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Preview: Fever host Aces, Wings host Mercury in first two Tuesday games

Here’s how to watch and what to look for as two games with vastly different storylines play out.

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Los Angeles Sparks v Phoenix Mercury - Game Three Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Will this finally be the game that turns things around for the winless Fever—or will it instead turn things around for the Aces? And can the Phoenix Mercury put together a sixth straight win against the team with the newly-crowned top scorer in the league? Read on to find out more.

Indiana Fever (0-8) vs. Las Vegas Aces (1-7)

When: Tuesday, June 12 at 7 p.m. ET

Where: Bankers Life Fieldhouse | TICKETS

How to watch: WNBA League Pass (worldwide streaming)

Injuries: For the Fever, Candice Dupree (knee) is questionable and Shenice Johnson (knee) is out indefinitely. For the Aces, Moriah Jefferson (knee) and Nia Coffey (ankle) are out indefinitely.

Storyline to follow

One of these teams will win a game! For real! Indiana came close against New York over the weekend, but was upended by a last-second three-pointer. They also came close against Dallas in their previous game. Meanwhile, the Aces’ sole win came at home against Washington in a 12-point game, but they slipped back into their old ways and come into this matchup on a three-game losing streak (though the losses have been much closer than some earlier in the season). Both teams are led in scoring by a rookie—A’ja Wilson for the Aces and Kelsey Mitchell for the Fever—and both teams allow more than 85 points per game while scoring fewer than 80. As the bottom two teams in the league right now, it’s time to find out how similar the Fever and the Aces really are, even if it means Indiana taking its first win of the season and leaving both squads with identical 1-8 records.


Dallas Wings (4-3) vs. Phoenix Mercury (7-3)

When: Tuesday, June 12 at 8 p.m. ET

Where: College Park Center | TICKETS

How to watch: Twitter (worldwide streaming) | FOX Sports Southwest Plus (Dallas-area TV)

Injuries: For the Wings, Theresa Plaisance (knee) is out indefinitely. The Mercury have no injuries to report.

Storylines to follow

Hail to the queen: Thanks to her career-high 35-point performance against the Fever on Friday, Skylar Diggins-Smith is now the WNBA leader in points per game at 23.0. She and teammate Liz Cambage (No. 5 on the scoring list with 20.4) combined for nearly 60 points in that game, helping put away an Indiana team that wouldn’t quite go away. Diggins-Smith and Cambage will need to have big nights once more to combat the likes of Brittney Griner and Diana Taurasi, another top-10 scoring pair that combined for 44 points in their last outing. And speaking of Griner...

Hail to the queen, part two: ...she’s the WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week, thanks to her league-leading 63.6 percent shooting and 4 blocks per game in the Mercury’s three wins last week. She’s also third on the scoring list with 21.1 points per game. Both of these teams have demonstrated their power of late, with their reliable scorers coming up huge when their talent is needed most. While their first meeting in both teams’ regular-season opener went the Mercury’s way in a 86-78 contest, with the recent dominance in pairs on display, this game could truly go either way.

Phoenix Mercury tWWWWWitter: Does anyone else kind of want Phoenix to win out, just to see how absurd(ly hilarious) their team Twitter account’s display name gets? Something to watch going forward.