A Not So Perfect 10, Storm lose 86-82

Seattle lose their 10th game in a row after falling to New York.

(Brooklyn, New York) - The losing streak continues. It’s now up to 10 games in a row after the New York Liberty beat the Storm 86-82. We are almost to the month of August and Seattle’s last victory was on June 24th. That means it’s been over a month since the team won a basketball game. If they don’t pick up a win this weekend the Storm will have gone the entire month of July without a victory.

What’s most disappointing about Tuesday’s contest against the Liberty is that Seattle was in charge for about 37 out of the 40 minutes. The big difference was that in the closing moments, Jonquel Jones, Breanna Stewart, and Sabrina Ionescu made big players for New York. For Seattle, only Sami Whitcomb scored in the clutch.

That isn’t to say others didn’t have impressive games. Jewell Loyd scored a game-high 32 points. She also had five assists, four rebounds, and two steals. Loyd scored 22 of her 32 points in the first half but made just one field goal in the second half.

Ezi Magbegor was also excellent. She finished the game with 22 points on 60% FG shooting. She also had 12 rebounds, five assists, three blocks, and three steals. Truly an incredibly impressive performance for the young 23-year-old.

Seattle outshot New York 43% (30-70 FG) to 40% (32-80 FG). They were also better from beyond the arc connecting on 37% (11-30 FG) to 29% (10-35 FG).

New York Liberty

All five starters scored in double figures for New York. Breanna Stewart led the team in scoring with 22 points. She also had seven rebounds and three blocked shots. Betnijah Laney was also excellent, scoring 19 points on 8-11 FG shooting. Courtney Vandersloot added 10 points, six assists, and four rebounds.

Sabrina Ionescu finished with her fourth career triple-double with 12 points, 12 rebounds, and 12 assists. She did not shoot the ball well at all making just 2-14 FG. But she scored nine of her 12 points in the 4th quarter when the team needed her the most. That’s something good players do. Even when they’re not playing their best, they find ways to make an impact late in games that lead their team to victories.

Jonquel Jones finished with a double-double as well. She had 13 points and 17 rebounds on 50% shooting. Jones looked much better in this game. There will be more on that later.

Marine Johannès added 10 points off the bench including a couple of beautiful three-pointers. She also had three timely steals.

Game Breakdown

Seattle couldn’t have asked for a better start. Ezi Magbegor scored the game’s first points on a reverse layup and then Jewell Loyd knocked down back-to-back three-pointers as the Liberty missed their first four shots of the evening. The Storm quickly led 8-0 less than two minutes into the game.

Stewie scored on a strong drive down the lane and then Courtney Vandersloot knocked down a three-ball. Sami Whitcomb then ran a beautiful pick and roll to Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu for the easy layup. Betnijah Laney got one to roll in right before the shot-clock buzzer expired. Stewie would get an AND1 shortly thereafter. Jewell and Ezi had a nice fast break that resulted in a mini-alley-oop for Magbegor.

A corner three by Sabrina Ionescu and then Vandersloot finished at the rim to give New York their first lead of the game at 15-14. Jewell faked Stewie out of her shoes on a nice crossover on a jumper just inside the arc. Stewart would get her second AND1 of the quarter a moment later to tie the game at 21-21.

The Storm finished the quarter just as they started. Whitcomb knocked down a triple and then led a beautiful two-on-one fast break with Loyd. She lured her defender out to the three-point line and then whipped a pass to Jewell who finished the layup. At the end of the first, Seattle led New York 26-21.

Jewell made a surprising decision with the shot clock winding down to begin the second period. She dribbled the clock down and instead of shooting it, she tried to make a pass across the wing to Kia Nurse. The pass was intercepted and Vandersloot was able to easily score in transition going the other way. Even had Nurse caught the ball she would have had at most one second to get a shot off.

New York would once again regain the lead at 30-28 after Marine Johannès buried a three, and Laney and Jonquel Jones each got layups. This forced Coach Noelle Quinn into a timeout. Meanwhile, Seattle was committing too many turnovers.

Fortunately, the team responded well after Quinn’s timeout. They would go on a 9-0 run to take a 37-30 lead. During that span, Magbegor scored two baskets, Mercedes got one, and Loyd hit another three-ball.

Stewart found the mismatch of the defensive switch and scored down low over Whitcomb. Laney was able to hit a three but Jewell matched her on the other end. Seattle would finish the first half on an 8-3 run and led 45-35 at the midway point.

Seattle won most of the first-half stats. They outshot New York 49% (19-39 FG) to 32% (14-44 FG). They also held the edge with points in the paint at 22-14. The Storm committed seven turnovers while forcing the Liberty into 10. New York did out-rebound Seattle 27-19. Something that would continue to be a problem in the 2nd half.

Ezi was able to score on a drive into the paint over Jonquel Jones. New York meanwhile committed turnovers during their first three possessions. The team in black used a 7-0 run to begin the third quarter and push their lead to 17. Another defensive stop and a beautiful pass from Loyd to Magbegor forced Coach Sandy Brondello to call timeout.

Out of the timeout, New York immediately went to Stewie who responded with a short jumper. Ezi then found Gabby Williams in the left corner for a triple to give Seattle their largest lead of the game up 18. Sadly, the impressive play would not last.

Jonquel Jones scored a tough jumper with Russell’s hand right in her face. Seattle then committed a turnover and Vandersloot was able to find a cutting Betnijah Laney for the wide-open layup.

Offensively, the Liberty are about as talented as it gets in the WNBA. Over the weekend, they scored 44 points in the first quarter against the Indiana Fever. That same offense flashed again during their 15-2 run late in the third period. Most of the damage was done by Jones and Laney who scored six points each during the run.

New York outscored Seattle 19-15 during the quarter but the Storm still led 60-54 heading into the final frame.

Stewart immediately knocked down a three to begin the 4th quarter cutting the Storm’s lead down to just three points. Seattle responded with a pair of free throws and an off-balanced three by Whitcomb. Ionescu then knocked down a 30-foot shot and on the next possession collected two offensive rebounds that eventually led to a short-corner shot by Stewie.

Magbegor hit a three to put Seattle up four but New York would tie the game (70-70) with back-to-back layups by Laney and Johannès.

Stewie put New York on top with a jumper over Jewell. Sami would immediately respond with a shot from beyond the arc that let Seattle regain the lead. After both teams swapped buckets again, Jonquel Jones banked in a three to give New York the lead once more at 79-77. And Seattle would never be able to get it back. The Liberty outscored the Storm 32-22 in the 4th period.

The Liberty were able to erase an 18-point deficit in the 3rd quarter to beat the Storm 86-82. After scoring 22 points in the first half on eight made field goals, Jewell made just one shot in the 2nd half and it came in the final 8 seconds with the game no longer in question. Unfortunately, it was a big reason New York was able to come back and win the game.

Additional Analysis

Rebounding Woes

After being absolutely dominated on the glass against the Chicago Sky, rebounding continued to be a problem on Tuesday against New York. The Liberty out-rebounded the Storm 47-35. That included 13 offensive rebounds compared to Seattle’s seven. While it certainly wasn’t as gross as the Chicago game where they were out-rebounded 44-24, it still was a huge factor in Seattle’s ultimate demise.

But unlike the Chicago game, Ezi did her job in this one. Magbegor’s 12 rebounds were a team-high and only behind Jonquel’s 17.

Dulcy had a better game against New York finishing with six points and four rebounds in 15 minutes. Unfortunately, she got into foul trouble picking up her 4th foul in the third period. Fankam Mendjiadeu did not play at all in the 4th quarter.

Mercedes Russell was solid with six points on 3-4 FG shooting but only had two rebounds in 22 minutes.

Seattle certainly missed rookie Jordan Horston’s rebounding ability in this game. Horston was not with the team for personal reasons but should return soon.

Gabby Williams gave them what you can expect from Gabby. She had five points, five rebounds, and four assists. Unfortunately for the Storm, she made just 2-10 FG.

Laney, Stewart, and Ionescu combined for 36 rebounds. Seattle’s entire team had just 35. The Storm are going to need to box out more frequently and stop giving up so many offensive rebounds.

They will rematch Chicago on Friday and MUST not allow a repeat of their last game.

Ezi is the Future

This isn’t anything new. I’ve probably written this headline or a similar one five times this season. With that said, it’s worth repeating. Especially after a performance like she had against New York.

Ezi Magbegor outplayed Breanna Stewart. I’ll repeat. Magbegor outplayed Stewie. And while this certainly wasn’t Stewie’s best game. It’s not like she played poorly. Stewie had a team-high 22 points while shooting 50% (9-18 FG) with seven rebounds and three blocks.

Ezi was better as she scored 22 points on 60% FG shooting, pulled down more rebounds (12), had four more assists (five), matched Stewie’s three blocks, and had three steals to Stewart’s zero.

No, I’m not saying Ezi is actually better than Stewie. I’m not sure any WNBA player can make that claim outside of maybe A’ja Wilson. But this performance from Magbegor is incredibly encouraging. For her to do that in New York, going up against Stewie and Jonquel Jones is great for the future.

Eziyoda is a WNBA All-Star this year. And she’s only going to get better. Realistically, she’s probably another two to three years before she even hits her prime. We’ve seen her extend her range out to the three-point line over the past two seasons. Her post moves and dribble pull-ups in the paint stand out more this year as she gets more comfortable.

The franchise needs to put together pieces to build the next potential championship team in Seattle. If this was a game of Chess, Ezi would be the Queen.

Jonquel Jones Finally Looks Like Herself

To be blunt, Jonquel Jones looked awful through the first month of this WNBA season. In the Liberty’s first six games, she only scored in double figures twice. And even then, her highest total was 14 points until late June.

Jones has been dealing with a foot injury since the playoffs last year. It’s unclear if that’s what has caused her slow start. Or if she just had difficulty fitting in with the Liberty and playing alongside a player like Stewie who is extremely similar and going to take more shots.

It appears she’s turning a corner though. JJ has scored in double figures in five consecutive games. Against the Washington Mystics, she had a season-high 27 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to boot. She’s had three straight double-doubles that resulted in her winning Eastern Conference Player of the Week.

Jones's performance has been something I’ve been really curious to observe after her slow start to the season. If things never turned around, I’d question whether the New York Liberty would even be interested in re-signing her in the off-season. Jonquel will be an Unrestricted Free Agent and will likely be looking for a max or super max contract from some team. If she had continued to play as poorly as she had in the month of May and most of June, I’m not sure the Tsais would want to make that investment.

If her season didn’t improve but it wasn’t injury related. Then maybe Jones would want to sign with a different team in the off-season to try to regain her 2021 MVP form. If she felt either Sandy Brondello’s system didn’t work for her or if Stewie was taking away too many of her opportunities then I could see her sign elsewhere.

Lastly, if Jonquel does turn things around and it looks like she’s well on her way. Well, that makes the WNBA Playoffs that much more interesting. If the New York Liberty are going to win the Championship this season, they will almost certainly have to go through the Las Vegas Aces. Realistically, they will need Stewie and Jonquel at their very best to get it done.

Up Next

The Seattle Storm (4-19) travel to the windy city to face the Chicago Sky (9-14) on Friday, July 28th at 5:00 PM PDT. The Sky are a team Storm fans should be rooting for to miss the playoffs. That would improve the Storm’s lottery odds a fair amount.

Notes:
Unfortunately, my primary job didn’t allow me to cover this game live and I was unable to interview players and Coach Quinn.
Follow my Twitter (@WNBAStormChaser)
I’m also on the new Threads app (@WNBAStormChasers)
Photo Credits to Seattle Storm/WNBA Photography
Thanks for all the great support! Please tell other Storm fans about my coverage.