WNBA Heat Check, Minnesota Lynx 10-0 in Their Last 10

Ten games is not a season, but it is a mood, and moods decide a lot of games. The current mood around WNBA: Minnesota Lynx keep winning, Los Angeles Sparks keep losing, and everybody else lives somewhere in the weather between.

Who's hot

Nobody is playing better than Minnesota Lynx right now. The record says 10-0 over their last 10; the points column says even more, a +102 margin that works out to 97.0 scored and 86.8 allowed a night.

Indiana Fever are the closest thing to company at 9-1, with a +102 points margin that says the record is no fluke.

Keep Atlanta Dream in the conversation too, at 8-2 over their last 10.

The whole league is averaging 88.9 points a game in this stretch, which makes Minnesota Lynx outrunning that number by 8.1 per night the loudest stat on the page.

Who's cold

Then there is Los Angeles Sparks. A 0-10 stretch is ugly on its own; pair it with a -75 points margin and it stops looking like bad luck. They are being outscored by about 7.5 points a game, and no scheduling quirk explains that away.

They have company at the cold end: Toronto Tempo, 1-9 over the same window.

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

The board

For the fuller picture, the five best recent records in the league:

One more thing

As always, watch where record and points margin tell different stories about the same club. The margin tends to know first.

Next up on the slate: Minnesota Lynx against Golden State Valkyries. Check back after that one goes final.