On September 18, Beijing time, the WNBA regular season continued, and Sunshine played against the Bobcats at home in a strong dialogue.
The Sunshine are 3rd in the league with 27 wins and 11 losses, scoring 80 points per game and conceding 74 points per game, with a 13-5 home record.
The Bobcats are 29-9 and ranked second in the league, scoring 82.9 points per game and conceding 75.8 points per game, with a 13-6 record on the road.
Sunshine's 71-84 loss to the Aces in the last game ended their three-game winning streak, with 6 wins and 4 losses in the last 10 games.
In the game against the Aces, the Sunshine had only three players in double figures, with Marbury scoring 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting, Jones scoring 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting, and Harris scoring 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting.
The Sunshine is a relatively scattered team, with six players averaging double-doubles per game this season, Bonner is averaging 15.3 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, Marbury is averaging 14.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4 assists per game, Jones is averaging 14.1 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, Thomas is averaging 10.3 points, 8.5 rebounds, 7.9 assists and 1.6 steals per game, Harris is averaging 10.4 points per game and Carrington is averaging 12.7 points and 4.9 rebounds per game.
The Bobcats are on a six-game winning streak after beating the Liberty 88-79 in their last game, with 9 wins and 1 loss in their last 10 games.
In the game with the liberty, the Bobcats had more points, and the team scored five double-doubles, Carlton scored 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting, Collier had 18 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and three steals on 8-of-13 shooting, Williams contributed 15 points and five assists, Allen had 12 points, and McBride had 11 points and six assists.
Collier is the absolute core of the Bobcats, averaging 20.3 points, 9.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.9 steals and 1.3 blocks per game this season. Marksman McBride is averaging 15 points per game. Courtney Williams is averaging 11.3 points and 5.5 assists per game, Smith is averaging 10.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game, Carlton is averaging 9.9 points per game and Allen is averaging 7.7 points per game.
In terms of injuries, most of the players from both teams are available, with only Bobcats returning center Juhaz doubtful with a foot injury.
With the last 2 rounds left in the regular season, Sunshine is 2 wins behind the Bobcats, and the Sunshine only has a chance to continue to compete for the 2nd place by beating the Bobcats in this game, and the Bobcats will lock up the 2nd place if they win, even if they lose this game, they can get the 2nd place by beating the spark at the bottom of the league in the final round.
For Sunshine, even if it is extremely difficult to compete for second place, there is no reason to give up on playing at home in this game.
The Bobcats and Sunshine are both two defensive teams, with the Sunshine conceding an average of 74 points per game and the Bobcats conceding 75.8 points per game, making them the two teams with the fewest points in the league this season.
There is not much difference in the overall strength of the two teams, and the overall state of the Bobcats has been excellent recently, but this game Sunshine is playing at home, and the two sides have played each other twice this season, and Sunshine has defeated Bobcats in all of them. On the whole, this is a close game, and it depends on who will play on the spot.