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Open Thread: Three Games from afternoon to the night starting at 3:30 PM ET

Three games including an afternoon game on ABC, plus two more this evening on LiveAccess.

Nate was sky high on Lindsey Moore before the draft.  Thank you Getty Images feed for getting more rookies in current uniforms!
Nate was sky high on Lindsey Moore before the draft. Thank you Getty Images feed for getting more rookies in current uniforms!
USA TODAY Sports

1. Phoenix Mercury (0-3) at Indiana Fever (1-2), 3:30 PM ET

Who would have thought that the Mercury would be 0-3 right now with double digit losses? Not me. DT and the gang head to Bankers Life Fieldhouse to play the Defending Champs, who also haven't started 2013 off right either, on this nationally televised game. I'll say that Phoenix should win on paper.

2. Minnesota Lynx (2-0) at Washington Mystics (2-1), 7:00 PM ET

If you're in the DC area (within 75 miles), you must log onto Monumental Network to watch the game.

Seimone Augustus, Lindsay Whalen, Maya Moore and the Minnesota Lynx face off against Mike Thibault and the Washington Mystics on the road. The Mystics already had a preseason match not too long ago against the Lynx and were blown out, and to be honest, I don't think they have the talent to win this game on paper but then again, they are 2-1.

With Lynx guard Sugar Rodgers at Georgetown University for commencement exercises when the preseason game happened, she finally completes a storyline of rookies playing against their hometown or regional teams. Even in a story last year with Georgetown University, she did have some desire to play here in DC for what it's worth. Also, Lynx forward Rebekkah Brunson is from this area and went to Georgetown. Expect a higher than normal group of fans from Healy Hall tonight.

This will also be a match where Mystics guard and Minneapolis native Tayler Hill, gets a chance to shine against her local team when she was a little girl. But I'm not that confident that she's going to get a chance to do much and I fear signs at the end of the game that say: "COACH THIBAULT! YOU SHOULD HAVE DRAFTED SUGAR AT #4!" Those same fans may have conveniently forgotten that the player pictured above was drafted a couple spots above Rodgers and also has promise if on the right team but she also hasn't done much yet.

I hope I'm proven wrong on that though so I'm opti-MYSTIC that Hill will have a good performance tonight.

3. Tulsa Shock (1-4) at Los Angeles Sparks (1-1), 10:30 PM ET

The Shock got a much needed win yesterday vs. a depleted Storm team with a coach who looks like a glorified version of Trudi Lacey at this point..... But the reward is a match against a Sparks team that figures to be a player in the WNBA playoff race and possibly beyond this season. On paper, I think the Shock will lose, but if Skylar Diggins can have another good day at the office, Candice Wiggins can have another strong shooting night, and Glory Johnson continues her strong play this season, I wouldn't be shocked to see the Shock win either.

The "Random" SB Nation songs of the day...

...Brought to you by Diet Coke!

These guys must have enjoyed "22" even more than I ever did - and Queenie implied that this isn't because I like Tayler Hill:

A lot of you seem to not like Taylor Swift, (who may very well be the Queen of Pop this decade), but I'm not playing her music today because Tayler Hill is playing. Really, this is just too good to pass up and I wanted to put it Thursday but I held off until now. I saw this tweet, which was brought to my attention from Nate earlier this week:

And I found that he had some vines showing him singing along to Swift's songs! Really, Oklahoma City Thunder franchise guard Russell Westbrook has been rehabbing from a torn meniscus hat he suffered in the playoffs, and he's using his crutches to make an air guitar and sing along!

First with "22", the song that makes us old timers all wish we were that age again! Just press the unmute button to see him sing. I kept it muted out of consideration to those of you who aren't Swifties like Mr. Westbrook is.

This "22" snippet isn't a fluke though. Westbrook also played another one of her songs, "Stay, Stay, Stay" which is the opposite of her bumper crop of break up songs - and "Stay, Stay, Stay" isn't a single on the radio if I'm not mistaken:

Russell Westbrook has just earned himself a lot more fans - especially Taylor Swift fanatics. On August 7, Swift heads to the BOK Center in relatively nearby Tulsa. Maybe he gets to meet her? Just saying...

And while we're I'm still in Taylor-mode, here's her latest music video, "Everything Has Changed" featuring British pop/folk singer Ed Sheeran. The video was released just a couple days ago.

Awwww... I almost cried watching it.

So that's it folks! Enjoy the games!