Plum began the game shooting efficiently off of looks she got cutting to the basket or picking the pockets of opponents and scoring at the other end. But in the final three quarters, the Valkyries perimeter defense, primarily Veronica Burton did an exceptional job of keeping in front of Plum and contesting her shots. When Plum drove through the lane, her penetration was met with rim protection from Kayla Thornton, Temi Fágbénlé and Janelle Salaün.

After missing all of training camp due to the passing of her mother, Rivers has looked quite comfortable in her first games as a pro. She followed up her debut against the Las Vegas Aces with yet another 11 point game including a made three-pointer but this time against the Minnesota Lynx. While Rivers didn’t have a ton opportunities to create chemistry with her teammates before hopping into game action, she proved her playmaking ability within an offense and defense that are still quite new to her. In just two games, Rivers has proven to be a high energy player who contribute in a variety of ways.

For most the the game, Collier kept the Lynx afloat. She was responsible for 75% of all the Lynx’s second quarter scoring via her 13 points and one assist. She hit 43% of her team’s total three point makes in a game when the Lynx shot 29.2% on 7-of-24 shooting from deep. She stepped up alongside teammate Natisha Hiedeman in the fourth quarter and scored 11 of the Lynx’s 27 fourth quarter points to help the Lynx win the game in come-from-behind fashion. Collier’s MVP candidacy is in full swing. After four games played she leads the league averaging 29.5 points per game, shooting an incredibly efficient 56.2 % from the field in addition to accumulating 47 fantasy points, second to only A’ja Wilson.

Absent from the Mystics’ initial injury report, Sykes is a late scratch for Friday’s game. That’s a massive loss for Washington, as the veteran guard has played at a high level to begin the season. Jade Melbourne will replace Sykes in the starting lineup and is worth streaming in fantasy leagues. She joins Sug Sutton, Sonia Citron, Kiki Iriafen and Stefanie Dolson as starters.

While the Lynx continue to list Smith on their pregame injury reports, she has not missed a game since the season opener. The veteran forward’s playing time has increased, as she logged 29 minutes in Wednesday’s win over Dallas after playing 17 in her season debut. Reserve Jessica Shepard’s playing time decreased, as she logged 19 minutes against the Wings. Look for a similar minutes split on Friday.

Bueckers began the game intentionally playmaking to get backcourt partner Arike Ogunbowale more open shots after Ogunbowale struggled to make shots on Monday night against the Storm. She assisted on seven total treys including five made by Ogunbowale. Bueckers’ shooting, however, was a different story. Her six first-half shots just didn’t go down as she started the game 1-for-6 from the field. But Bueckers got more aggressive in the second half on drives to the basket and took advantage of Minnesota’s physical defense. She got to the line three times in the third and put a third of her total points on the board as a result. Bueckers reached double-digit scoring with 6:31 left in the fourth when she made a 27-foot smooth three-pointer that got the Wings within seven points. Her 10th assist came with 39 seconds left in regulation when she found Ogunbowale for a wide open three to drive the Lynx lead down to two.

After a poor performance shooting 2-of-14 from the field and only scoring eight points on Monday night against the Storm, Ogunbowale had a bounce back game. Paige Bueckers was intentional on setting Ogunbowale up early on in the first quarter on wide open looks from the perimeter. In the second quarter, Ogunbowale facilitated more with the ball in her hands rather than scoring off the ball. While more of Ogunbowale’s shots fell than on Monday, her scoring wasn’t efficient. With 39 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Ogunbowale’s wide open trey on yet another Bueckers pass got the Wings within two points. But on the ensuing play on the other side, Ogunbowale made a defensive error, intentionally fouling Napheesa Collier too soon, which forced Collier to the line when she didn’t need to. Those final two throws put the Lynx up for good.

Leading MVP candidate Collier sealed a win for her team by hitting her final two free throws of the night with 17.5 seconds remaining in fourth quarter. She made six trips to the line on Thursday night and didn’t miss a single free throw. After scoring only 8 points in the first half, Collier exploded for 12 in the third quarter alone only missing one of her six third quarter shots. Dallas did their best to limit her shot attempts in the fourth, but Collier’s ability to draw contract was too overpowering as she made one field goal and six free throws in the final quarter. Most of Collier’s made looks came inside the paint either in space driving to the rim, or were wide open shots in her mid-range. None of her three shots from deep fell, but that didn’t matter for Collier as she still found a way to put the ball in the basket when it mattered most for her team.

Johannes’ decision was significant for France and the New York Liberty. While the reigning WNBA champions will retain the services of one of their key reserves, France will be without another talented contributor as it looks to improve upon its third-place finish in 2023. Seattle’s Gabby Williams and Dominique Malonga have also opted out of representing France, having done so just before the start of the WNBA season. France, which won silver at last summer’s Olympics in Paris, last won gold at the Women’s EuroBasket in 2009.