{"id":664471,"date":"2026-05-25T17:46:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T17:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/664471\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T17:46:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T17:46:11","slug":"five-things-i-like-week-two-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/664471\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Things I Like: Week Two 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Golden State Valkyries\u2019 major success in Year 1 of their franchise\u2019s existence was considered an anomaly. They were the first expansion team to make the postseason in their very first season, and they looked like a legitimate threat to the order of things before injuries hampered them down the stretch.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Surely no one expects the WNBA\u2019s other two new franchises in 2026, the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo, to make similar noise\u2026right?<\/p>\n

Believe it or not, but the Tempo and Fire are crawling up the standings. Toronto, which had its heart snatched by the Washington Mystics in their home opener, has since looked like a well-oiled machine thanks to high-flying performances from Brittney Sykes and Marina Mabrey. The Fire also just can\u2019t stop being clutch, with Sarah Ashlee Barker becoming a typical feature for the Fire in the 4th quarter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

These teams\u2019 victories over the last week, plus a surprising standings riser, a rookie arrival on a national stage, and more, all shaped up an exciting week of WNBA action.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tempo and Fire Finding Their Groove
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Sarah Ashlee Barker #3 of the Portland Fire<\/p>\n

Neither of the expansion franchises was really expected to make noise this season, but they\u2019ve quickly established their respective cultures, which have helped them maintain some momentum in the standings. Toronto\u2019s victory over the Phoenix Mercury this past week was most impressive, led by Sykes and Mabrey\u2019s 30+ point performances. Despite some thinned-out frontcourt depth, they managed to keep up defensive pressure behind rookie Kiki Rice\u2019s two steals in that game and 27 team defensive rebounds.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Portland\u2019s most impressive win of the week came against the Connecticut Sun. While the Sun are struggling this year, that contest went down to the wire. And, once again, Barker was a huge piece of that victory. Her 18 points \u2013 plus a clutch bucket from Sug Sutton \u2013 propelled the Fire to a win over the Sun.<\/p>\n

Both teams are finding ways to succeed with their brand-new coaches and teammates. It just goes to show how much talent is lurking in this league when two more expansion franchises are finding success so early in their tenures.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Los Angeles with a Spark<\/p>\n

Kelsey Plum was on the road to an MVP-caliber season in 2025 prior to Los Angeles\u2019 slippage in the standings, thanks to numerous injuries to starters. This season, with a healthy Cameron Brink in tow in addition to the return of Nneka Ogwumike to the team, they\u2019ve begun to look like the very team that Plum was leading last season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Three-point shooting was an area of concern for Los Angeles last season, so their 37.1 percent shooting percentage this season \u2013 a league-best \u2013 should be cause for celebration. They\u2019ve been moving the ball well early on this season, too, with an average of 20.8 assists per game. With Ogwumike back on the floor, their shooting percentages should reach even greater heights. The spacing created by Plum, Rae Burrell, and Ogwumike can open things up for Brink and Dearica Hamby in the front court.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve begun rising up the standings behind Plum\u2019s lights-out shooting, and just sealed a hugely impressive win over the Las Vegas Aces this past week. Los Angeles seems to have finally found their groove behind a healthy frontcourt and with some help around Plum.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Most Dangerous Teams in Transition\u00a0
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

NaLyssa Smith #3 and A\u2019ja Wilson #22 of the Las Vegas Aces<\/p>\n

Being able to take advantage of opposing defenses through an efficient transition offense can make or break a win. It\u2019s no coincidence, then, that some of the top teams in the league are also some of the fastest.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Aces led all teams in PACE this week, which measures how many possessions a team has over 40 minutes of a game. This means they\u2019re controlling the tempo, making teams pay for not securing boards, and using their speedier, sharper guards alongside their talented frontcourt to create a juggernaut offense.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A surprising team sitting just behind Las Vegas in pace is Chicago (99.60). They\u2019ve found the perfect key to unlock their own frontcourt in Skylar Diggins, who\u2019s averaging a team-high 5.4 assists per game so far this year. Just behind her is another speedy guard in Natasha Cloud, who helps to push the Sky\u2019s pace. We shouldn\u2019t be shocked that they\u2019re remaining steadily around .500 or higher this year, given this potent aspect to their offense.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Indiana is, of course, a huge threat in this area thanks to Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell running the show. Both are great at pushing the pace in transition, but the team is only averaging 8.8 fast break points per game this season despite that top pace. Getting more efficient with those opportunities should open the door for the Fever to start winning more consistently.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Azzi Fudd\u2019s Barclays takeover<\/p>\n

Anyone who watched Fudd during her time at UConn knows that she has one of the most consistent jumpers in basketball, period. Once she finds her stroke, it\u2019s difficult to contain the offensive explosion that could come along with that click.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The New York Liberty just experienced that first-hand on Sunday afternoon against the Dallas Wings. Fudd entered the contest averaging just 8.4 points per game and just 2.2 three-point attempts per game. Thanks to some poor zone defense and overhelping from New York in the 3rd quarter of their game, Fudd managed to get off five made threes en route to a 17-point frame. She had a career-high 24 points and was the most confident on the floor that she\u2019s been since joining the Wings and the league. If this is a sign of things to come for her role with Dallas, they could be set for a huge swing up the standings.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Atlanta Stays on Top\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Dream lost a critical matchup to the Aces at the very start of the WNBA season\u2026and simply haven\u2019t lost again. Atlanta is atop the standings right now with a 4-1 record, thanks to their average of 13.6 second-chance points per game and a league-leading 41.6 rebounds per game. Te-Hina Paopao and Rhyne Howard have been providing the Dream their pop from three-point range, while Jordin Canada\u2019s health has been paramount \u2013 the guard is averaging 51.1 from the field along with 7.2 assists per game and 2.8 steals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To no one\u2019s surprise, Angel Reese has begun to find her way with the Dream, leading the team in rebounding and blocks. Her impact, alongside Canada\u2019s, has helped the team reach a 98.3 defensive rating through five contests. This team has the tools for sustainable success on both sides of the floor, although Atlanta\u2019s two biggest flaws right now include their turnovers and Allisha Gray not having found her stroke from three-point range just yet to kick off this season. Once both of those things are cleaned up, the Dream could have a stranglehold on the standings for much of this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Their wins over the Mercury, Wings, and Minnesota Lynx show that this early-year success is no fluke. If they can just find another gear on offense, they\u2019ll become even scarier as contenders. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Golden State Valkyries\u2019 major success in Year 1 of their franchise\u2019s existence was considered an anomaly. They…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":664472,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":["post-664471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/664471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=664471"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/664471\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/664472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=664471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=664471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=664471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}