Toronto at Golden State

Toronto is 10-19, losers of six straight, and got drilled on the road Sunday, 96-79, in the opener of this two-game set. Look at how it happened, though. The Tempo trailed by just one at the half without Marina Mabrey and Brittney Sykes, and their starters outscored Golden State's by 21 points. The whole margin lived in the bench: Toronto's reserves managed eight points on 3-for-16 shooting, Golden State's bench scored 46. That gap turned a one-point game into a blowout, and it is the exact problem tonight's roster is built to fix. Sykes stays out. But Mabrey is working back from the neck injury that sidelined her Sunday, and Aneesah Morrow, acquired from Connecticut last week, is in line to make her Tempo debut after sitting out to get acclimated. We backed Toronto plus a big number in the opener, and it did not hold, a 17-point loss that blew past the cushion, and I am not pretending otherwise with the rematch sitting right in front of us. But the same team that played this one even for three quarters shorthanded now gets real reinforcements, against a Golden State team still easing Gabby Williams back from a reconditioning issue. This is too many points for a team that just proved it belongs in this game. Take the Tempo.