Team Heat Check: Minnesota Lynx Run Hot, Toronto Tempo Run Cold (WNBA)

Form is the story the standings tell slowly and the last ten games tell fast. Right now the fast version of WNBA is easy to summarize: Minnesota Lynx are rolling, Toronto Tempo are reeling, and the gap between those two feelings is enormous.

The warm end of the table

Start with Minnesota Lynx. They have won 10 of their last 10, and they have not been sneaking past anyone: the points margin over that stretch is +102, which breaks down to about 98.7 scored and 88.5 allowed per game. That is the arithmetic of a team winning on merit, not on bounces.

Right behind them sit Indiana Fever, 9-1 over the same kind of stretch and +124 on points margin, quieter, but pointed the same direction.

Keep Golden State Valkyries in the conversation too, at 8-2 over their last 10.

For scale, the league as a whole is averaging 89.9 points a game over this window, Minnesota Lynx are clearing that bar by 8.8 a night all on their own.

The cold end

Then there is Toronto Tempo. A 1-9 stretch is ugly on its own; pair it with a -145 points margin and it stops looking like bad luck. They are being outscored by about 14.5 points a game, and no scheduling quirk explains that away.

Seattle Storm (1-9) share the cold row, for whatever comfort that provides.

Do not ignore the middle class, either: Las Vegas Aces (5-5) and New York Liberty (5-5) sit close enough that a single hot or cold series flips their order.

At a glance

The top of the ledger, at a glance:

Worth remembering

One reading tip before you go: points margin travels better than record. A fat margin with a modest record usually means the wins are coming; the reverse usually means they are not.

Next up on the slate: Minnesota Lynx against Portland Fire. Check back after that one goes final.