UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) – With All-Star weekend finished, the WNBA turns its attention to the second half of the season.
The sprint to the playoffs and the WNBA championship will most likely hinge on which team can stay the healthiest. Minnesota is leading the Western Conference right now, but the Lynx are without two of their three All-Stars as Lindsay Whalen and Seimone Augustus are sidelined with injuries.
Whalen, who hurt her eye last week, should be back soon. Augustus is out until mid-August while recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery.
“I like where we are and I like our mindset, how we’ve handled the adversity,” said Maya Moore, who was the MVP of the league’s All-Star contest. “We’ll keep pushing through and get better. We’d love to have everyone healthy. For now, we’ll go with what we got and I like what we have.”
Los Angeles is sitting in last in the conference, but the Sparks are going to get a big boost this week with the return of Candace Parker. The two-time league MVP sat out the first half of the season to rest her body. She returns to a team that is only 1 1/2 games out of the playoffs.