:
2. Kelsey Mitchell, 38 points (Aug. 17)
T3. Nneka Ogwumike, 37 points (Aug. 1)
T3. Kelsey Plum, 37 points (May 16)
T9. Sami Whitcomb, 36 points (July 7)
Updated WNBA odds
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