Prior to the Connecticut Sun's win over the Minnesota Lynx last week, there had been five games in WNBA history in which a player recorded 16 assists. Alysaa Thomas made it six, as she finished with 16 points, nine rebounds and a franchise-record 16 assists in her best outing of the season.
The three-time All-Star has been a two-way force for a number of seasons now, but she's operating as a one-woman wrecking crew this summer, the likes of which has rarely been seen in the league.
Through seven games, she's averaging 14.4 points, 11.6 rebounds and 6.9 assists, the latter two of which are both career-highs. She leads the league in rebounding, is third in assists, and as of now is on pace to join Candace Parker as the only other player to ever average at least 14 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for a season.
Thomas is just relentless with her desire to push the pace, attack the paint and crash the glass. And defensively, she's as physical as they come. She doesn't play the most aesthetically pleasing brand of basketball, but her methods are highly effective.
With more than two weeks gone now, the Sun are sitting in second place at 6-1, and Thomas is one of the leading candidates of the (admittedly too early) MVP discussion. Thanks to their dynamic forward, the Sun have not taken a step back despite losing Jonquel Jones in the winter.
Now, on to this week's Power Rankings:
1. Las Vegas Aces (6-0) -- Last week No. 1
The Aces survived a few scares this week, holding off a late surge by the Dream before completing a fourth-quarter comeback of their own to take down the Fever. But while those contests may not have been as pretty as their first four, they did enough to maintain their perfect record. They now have the longest winning streak to start a season since the Lynx opened up 9-0 in 2017; the all-time record is the Lynx's 13-0 start in 2016.
2. Connecticut Sun (6-1) -- Last week No. 3
The Sun may not always play the prettiest or most entertaining basketball, but they just keep on racking up wins. They added two of them this week to improve to 6-1, which is second only to the undefeated Aces. Alyssa Thomas, who set a franchise record with 16 assists in their win over the Lynx, continues to do it all. She's on pace to join Candace Parker as the only players in WNBA history to average at least 14 points, 10 rebounds and six assists per game for a season.
3. New York Liberty (4-2) -- Last week No. 2
All of the excitement of Breanna Stewart's game-winning jumper to beat the Sky early in the week was forgotten when the Liberty blew a 19-point lead in the second half against the same opponent on Sunday. That collapse, and their continued inconsistency on both sides of the ball, prompted strong words from head coach Sandy Brondello, who requested that her team "play with more pride."
4. Chicago Sky (4-3) -- Last week No. 5
The Sky seemed well on their way to an 0-3 week before they turned around a 19-point second-half deficit to stun the Liberty on Sunday. What we're learning so far is that this Sky team's offense may come and go, but their effort and defense will always be there. That's a recipe for remaining competitive, regardless of who is healthy to take the floor on any given night.
5. Washington Mystics (3-3) -- Last week No. 4
Everyone expected that the Mystics' defense would be better than their offense, but not to this degree, especially with Elena Delle Donne back to 100%. They are scoring just 93.9 points per 100 possessions, shooting 39.3% from the field and 28.9% from 3-point land, all of which are league-worst marks. At some point the supporting cast has to step up; Elena Delle Donne and Shakira Austin are 76-of-147 (51.7%) and the rest of the team is 81-of- 253 (32.0%).
6. Los Angeles Sparks (3-2) -- Last week No. 8
To little surprise, the Sparks looked better this week when they weren't missing multiple key players nor playing the Aces. Two straight wins, both with high-powered offensive performances, have them back above .500. Lexie Brown's 26-point night in their win over the Mercury was the best effort yet for the sixth-year guard, who is enjoying a breakout season at 14.4 points per game on 41.9 percent 3-point shooting.
7. Dallas Wings (3-3) -- Last week No. 6
The Wings' strong start to the season was brought to a halt by a tough East Coast road trip in which they lost narrow contests to the Mystics and Sun in the span of three days. To make matters worse, they'll remain shorthanded moving forward after Crystal Dangerfield had to be helped off the floor during their loss to the Sun and Teaira McCowan joined the Turkish national team to fulfill her international responsibilities.
8. Atlanta Dream (2-3) -- Last week No. 9
The Dream's dominant win over the Sky early in the week is their only game this season that has been decided by fewer than seven points. The bad news is they've been on the wrong side of the majority of those results; the good news is the Dream have been competitive in every game they've played. That in and of itself is a sign of improvement after 14 of their 22 losses last season came by double digits.
9. Indiana Fever (1-4) -- Last week No. 10
Despite going 0-2, this was by far the most encouraging week for the Fever in a number of years. In the span of a few days, they took both the Aces and Sun, in first and second place, respectively, to the wire. It may take some time still before they start turning these performances into wins on a regular basis, but it's clear the Fever have something special brewing with the young trio of Aliyah Boston, Kelsey Mitchell and NaLyssa Smith.
10. Phoenix Mercury (1-3) -- Last week No. 7
The Mercury fell in overtime to the Sparks in their lone game this week, and are stuck at 1-3 ahead of a busy road trip that will see them play three games in five days. Right now, the biggest issue for this team is their inability to take care of the ball. They are last in the league with a staggering turnover rate of 24.7. For context, you have to go all the way back to the 2004 Lynx (25.5) to find a team who turned it over more often over the course of a full season.
11. Minnesota Lynx (1-6) -- Last week No. 12
After two more losses – both by just five points – early in the week Lynx finally got on the board on Saturday, and they did so in dramatic fashion when Tiffany Mitchell put back her own layup with three seconds to go to beat the Mystics. They're still stuck down in 11th place at 1-6, but this was by far the best week of the season for the Lynx, who finally showed some signs of life.
12. Seattle Storm (0-4) -- Last week No. 11
Jewell Loyd's 37-point, six-rebound, six-assist night against the Sparks was one of the best individual efforts we've seen this season, but it wasn't enough for the Storm to get their first win. That just about sums things up for Seattle, who is the only team without a win; Loyd has scored 36.2 percent of their total points, which is not an effective nor sustainable formula.
