WNBA Heat Check, Atlanta Dream 9-1 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: Atlanta Dream keep winning, Toronto Tempo keep losing, and everybody else lives somewhere in the weather between.

The warm end of the table

Start with Atlanta Dream. They have won 9 of their last 10, and they have not been sneaking past anyone: the points margin over that stretch is +123, which breaks down to about 97.3 scored and 85.0 allowed per game. That is the arithmetic of a team winning on merit, not on bounces.

Minnesota Lynx are the closest thing to company at 9-1, with a +89 points margin that says the record is no fluke.

Keep Indiana Fever in the conversation too, at 8-2 over their last 10.

For scale, the league as a whole is averaging 88.1 points a game over this window, Atlanta Dream are clearing that bar by 9.2 a night all on their own.

The cold end

At the bottom of the temperature map sit Toronto Tempo: 1-9 in their last 10, -126 on points margin. That is about 12.6 a game in the wrong direction, and no lineup shuffle fixes it overnight.

Los Angeles Sparks (1-9) share the cold row, for whatever comfort that provides.

In between the extremes it gets crowded, Dallas Wings at 5-5 and Las Vegas Aces at 5-5 are basically sharing a seat, and the next series either way will split them.

The board

Here is the warm half of the form table, last ten games for every club:

One more thing

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

One to circle: Toronto Tempo meet Seattle Storm in their next game, and we will find out quickly whether this stretch travels.