Mystics vs. Tempo: Shakira Austin's Late Free Throws Spoil Toronto's First Game 68-65

Eighteen seconds left, Toronto up one, and 8,210 people inside Coca-Cola Coliseum making the kind of noise this city usually saves for playoff hockey. Marina Mabrey had just buried two free throws for a 65-64 lead. Shakira Austin walked to the line at the other end and made both. Brittney Sykes got a 3 that would have put the Tempo back on top with 14 seconds to go, and it didn't fall. Austin went back to the stripe at 10.8 and made two more.

That was the ballgame: Washington Mystics 68-65 on Friday night, in a slugfest of missed jumpers that spoiled the Tempo's first game and left a sold-out building feeling thrilled and heartbroken in roughly equal measure.

Nobody Could Make a Shot, and It Was Great

Cassandre Prosper's layup started things for Washington, and then Sykes claimed her spot in the trivia books with a pull-up from the free-throw line, the first shot in Tempo history and the expansion team's first points. The place came unglued. Toronto led 6-4 before Washington scored nine straight to make it 13-6, and the Mystics were up 17-13 after one and 37-30 at the half.

The same movie played in the third. It was 39-38 Washington when the Mystics ran off eight in a row for a 47-38 lead, and it looked like the visitors might finally pull away. They did not. Toronto chipped it back to 51-47 by the end of the period, and the fourth quarter turned into a staring contest.

Mabrey's 3 at 4:19 gave Toronto a 57-56 lead. Sonia Citron answered with a driving layup, Kiki Iriafen got another, and Citron's three-point play at 2:58 made it 63-58. Nyara Sabally's running layup and Laura Juskaite's 22-footer tied it at 63 with 1:53 left, and neither team made a field goal the rest of the way. The final seven points of the game all came at the line.

Citron Was the Only One Who Could See the Rim

Citron scored 26 on 9 of 12 shooting, 3 of 6 from three, with two steals and two blocks in 34 minutes. Everyone else on her team combined to shoot 16 of 52. On a night when the rim looked about as wide as a coffee mug, she was playing a different sport.

Austin's closing act headlined a line of 18 points, 11 rebounds, two steals and two blocks, and the Mystics count it as the 15th double-double of her career. Iriafen was a monster on the boards with 16 rebounds to go with 12 points, her 17th career double-double and, according to the team, the best rebounding game she's ever had. Those three scored 56 of Washington's 68. The Mystics' bench scored four.

Mabrey carried Toronto as far as one player could, scoring 27 with seven rebounds. She shot only 6 of 18 but went 12 of 14 at the line, repeatedly getting there when the offense had nothing else to offer. Sykes had the opposite kind of night. She had three steals and 14 points, yet needed 18 shots to do it and went 0 for 5 from deep. Sabally finished with eight points, six rebounds and three steals, and Juskaite added seven off the bench.

Seven Seconds Decided It

The game flipped in the 7.4 seconds between Austin's two trips to the line. Before the first one, Toronto had the lead, the crowd and the moment. After the second, Washington was up three. In between sat the possession the Tempo will be thinking about for a while: Sykes, with the same hands that made the franchise's first shot, getting a look to go back ahead. She'd spent the whole night fighting her jumper, and the jumper won.

Austin, for her part, shot 6 of 10 at the line on the night, so nothing about this was automatic. She just happened to be 4 for 4 when it counted, which is the only kind of clutch anyone remembers.

The Stat Sheet From the Trenches

• 17 of 63: Toronto from the field, good for 27 percent, including 5 of 25 from three.
• 26 of 35: Toronto at the line, against 13 of 22 for Washington. The Tempo made twice as many free throws and still lost.
• 40-16: Washington's edge in the paint, the clearest explanation for how a 39 percent shooting team won.
• 44: Mystics rebounds, which the team says ties the most in head coach Sydney Johnson's tenure.
• 54: Total fouls. Prosper fouled out with two points in 19 minutes.

Where Everybody Stands

Washington is 1-0, 1-0 on the road, and gets to tell people it won the first Mystics-Tempo game ever played. There's a quick turnaround, with New York coming to town Sunday. The Mystics also committed 18 turnovers and gave Toronto 18 points off them, so they'll get a long film session along with the win.

Toronto is 0-1, 0-1 at home, with Seattle up next on Wednesday. The opening night guest list was its own highlight reel: Tempo ownership group member Masai Ujiri, the new Dallas Mavericks president and former Raptors executive, had a seat at center court, and Canadian soccer star Christine Sinclair was in the building along with former Raptor Serge Ibaka and current Raptors Sandro Mamukelashvili and Immanuel Quickley. Everybody got their money's worth except the people who came for pretty basketball.

That Don't Impress Me Much

During a fourth-quarter Karaoke Cam, the crowd sang along to a Shania Twain song, and we have no idea which one. Based purely on 5 of 25 from three, the honest selection was That Don't Impress Me Much. But here's the thing about Toronto's opening night: a brand-new team shot 27 percent, trailed for most of the game, and still had the lead in the last minute in front of a full house. Fix the jumper and this crowd is going to be a nightmare for visitors. Canada has its team. Now it just needs the sequel to go a little better.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details as reported by the Associated Press. Team notes from the Washington Mystics.