The Toronto Tempo have officially missed the playoffs and extend their losing streak to 12 games after falling 93-82 to the Washington Mystics on Wednesday August 19th.
Playing on the second night of a back-to-back and missing four key players in Mabrey, Conde, Sabally and Sykes, the Tempo still managed to keep things competitive for most of the night.
We break down the good, bad, and outlook from this game.
The Good
Playing back-to-back games is rough, especially while missing four key players, but the team stepped up and came out strong against the Mystics. Toronto kept the game close in the first quarter, trailing by only one after 10 minutes.
Kiki Rice showed some serious hustle, tying her career high with 19 points while shooting 5-of-9 from the field and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. She was attacking the paint, finishing through contact and generally looking more confident out there.
It felt like she had some serious Slim vibes going on, and she commented in the presser, “I was sitting next to Slim a lot on the bench, so she’s just constantly giving me feedback, encouraging me, telling me what I need to do out there.”
Morrow finished with 13 points and eight rebounds despite being limited by early foul trouble. I am loving what she brings to the team. She upped the physicality to the level expected from the Mystics and didn’t back down.
There were some decent team numbers as well. The Tempo shot 40.7% from three and committed only eight turnovers. Ignoring the second quarter (which is admittedly doing a lot of work here) they played a pretty solid game despite being so shorthanded.
The Bad
Unfortunately, we can’t actually ignore the second quarter.
The Tempo scored only nine points, the lowest-scoring quarter in franchise history. A one-point game after the first suddenly became a 14-point deficit at halftime.
The other big issue was rebounding. Washington outrebounded Toronto 43-27 and absolutely crushed them in second-chance points, 23-7. With Sabally and Conde both out, the lack of size was pretty obvious.
Morrow brought some of the physicality we needed, but getting into foul trouble early limited her minutes at a time when the team desperately needed her on the floor.
And of course, the losing streak has now reached 12 games and the Tempo have officially been eliminated from playoff contention.
The Outlook
Missing the playoffs is disappointing, but not unexpected. Not every expansion team is going to come out as strong as the Valkyries did last season, and that’s ok.
At this point, we need to focus on the team’s development and health. Rice continues to look like a huge part of the team’s future, and I really like what we’ve seen from Morrow since she arrived.
Next up, the Tempo head to Vancouver as part of the team’s Cross-Canada Series to host Portland. Toronto is 0-2 against the Fire this season, so hopefully the energy in Rogers Arena can help them finally grab their first win against their fellow expansion team.
Based on the games in Montreal and the general hype for the Tempo across Canada, expect this one to be packed!