Atlanta Clinches as Storm Fall 79-68

The Atlanta Dream secured a playoff bid for the first time since 2018.

(College Park, Georgia) - The Atlanta Dream are returning to the playoffs after defeating the Seattle Storm 79-68. It’s the first time the Dream will play in the post-season since 2018, the year the Storm won their 3rd WNBA Championship.

Jewell Loyd led the team in scoring with 26 points. Sami Whitcomb added 13 points. Ezi Magbegor finished with 12 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and four blocked shots. Ezi led the team in rebounds, assists, and blocks.

We continued to see a common theme throughout this game. The team didn’t get enough from the rest of the roster. Rookies Jordan Horston and Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu combined for two points. Mercedes Russell and Kia Nurse were both solid off the bench. Russell finished with eight points and six rebounds. Nurse ended the game with seven points and a pair of rebounds. Those bench contributions would potentially be enough if the team got more from their starters. But Seattle would need Option 2 (Ezi) to score closer to 18-20 points and Option 3 (Sami) to tally at least 15 points. Or Options 4 and 5 to add at least 15 points combined. They didn’t get any of that and it resulted in another Seattle Storm loss.

The best stat in Seattle’s favor was their advantage from the free throw line. They made 90% of their free throws (18-20 FT) and owned a +8 point advantage from the foul line. Despite being out-rebounded, the Storm did score more second-chance points (16-13). And had a small edge in fast break points (6-4). Thanks to Ezi, they won the block battle 6-3.

“For the majority of the game, I thought we were competitive and we played with some good energy. We just competed and stayed positive. Jewell got some good looks. I thought the points in the paint were an issue obviously. They are a load. Our defense didn’t play to our principles. We weren’t in our strength spots or in our gaps. The principles we learned on Day 1 went out the window. The turnovers were timely and crucial. They scored off of our turnovers. And then the rebounding. We weren’t locked in, connected in that area. That allowed their physicality and athleticism to disturb us in regards to that.” Coach Quinn said after the game.

“We gave up too many points in the paint. And obviously, there was that stretch where we let them get hot and we gave up 28 points in the quarter. I think if we can take away some of that. We had three tough defensive quarters but I thought there was one where we just let them get loose. Offensively, I think we could have finished better. We could have been tougher around the rim. That would have helped close that gap.” Sami Whitcomb explained what stood out in the game.

Atlanta Dream

The Dream were led by Allisha Gray who scored a team-high 18 points. Gray has been the team’s key off-season addition that helped lead them back to the playoffs with her excellent play this year.

Monique Billings was the game’s standout player. Normally a reserve for Atlanta, Billings got the start and contributed in a big way. She finished with a double-double of 15 points and 14 rebounds. She also added four assists.

I asked Quinn what she remembered from seeing Monique Billings play at UCLA and what she saw in this game.

“A lot of the same. Her game is predicated on energy and hustle plays and that’s exactly what she did. She hit some jumpers today and finished well around the rim. That’s her game. Mo is a passionate player who plays with a lot of fire, energy, and desire. That’s what she showed today.” Quinn told me.

Sami Whitcomb added some more thoughts on Billings.

“She was great today. She hit (midrange jumpers) today that I think typically you would live with, that shot from her, of all the other players. But she was really great for them. And obviously the rebounding as well That’s what she does. We just didn’t do a good enough job of taking that away.” Sami said.

Cheyenne Parker had another strong game with 17 points and six rebounds. She was physical down low and also added two blocked shots.

Rhyne Howard added 10 points, a team-high seven assists, and six rebounds. She did have an injury scare or possibly a bad cramp that took her out of the game in the second half. But thankfully, she was able to return.

Statistically, Atlanta dominated in a few key areas. They outshot the Storm 46% (33-72 FG) to 36% (22-61 FG). They out-rebounded Seattle 37-30. The Dream doubled the Storm in assists, 24-12. And they dominated the paint outscoring Seattle 44-22.

Game Breakdown

Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu got the Storm on the board first with a pair of free throws. After an Allisha Gray layup, Jewell Loyd countered with a three-pointer to quickly put Seattle up 5-2. After another basket from Loyd and one from Danielle Robinson, Sami Whitcomb connected on a three-ball to put the Storm up six.

Atlanta would tie it up at 13-13 after a couple of made baskets from Cheyenne Parker and some free throws. Seattle would go on a 7-0 run with points from Mercedes Russell, Ezi Magbegor, and another triple from Whitcomb.

Allisha Gray scored eight points in the opening quarter. Cheyenne Parker added five for the Dream.

Sami got off to a hot start scoring nine of her 13 points in the first period. Jewell Loyd added a couple of more baskets and a trip to the free throw line for seven points. At the end of the first, the Storm led 24-19.

The game turned around over the next two quarters but especially during the 2nd period.

After leading through most of the first half, the Storm couldn’t stop the Dream from scoring. Parker, Robinson, and AD Durr all scored early in the frame to put Atlanta ahead 27-26. Kia Nurse knocked down a three-pointer as Seattle went back up on top.

Rhyne Howard and Monique Billings tacked on more points. The Dream would use a 10-2 run to take command of the game. Iliana Rupert made a shot from beyond the arc and Cheyenne Parker capped off the run with another basket inside.

In total, Atlanta outscored Seattle 28-16 in the 2nd quarter. They took a 47-40 lead into the locker rooms.

The same play continued into the third period. Gray and Parker each scored on layups. A free throw by Robinson and another jumper from Gray put Atlanta up 12 at 54-42.

Parker and Gray each scored six points in the third for Atlanta. Jewell Loyd also had six to lead Seattle. That was half of her team’s points in the entire quarter.

The Dream outscored the Storm again, this time 18-12. Seattle managed to score just 28 points through two quarters (2nd & 3rd). Which was something Atlanta did in the 2nd period alone. Atlanta led 65-52 as the two teams entered the fourth.

Seattle made a decent run over the game’s final 10 minutes. Loyd scored eight straight points to cut the 13-point lead down to seven with about six minutes left. But Monique Billings was able to answer by knocking down a few shots of her own.

A few plays later, Billings got another offensive rebound and kicked it out to Rhyne Howard who knocked down a three-pointer. That was essentially the dagger against Seattle as it put Atlanta back on top by 12 points with under three minutes to go. Danielle Robinson added a jumper to give Atlanta their largest lead of the game up 77-63 with two minutes to go.

Ezi Magbegor knocked down a three-pointer and Sami Whitcomb raced out to an uncontested layup to give Seattle a quick 5-0 run but it was too little, too late. At the end of the game, Atlanta had won 79-68 and clinched their first playoff berth in five years.

Additional Analysis

Record Breakers

There is something very poetic to me about the fact that the two WNBA players to break Diana Taurasi’s scoring record ended up being Breanna Stewart and Jewell Loyd. Even though they are no longer teammates, the two of them took over the WNBA for several seasons resulting in two WNBA Championships. It’s only fitting that it was Jewell and Stewie as the first two players to break the record.

And yes, there should be an asterisk there because they are doing it in a 40-game regular season (six more games than Taurasi had in 2006). For whatever it’s worth, Loyd did it in 36 games played and nearly broke Taurasi’s record in 35 games which would have been just one more than Taurasi had played.

After Stewart put up another 40-point performance (her 4th of the season!), she has surpassed Loyd in the record books. At least for now. Stewie is now the frontrunner to finish the season with the most points of any WNBA player ever in a single season. She currently has 885 points with two more games to go. Jewell isn’t far behind at 878 points, also with two games remaining on the schedule.

Stewie’s final game will end right around the time Jewell’s final game begins. So at tip-off, we should know how many points Loyd will need to secure the record and if it’s even realistically within reach.

Loyd hasn’t wanted to talk about the record. She’s mentioned several times over that it’s not on her mind. Tonight, she mentioned that’s something the media cares more about than she does. She’s probably right about that. In a season, that hasn’t had a lot of wins or great positive things to talk about, Loyd potentially setting the new single-season scoring record is a big deal.

And although Jewell didn’t want to talk about it. I did speak with both Coach Noelle Quinn and Sami Whitcomb about both Stewart and Loyd breaking the record.

“It’s a testament to the great athletes that they are. They’ve made their mark in this league and to be mentioned with Diana, we saw (Taurasi) score 10K. It’s not easy to do that in this league, year in and year out. Diana has consistently done that. I’ll talk about Jewell because she’s here with us. It’s amazing because she’s not surrounded by All-Stars. But she’s still finding ways to be consistent with that. It’s tough in this league. What Stewie’s done and what Jewell is doing, I commend both of them for perfecting their craft and putting their all with what they do.” Quinn replied.

“They’re amazing basketball players, scorers obviously. It’s remarkable what they’ve been able to do. Obviously, I can speak more to what Jewell has done this year than what Stewie has done. But seeing it game in and game out, where defenses are literally trying to stop Jewell where they put two to three people on her. It’s remarkable honestly, every game. It’s shocking to me that she does what she does. And that she’s able to do it. It’s been a big part of our success this year. The growth that she’s shown has been really cool. It’s been really fun to see her become this player this year.” Whitcomb added.

Working Towards

With just two games remaining in the season, I spoke with Jewell Loyd and Coach Noelle Quinn on what the goals were to finish out the season.

“Honestly, it’s been the same talk since after All-Star, just compete every game and get better. We’re playing for something bigger than just trying to finish the season. We want to compete. That’s what we’re going to do and that’s what we’ve been doing.” Loyd stated.

“From a basketball standpoint, I want to see some growth in the turnover area. We have to be better. I know we’re going to have turnovers but what happens after that, teams are scoring at a high level. We have to clean that up.” Quinn replied.

“I want to continue to see us compete. We are playing together for these last few days. It’s important that we play with pride, play with heart, and with passion. All of those things that matter, those intangible things. From a basketball standpoint, I want to make sure we’re defending at a high level. And find some consistency with the offense. At the end of the day, my biggest thing is just to be competitive.” the coach continued.

With her answer, it prompted me to press further on the discussion specifically looking at the play of Jordan Horston. From my eyes, I see a lot of times that Jordan is looking to create for her teammates but her passes might get deflected or result in turnovers. But from what I’m watching, I see what Jordan is seeing. A lot of times the plays make sense. But maybe she’s trying to fit a pass into too tight of a window. I spoke with coach about how some of those plays may have worked in college but are no longer working at the highest possible level in the WNBA. I wanted Coach Quinn’s perspective on that and how she sees those reads.

“Yeah, I think it is learning how to play at this level. In college, she’s the tallest, the most athletic, and she’s able to make plays that on this level that the athletes are just as tall and athletic. Those become deflections, steals, and those equate to turnovers. But what we do see is her ability to pass, to initiate, and to see the game at a high level. This year has been a huge experience for her. She’s gotten a lot of reps. As a young rookie, in order to understand you have to be put into the fire sometimes. She’s been that and I know she’ll grow from it. I know she wants to be great and wants to be better. But it’s hard to understand how to play on this level until you actually go through the exercise of playing.” Coach Quinn explained.

“You’re right. Some of her reads I’d rather her shoot. Sometimes she’s passing instead of shooting and sometimes she’s shooting instead of passing. It’s just growth and understanding our offense some more.” Quinn added.

Up Next

The Storm (11-27) have one more road game before they head home for the final game of the season. Their next game is this Friday, September 8th at 5:00 PM against the Dallas Wings (20-18).

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