Aces Squash Storm 103-77

Las Vegas sweeps Seattle in dominant fashion.

(Las Vegas, Nevada) - The Seattle Storm played a good tough game for 29 minutes. With a minute to go in the third quarter, Jewell Loyd made a pair of free throws to cut the Aces’s lead down to two points. Over the remaining 11 minutes of the game, the Aces outscored the Storm 34-10.

Everything seemed to fall apart for the Storm. An 8-0 run quickly turned into an 18-2 run by Las Vegas as the game went from being a tough contest to another blowout. In some ways, it felt like a lion playing with its food. The defending champions are far too talented to not be at your absolute best for the full 40 minutes.

“I felt like our turnovers weren’t an issue. At halftime, we were at seven. I felt that we controlled what they did from the three-point line a bit better. The 10-point (4th) quarter came from another stallout with our offense. I think AC got on Jewell and was a little bit more aggressive. Missed bunnies around the rim; just not getting stops. They hit multiple threes in a row. Jackie went on a run on her own. We couldn’t stop their runs.” Coach Quinn said after the game.

Jewell Loyd’s explanation of what happened in the fourth quarter was short and to the point.

“They made more shots than we did and we turned over the ball.”

Loyd did what she could. She finished the game with 28 points and 10 rebounds. Loyd was a perfect 11-11 from the free throw line. It was the 2nd game in a row where she’s been perfect from the charity stripe with 10+ free throw attempts.

This game played out similarly to many of the other 37 games this season. Jewell Loyd lit up the scoreboard but she didn’t get enough help from her teammates. The post-game interviews were short. It’s been a long and draining season for Loyd and it is nearly over.

Sami Whitcomb and Ezi Magbegor were the only other two players to score in double figures for the Storm. Neither was able to match up with the Aces’ other top stars. Whitcomb finished with 14 points, four rebounds, and four assists. Magbegor added 12 points, four rebounds, and three assists.

Jordan Horston was solid but not efficient from the floor. She finished with six points (3-12 FG), seven rebounds, four assists, and two steals. Mercedes Russell added seven points, three rebounds, and three assists off the bench.

Las Vegas Aces

A’ja Wilson was everything an MVP-caliber player should be. She dominated through the first 30 minutes of the game. Wilson finished the game with 30 points on 12-21 FG. She had a double-double adding 10 rebounds. She sat the entire 4th period.

“(She was) very aggressive to begin. She was physical. A couple of times she got into the paint and got her own rebound. Sometimes we guarded the initial action well and then after that, it’s KYP. Understanding where her sweet spots are. I thought we were not sharp with our coverages on her as it related to trapping so she was able to get very comfortable.” Coach Quinn stated.

“She’s a great player. Defensively, we allowed her to get too many easy shots.” Ezi Magbegor acknowledged.

Of course, A’ja wasn’t alone. Jackie Young continues to grow her game in her 5th WNBA season. She is a legitimate force now. It took the former #1 overall pick a few years to really establish herself but she is now one of the better WNBA players in this league. Young, took over the game in the third period scoring 12 of her 22 points including six in the final minute that led to the Aces’s big run. Young finished shooting 50% (7-14 FG) including 50% (4-8) from beyond the arc. She also added six assists.

Coach Noelle Quinn praised Young’s impact.

“Especially, from the three-point line. I think that gives them another boost because she’s capable of at any point going off from there. The other stuff, getting to the rim and getting to the free throw line has remained consistent. Once she added a consistent three-point shot; shooting at such a high clip makes (Las Vegas) very deadly. That’s how they separate, is from the three-point line and how efficient they are from two, it matters as well.” Quinn stated.

Kelsey Plum didn’t play particularly well early on scoring just four points total through the first three quarters of the game. But Seattle’s defense loosened up considerably in the final frame and Plum took advantage right away. KP scored 11 of her 15 points over the final 10 minutes. She worked her way to the rim multiple times with little resistance. Plum also finished with eight assists.

Alysha Clark had her best game of the season scoring 16 points off the bench including knocking down 4-6 FT from long distance. This is the type of offense the Aces will need from AC during their playoff run if they hope to repeat as WNBA Champions.

Chelsea Gray added 14 points, a game-high nine assists, and five rebounds.

Las Vegas dominated inside the paint outscoring the Storm 44-26. They dominated in transition 23-5. They outshot the Storm 47% (35-75 FG) to 40% (27-68 FG). They forced the Storm into 17 turnovers and scored 20 points off of those turnovers while limiting their own mistakes to just eight. Las Vegas shot 92% from the free throw line and was a +9 in total points from the charity stripe. Their bench outscored Seattle’s 20-17. They had a 26-20 advantage in assists and doubled the Storm’s steals (10-5). At one point, the Aces led by 28 points in the 4th quarter, and the stats back up that dominance.

Game Breakdown

Jordan Horston got the Storm on the board first with a jumper. Then Horston found Ezi Magbegor in the corner for a three. Las Vegas responded with a 10-0 run forcing Coach Quinn into a timeout. A’ja Wilson scored down low on an AND1. Jackie Young scored inside the lane. Chelsea Gray knocked down a three-ball and Wilson got another basket inside the paint.

After a Kiah Stokes layup, Jewell Loyd finally stopped the run with a nice turnaround jumper. Unfortunately for Seattle, their defense continued to give up easy baskets to the Aces.

Sami Whitcomb scored six quick points from beyond the arc to help keep Seattle within reasonable striking distance. A midrange jumper by Mercedes Russell helped cut the lead down to just five. But a steal by Vegas and a corner three-ball from Alysha Clark put them back up by eight at 23-15.

Chelsea Gray hit one of those off-balanced jumpers that Seattle saw far too many times in the playoffs last season. At the end of the first period, the Aces led 25-19.

Jewell Loyd connected on a three-pointer to begin the 2nd quarter to cut the Storm’s deficit down to three. Joyner Holmes was able to draw a shooting foul and split the pair of free throws. After a Kelsey Plum layup, Loyd was able to draw another foul for two more free throws. She then scored another basket past Plum to tie the game.

Las Vegas quickly responded with eight straight points. Six of those came from A’ja Wilson.

Loyd did her best to keep Seattle close. Knocking down a three-pointer and another pair of free throws. In total, Loyd scored 16 points in the second quarter.

AC added two more free throws. Sami found Joyner Holmes in the corner for a three to end the first half. Las Vegas led by six heading into the locker rooms by a score of 49-43.

Seattle immediately gave up an offensive rebound that led to a Jackie Young three-pointer to begin the 2nd half. Ezi Magbegor responded with an AND1 on the other end for the Storm. Magbegor then was able to get an offensive rebound that resulted in another Whitcomb three-pointer. A’ja Wilson responded with her own triple.

Another offensive rebound by Las Vegas resulted in another Jackie Young three-pointer. The second such opportunity in the third quarter.

Baskets by Magbegor and Loyd cut the Aces’s lead down to six. Wilson scored again and then Clark was able to add two more from the foul line.

More free throws by Loyd cut the lead down to two but Jackie Young finished the quarter with back-to-back three-pointers to push the Aces’s lead back up to eight. Las Vegas led 75-67 at the end of the third.

Young picked up where she left off scoring quickly to begin the 4th. Vegas would go on an 18-2 run between the end of the third and beginning of the fourth quarters. Kelsey Plum scored five points and then AC hit another three-pointer. The bottom of the Aces’s bench added some contributions with points from Kierstan Bell and Cayla George. Plum and Clark continued to pile up the points for Las Vegas. KP finished with 11 points in the quarter and AC added nine more. They played so well that A’ja Wilson didn’t even need to bother coming back into the game.

Yvonne Turner scored six of the Storm’s 10 points in the 4th quarter as Las Vegas went up by nearly 30 points. At the end of the game, the Aces had won 103-77.

Additional Analysis

Ezi Will Need to be Better

One of the best parts of this disappointing Storm season has been the continued growth and development of Ezi Magbegor. Ezi was named to her first WNBA All-Star team this season and has been the second-leading scorer on the Storm this year. Ezi has put up very respectable numbers of 13.7 PPG and 8.0 RPG with nearly two blocks per game. But she will still need to be better.

In the post-Breanna Stewart era of the Storm, the team is looking for Magbegor to fill that role as the next star post player for the franchise. Ezi made a lot of growth towards that this year. But there are more levels to climb.

Her matchup in this game (A’ja Wilson) outscored her by 18 points and had six more rebounds. And while A’ja is essentially the toughest matchup that Ezi will have in this league, that’s the level the Storm need her to get to. Or at least as close as humanly possible.

Ezi is Seattle’s second-leading scorer but in this game, she was outscored by the Aces’s second, third, fourth, and fifth-best players. Jackie Young was Las Vegas’s second-leading scorer and she outscored Magbegor by 10 points.

Her next step in progression will be to start demanding the ball more and taking more field goal shot attempts. Ezi had just nine field goal attempts in this game. She made five of them good for 56% FG shooting. She has made over 50% of her field goal attempts in all four of her WNBA seasons. Magbegor is taking a career-high 10.6 FGA per game. But even that is not nearly enough.

Jewell Loyd is taking a career-high 19.8 FGA per game in 2023. But throughout her career, she’s averaged 13.5 field goal attempts per contest. Loyd has generally been the second-leading scorer on her team throughout most of her career. If we assume for a moment that Loyd re-signs with the Storm next season, Ezi needs to get closer to that benchmark. Magbegor should be taking closer to 13-15 shots per game in 2024 and that’s with the assumption that Loyd is still on the team and taking more than that. Eziyoda is far too talented to be taking less than 10 shot attempts in any game.

After the game, I spoke a bit with Coach Quinn about Ezi’s performance in this game and where the learning points are for her moving forward.

“Ezi, I’m so proud of her. She’s played amazing all year. To be an All-Star and to be a role she’s never been in. She’s yet to be the second-leading scorer on our team in this organization and she has been that for us. Right now, I think fatigue has set in. Just playing a role that you’ve never played in this league during her career, I give her all the praise because she’s done an excellent job. Now it’s about getting that experience and sustaining it. Understanding how to push through with a few more games on the schedule. Having to be relied upon so much, not only on the defensive end but the offensive end as well.” Coach Quinn told me.

“Teaching from moments in the game whether it’s offense or defense. We have coaches specifically who watch (the tape). I’m the primary leader of that film. But her specific film is dedicated to seeing where she needs to be aggressive. Where she can post up and where she can dive. Offensively, where she can assert herself more. I don’t want to use an excuse but she’s young and learning on the fly. Having to be an anchor defensively but there is still a learning process and growth that has to happen. Yes, there is a lot of film but a lot of times players just have to feel it in the game and understand. You hope that they make the connection. I think she will continue to learn, grow, and be better.” Quinn continued.

Can Jordan Horston Develop Like Jackie Young?

As I watched Jordan Horston early on this season I felt like there was some Jackie Young-type potential in her game. From a height and skillset, both players have above-average height at the guard/wing position. Both players have the ability to distribute the basketball and find their open teammates. I’d give Horston the edge in athleticism while Young is clearly the better shooter.

But Jackie wasn’t always an elite WNBA shooter like she’s been this season. She’s really developed that portion of her game over the past two seasons, her 4th and 5th in the WNBA. Young is tied with Ty Harris as the best three-point shooter in the league connecting on 45.3% of her attempts from beyond the arc. Last year, she was nearly as good knocking down 43% of her three-point attempts. But before that? Young made just 25% of her 3-PT FG in 2021 and 23% in 2020.

Young has been a very efficient shooter in the WNBA overall outside of her rookie season where she made just 32% of her shot attempts. But her other four seasons she’s averaged between 47.6% and 52.3% overall. Before she became a lethal three-point shooter, Young would attack the short and midrange game a lot. And she would do that by utilizing her size and athleticism against smaller defenders.

When Seattle faced Las Vegas in the playoffs in 2020, the Storm would often put 5’9” Sue Bird on Young. Jackie would take advantage of those moments at times, using her height to shoot over the smaller Bird. Especially, from that 6-12 FT range on the court.

This is something I hope we see develop from Jordan Horston in her second year. The 40% three-point shooting may never develop for Horston. Or even if it does, it didn’t happen for Young until her 4th year in the league. For year two, I hope to see Jordan start taking advantage of her smaller defenders and utilizing her size and athletic ability in the short to midrange.

If we compare their rookie seasons. Jackie Young averaged 6.6 PPG on 32% FG shooting while pulling down 3.3 RPG, dishing out 4.5 APG, and collecting 0.8 SPG. Meanwhile, Jordan Horston is averaging 7.2 PPG on 37% FG shooting, 5.2 RPG, 1.5 APG, and 1.3 SPG.

With just a few games to go, Jordan has been a slightly better scorer and rebounder than Young but not as efficient of a playmaker when comparing rookie seasons.

Jackie made an impressive jump in Year Two, to 11.0 PPG on 49% FG shooting. Her rebounding went up to 4.3 RPG while her assists went down to 3.0 APG. Hopefully, we can see Horston make a similar leap as a double-digit scorer in her sophomore WNBA season. I wouldn’t expect her to get to 49% shooting efficiency but if she can even improve her current shooting into the 40s, that would be a good step in the right direction.

Up Next

The Storm (11-26) have three games remaining on their schedule for the rest of the year. Next up, they will travel to Atlanta to face the Dream (17-20) on Wednesday, September 6th at 4:00 PM.

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