WNBA Heat Check
Team Heat Check: Atlanta Dream Run Hot, Toronto Tempo Run Cold (WNBA)
Published
Every WNBA season has a week when the temperature map redraws itself, and this feels like one of them. Atlanta Dream have become the team nobody wants to see next on the schedule, while Toronto Tempo are hunting for anything that resembles a good night.
Burning up
Atlanta Dream own the league's best recent ledger at 9-1, and the +123 points margin underneath it says the record is earned. Per game the numbers read 97.3 for and 85.0 against, a gap that does not happen by accident across 10 games.
Minnesota Lynx are the closest thing to company at 9-1, with a +89 points margin that says the record is no fluke.
Indiana Fever (8-2) round out the warm end of the ledger.
The whole league is averaging 87.9 points a game in this stretch, which makes Atlanta Dream outrunning that number by 9.4 per night the loudest stat on the page.
The cold end
Toronto Tempo are the cold front. They have gone 1-9 over their last 10, and the -119 margin underneath means the losses have not even been close, roughly 11.9 points a game the wrong way.
Los Angeles Sparks are not far behind on the misery index at 1-9.
Do not ignore the middle class, either: Dallas Wings (5-5) and Las Vegas Aces (5-5) sit close enough that a single hot or cold series flips their order.
The board
The top of the ledger, at a glance:
| Team | Last 10 | Points +/- |
|---|---|---|
| Atlanta Dream | 9-1 | +123 |
| Minnesota Lynx | 9-1 | +89 |
| Indiana Fever | 8-2 | +73 |
| Washington Mystics | 7-3 | +43 |
| New York Liberty | 7-3 | +39 |
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: Atlanta Dream meet Portland Fire in their next game, and we will find out quickly whether this stretch travels.