Indeed, the Mystics lost their first game after the All-Star break, 93-86 to the Los Angeles Sparks, to fall to 11-12 overall. But Johnson saw some encouraging signs on offense in that game, and in the four games since, the Mystics have built on them.
Since the All-Star break, the Mystics are scoring 101.0 points per 100 possessions, 3.9 points better than before the break. They’ve been more effective offensively in both their wins and their losses.
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They’ve done that through better ball movement: They’re averaging 2.6 more assists and 2.2 fewer turnovers per game than they did before the break. And though they led the WNBA in free throws made and attempted per game before the break, they’re near the middle of the pack since then. That could reflect a tighter whistle from the officials or better defending from opponents, but it could also indicate less reliance on one-on-one offense and more emphasis on ball movement.
“We’re really hard to guard when we share the ball and we’re able to move the ball,” point guard Sug Sutton told reporters after a win over the Seattle Storm on July 26. “We can get whatever we want.”
The Mystics have also started games better since the All-Star break. Before the break, they scored about 90 points per 100 possessions in the first and second quarters and over 100 in the last two. Since the break, they’ve improved in each of the first three quarters but tailed off in the fourth. (That drop-off may be partly due to their unforgiving schedule, which featured four games in six days ending on Thursday.)
Offensive rating is points scored per 100 possessions. Source: WNBA Stats
Part of why the Mystics are improving offensively is simply that they’re working on it more lately. Assistant coach Emre Vatansever, the team’s offensive coordinator, is trying to prepare the players for new ways opponents will guard them now that they know more about the Mystics’ tendencies individually and as a team. And the coaches are spending a lot of time teaching not only which reads players can make in the flow of the offense, but also why those reads are the right ones in certain situations.
“There’s a learning curve in terms of understanding, OK, now you’ve kind of set a nice basis for what you can do individually and as a team. And now you get scouted and it’s like, oh, those first one or two looks that you have normally gotten, those are gone, and it’s now Look 3 and Look 4 and Look 5,” Johnson told reporters before facing Seattle on July 26. “… We’re here to support them and help them figure that out. And [that] has to happen for us to try to continue to have the success that we want.”
“It’s definitely been an adjustment,” rookie forward Kiki Iriafen told The Next before a game against the Golden State Valkyries on Thursday. “I think for me, [it’s] just staying with it, trusting the process, understanding that maybe what worked in the first half of the season isn’t going to necessarily work now. … I think patience is a virtue, so that’s what I’ve been embodying.”
Washington Mystics guard Sug Sutton (1) shoots the ball during a game against the Phoenix Mercury at CareFirst Arena in Washington, D.C., on July 27, 2025. (Photo credit: Domenic Allegra | The Next)
Another reason the offense is running more smoothly is that Sutton and fellow point guard Jade Melbourne have seemingly hit their stride in Johnson’s system. The 26-year-old Sutton, who was the final pick in the 2020 WNBA Draft, is in her first season as a full-time starter and is shooting career-best percentages from the field (44.9%) and from 3-point range (40.8%). She is averaging 7.5 points per game and has scored in double figures nine times, including a 13-point performance against Seattle.
Meanwhile, the 22-year-old Melbourne is averaging career highs of 6.3 points and 2.7 assists in 23.3 minutes per game off the bench. She is shooting 39.3% from the field and 33.3% from 3-point range in her third WNBA season. One night after Sutton’s performance against Seattle, Melbourne had 13 points and four assists in a loss to the Phoenix Mercury.
“I’ve been watching a lot of film with [assistant coach] Jessie [Miller],” Melbourne told reporters after Sunday’s game, “and just trying to take ownership of the offense, just minor details I wasn’t setting up maybe earlier in the season. Now I’m creating more advantages off screens and … just trying to find gaps.”
“[Sutton and Melbourne] really set the tone for this group, how they want to play offensively,” Phoenix head coach Nate Tibbetts told reporters before Sunday’s game.
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The Mystics’ offensive improvements haven’t always been obvious on the scoreboard, but the coaches see them coming piece by piece. Against Seattle and Phoenix, the Mystics scored just 69 and 72 points, respectively. But Johnson liked how they strung together better passes, even though the shots didn’t fall.
“[That was] some of our best basketball offensively these two games,” Johnson said after the Phoenix game. “It’s outstanding. … Their openness and willingness to try to find the solutions and respond to film — and they’re saying to me, ‘Coach, hold us accountable. We want to keep pushing.’ I don’t know if I could ask for anything more.”
On Tuesday — the team’s third game in four days — the Mystics’ progress was more obvious, as they scored 103 points on 50.7% shooting in a win over the Chicago Sky. They had 25 assists, matching their season high, against only 10 turnovers. The beneficiaries were often Iriafen and fellow All-Star rookie Sonia Citron, who had career highs of 22 and 28 points, respectively. It was the first time in franchise history that two rookies each scored 20 or more points in the same game.
Washington Mystics guard Sonia Citron (right) uses a screen from forward Kiki Iriafen (left) during a game against the Dallas Wings at CareFirst Arena in Washington, D.C., on June 22, 2025. (Photo credit: Domenic Allegra | The Next)
Looking back at that game on Thursday, Johnson pointed out how Citron has improved at handling the physicality with which defenders are guarding her and how Iriafen has responded to double-teams by looking to the offensive glass to jumpstart her scoring.
“They’re just kind of working their way through cracking the code,” he said, “and I think that’s impressive as rookies.”
The Mystics are also showing some signs of diversifying the offense, though that’s still a work in progress. Before the All-Star break, a league-high 58% of their shots came in the paint, and a league-low 26% were 3-pointers. Since the break, their share of paint shots hasn’t budged, but they’ve attempted 24 3-pointers in each of their past two games. That tied their season high, yet it’s still below the WNBA average this season of 24.4 3-point attempts per game.
The Mystics’ uptick in 3-point shooting is partly because opponents are locked in on keeping them out of the paint. Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase summed up that mindset before facing the Mystics on Thursday, saying, “They space really well, but at the end of the day, they really want to get to the paint. … So it’s really about protecting the paint and not fouling.”
Against the Valkyries, the Mystics shot 2-for-14 from behind the arc in the first half but 5-for-10 in the second. Johnson saw progress in that, too: His players got good looks in the first half and didn’t make them, but they stayed confident enough to hit them in the second. Citron epitomized that, going 0-for-3 in the first half but 2-for-3 in the second.
The Mystics aren’t suddenly going to become one of the WNBA’s best 3-point shooting teams late in the season. But continuing to take those shots should be enough to pull defenses away from the paint and give the Mystics more room to operate there.
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Overall, the Mystics are gradually improving offensively, and the results are starting to show over the last five games. But they are still looking for consistency for 40 minutes and from game to game, which is often one of the toughest challenges for a young team.
The Mystics became known early in the season for their comebacks, with seven of their 11 wins before the All-Star break coming after trailing by 10 points or more. They nearly did it again against Golden State on Thursday, turning a 17-point deficit into a 1-point lead in the fourth quarter before losing by a point.
“We just kind of focus on trying to play at our level,” Johnson said after that game. “… So I think that that translates to these moments where, ‘It’s OK, we’re down 14, but let’s … try to get to what we do.’ And it has shown a lot, and it’s a really good feeling.
“You’re gonna win some of those, which we have, and that’s a good feeling. You’re going to lose some of those, and it’s a little bitter. But it’s good to stay true to yourself.”
Washington Mystics center/forward Shakira Austin (left) and guard Jade Melbourne (5) celebrate a win over the Las Vegas Aces at EagleBank Arena in Fairfax, Va., on July 10, 2025. (Photo credit: Domenic Allegra | The Next)
Ultimately, as the Mystics sit in ninth place in the WNBA standings with a 13-14 record, whether they make the playoffs might come down to how much more they improve on offense. For the full season, they rank fifth in the league defensively with 100.2 points allowed per 100 possessions, but they’re only 11th in points scored per 100 possessions.
And while missing the playoffs would give them a chance at the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft, getting playoff experience would help their young players further grow and develop, which has been a goal all season.
“You want to go out there and play to win and show the growth that you have every single day,” Johnson said on July 26. “And so then wherever that leads, it leads. … You can take a lot of learning from making the playoffs. You can take a lot of learning from striving to be in the playoff hunt. …
“We want to be playing relevant basketball all the way up to [when the regular season ends on] Sept. 9. And then what happens, happens.”
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