The biggest surprises from the start of the wnba season

Two weeks into the WNBA season, and there are some teams playing as expected. It’s no surprise the Liberty and Lynx — the only undefeated teams entering Thursday night — are the league’s top

teams. After meeting in the WNBA Finals last season, the Lynx got a more-motivated-than-ever Napheesa Collier, who’s been dominant to start this season. The Liberty got better, too, with

the addition of Natasha Cloud and an improved bench. But while the Lynx and Liberty are playing as well as predicted, there have been some surprises of note. EXPLORE MORE Here are some good

and bad revelations from the first two weeks of action: OVERACHIEVERS PHOENIX MERCURY When news broke that Kahleah Copper would be sidelined for a minimum of a month due to a knee injury, it

was fair to question how good the Mercury might be. There already were questions regarding the team’s depth. The Mercury went all in on bolstering their starting lineup by adding star

forwards Alyssa Thomas and Satou Sabally in the offseason. The Mercury trusted their international scouting, adding guard Monique Akoa-Makani (Cameroon), forward Kitija Laksa (Latvia) and

guard Sevgi Uzun (Turkey). It’s paid off so far. The Mercury are 4-1 and have been the second-best defense in the league behind the Liberty. Their starters have posted the league’s

third-best net rating (8.7), sitting behind just the Liberty and Lynx, and Phoenix’s reserves have provided key minutes. MYSTICS ROOKIES Some thought the Rookie of the Year race would be

equivalent to Usain Bolt running 100 meters. Dallas’ Paige Bueckers was the obvious front-runner. But a pair of Mystics rookies, Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen, have been impressive, which

has added some intrigue to the way-too-early Rookie of the Year conversation. Citron leads first-year players with 15 points per game while posting elite shooting splits of 50.8/40/90.9

through six games. Iriafen is averaging 14.2 points and 10.7 rebounds per game (third in the WNBA). Together, they helped the Mystics to a 3-3 start that includes wins against the Dream and

a Caitlin Clark-less Fever squad. They also managed to hang around against the Aces and Mercury, losing both of those games by single digits. UNDERACHIEVERS CHICAGO SKY The Sky made history

for all the wrong reasons to start this season. They lost their first two games with a point differential of minus-60, a record for a team’s opening two games. They’ve been outscored by 78

points through an 0-4 start. The Sky tried fast-tracking their rebuild by trading this year’s No. 3 pick to the Mystics for Ariel Atkins, and they signed veteran point guard Courtney

Vandersloot as a free agent. Getting back to the playoffs is the goal. But the Sky are winless and identity-less after four games. Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso continue to struggle

balancing their roles in the post, and the floor spacers the Sky added in free agency haven’t helped the case. VALKYRIES SHOOTERS The expansion Valkyries’ defense has been solid. They’re

good at forcing live-ball turnovers, and before getting blown out by the Liberty on Tuesday, they actually led the league in defensive rating. Offensively, though, Golden State is reeling.

No team has taken more 3-pointers this season than the Valkyries. And no team has missed more shots from deep than the league’s newest team. The Valkyries are shooting a league-low 27.3

percent from behind the arc through four games. Former Liberty reserve Kayla Thornton is averaging a team-high seven 3-point attempts per game while converting at a lousy 17.9 percent rate.

The Valkyries also are averaging a league-low 24 paint points per game.