Dallas Wings outlast Seattle Storm 95-91

Seattle made a fierce rally late in the 4th quarter but ultimately fell short.

(Seattle, WA) - PROGRESS. That’s an important word to remember this season for the Seattle Storm. On Friday night, the Storm did battle with the Dallas Wings and thankfully it was a much more competitive game than their debut match against the Las Vegas Aces.

Despite trailing by 17 points in the 2nd half, the team rallied in the 4th quarter and got within two points in the final seconds before ultimately falling 95-91. Once again, Jewell Loyd led the Storm in scoring with 30 points (10-25 FG). Kia Nurse added 20 points. And Ezi Magbegor finished the game with a double-double of 15 points and 12 rebounds.

The Storm did some good things in this game. Notably, they managed to score over 90 points. A huge improvement from the 64 points they put up against Las Vegas. They also got to the free throw line often and knocked down 19-20 attempts.

“I saw some good things from this group. A lot of fight, especially in the 2nd half. A lot of big plays by Ezi specifically; just her activity. Obviously, Jewell keeping us in the game with some tough shots. Sami coming in down the stretch to manage the team. There were a lot of good things for us to build on. Dallas is a very strong team. I thought our effort was there. I’m proud of our group for the fight they displayed tonight.” Coach Noelle Quinn said in her opening statement after the game.

Jewell Loyd added her immediate thoughts after the game as well.

“There was just more fight. We were more comfortable. We had a really great week of practice. People were just committed to getting better. That’s what you want to see. Obviously, we wanted to get the win but at the same time, we need to see the growth and improvement. And I think this week of practice, watching film, breaking it down, getting extra shots and extra conditioning, it really helped us compete tonight.” Loyd replied.

The Dallas Wings

Offensively, the Wings are a very talented team. They always have been ever since Arike Ogunbowale was drafted in 2019. Arike did Arike things, especially in the first half where she scored 19 of her team-high 26 points. But she wasn’t alone. She got plenty of help as five players from Dallas reached double-digit scoring. Crystal Dangerfield had an incredibly impressive game. The diminutive 5’5” guard from UConn finished with 17 points on 6-9 FG shooting including 3-5 FG from three-point range. Satou Sabally also looked excellent in her performance with a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds. She also added five assists living up to her moniker as the Unicorn. Natasha Howard also had a strong game with 16 points, nine rebounds, and five steals. Lastly, Jasmine Dickey impressed off the bench with her performance, scoring 10 points on 5-6 FG shooting.

Dallas dominated inside the paint where they outscored Seattle 44-30. This really stood out in the first half where they consistently scored with easy opportunities inside the lane, tallying 26 points through the first two quarters.

Game Breakdown

Ezi Magbegor scored the game’s first points on a nicely designed play that saw Jewell catch the ball near the top of the key and then handed the ball off to Ezi who was able to curl off of the players and use them as a screen to get into the lane. That would start an 8-0 run by Seattle to begin the game. Satou Sabally was able to get a mismatch against Loyd on a defensive switch and scored with a spin move down in the low post for the Wings’ first basket.

Yvonne Turner telegraphed a pass to Mercedes Russell that was easily intercepted by Natasha Howard who raced down the other way for the easy layup. The Wings scored in transition on consecutive plays. Loyd and Arike Ogwunbowale exchanged three-point baskets a few moments later.

Loyd did a great job of getting to the free throw line in the first period. She connected on 5/6 FT in the opening frame.

The Wings were able to get several baskets inside the paint as part of a 24-4 run. It pushed their lead to 12 points at 30-18 after Arike hit a three in transition and then got fouled. Natasha Howard also got multiple baskets inside the lane. During the span of about five minutes in the first period, the Wings went on a 17-0 run. Dallas led 30-21 after one.

Seattle’s defense continued to struggle into the 2nd period. They quickly gave up eight points to the Wings within the first couple of minutes including five points to Ogwunbowale. Loyd did her best to keep the Storm close scoring eight points through the first five minutes of the second quarter.

Unfortunately for the Storm, their defense was not up to par. They allowed that 17-0 run in the first period and continued to allow Dallas to get easy baskets in the second quarter. Arike, Satou Sabally, and Crystal Dangerfield each took turns scoring at will. They knocked down multiple three-pointers and those three combined for 19 of the team’s 22 points in the second.

Dallas shot 52% (22-42 FG) and 43% (6-14 FG) from the three-point line in the first half. The Wings scored 26 points in the paint and 16 fastbreak points in transition. By comparison, Seattle shot just 36% (13-36 FG) and 33% (4-12 FG) from beyond the arc. Seattle had 14 points inside the paint.

At the end of the first half, the Storm trailed the Wings by 11 with a score of 52-41. They were outscored again in the second quarter 22-20.

Yvonne Turner made a nice play to steal the ball from Arike as she was bringing the ball up the court and finished with an uncontested layup. Unfortunately, Seattle’s offense continued to struggle scoring just four points through the first four minutes of the third period.

Seattle continued to chuck up shots with no real offensive movement while Dallas was cutting into the lane, finding their teammates, and getting easy baskets at the rim. The Wings went on an 8-0 run that forced Coach Noelle Quinn into another timeout.

Nurse was able to knock down another triple and Magbegor was able to score on an offensive rebound that converted an AND1. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to get enough stops on the other end. Jasmine Dickey buried multiple midrange jumpers and Crystal Dangerfield connected on another three-pointer.

Arella Guirantes checked into the game and got a nice rejection on Arike from behind that resulted in a Jewell Loyd transition three-ball. The Storm did provide some fight in the third. After trailing by 17 points they could have easily let that lead balloon to 20-25 points. But they battled back and cut the deficit down to 11 points (75-64) at the end of the quarter.

They continued to battle. Magbegor was able to grab an offensive rebound and finished back at the rim. Seattle finally got a stop and was able to find Loyd in transition for another three-ball to cut the Wings’ lead down to just six at 75-69 forcing Coach Latricia Trammell to call a timeout.

Dallas was able to settle down and benefitted from a few poor shot selections by Loyd. Coach Quinn properly pulled Loyd for a couple of minutes just to let her rest and refocus. It’s something Quinn is going to need to do this season. She must trust that other players will step up when called upon. Loyd is obviously going to be the team’s leading scorer but she can’t beat WNBA teams by herself. And they shouldn’t use her as a crutch that stunts other players from being aggressive and looking for their own shots.

Ezi continued to play well late in the game scoring 11 of her 15 points in the 2nd half. Seattle continued to push Dallas as both Whitcomb and Nurse hit three-pointers. Loyd was then able to return and connect better on her shots.

Nurse buried her sixth triple of the game with just over a minute left to cut the Wings’ lead to two at 93-91. Dallas then immediately turned the ball over when Natasha Howard laid Loyd out with a stiff screen and was called for the offensive foul. Unfortunately, Loyd was down on the ground for several minutes and had to be taken out of the game. On Seattle’s next possession, they looked lost and weren’t able to set up an effective offensive play. They battled for an offensive rebound but ultimately couldn’t find an opening resulting in an untimely 24-second shot clock violation.

With about five seconds separating the shot and game clock, the Storm decided to play it straight up and not foul. Seattle got the initial stop they were looking for but Satou Sabally grabbed a critical offensive rebound and finished at the rim with under five seconds left to play. Those points sealed the victory for Dallas. Her basket put the Wings back up four at 95-91 and that was the game’s final score.

On Seattle’s last possession, they couldn’t find anyone open and the ball just got tossed towards a group of players. The ball hit Magbegor in the head as the final seconds ticked away. A fitting end.

Additional Analysis

Rookie Report

This game wasn’t very positive for the rookies. Jordan Horston struggled in her second WNBA game. She missed all five of her field goal attempts. More concerning from my vantage point was that she seemed really hesitant. Like she was overthinking too much out there. She also got beat a couple of times on the defensive end when going up against Satou Sabally and Natasha Howard.

Coach Quinn talked about giving her grace because they think very highly of Jordan and are putting her in really difficult situations. She is being asked to guard All-Star and MVP-type players through her first two games.

“During the game (I spoke with her). I haven’t spoken with her after the game but we will. We will watch film and get better from this. She has a huge role and a huge opportunity. There will be growing pains because she’s young but she’s so gifted. She’s so athletic. She just wants to be a good pro and get better. She works hard every day. But the game has to show that. Just her pride and her aggressiveness. I love that she’s here. She’s going to be better for it because of what happened today. She’s going to be locked in and she’s going to help us tremendously.” Quinn stated.

I followed up that question to ask if she felt Jordan was overthinking things out there and that may have caused some of her hesitancy.

“Yeah, that’s what I saw on the offensive end. She was very hesitant. In the first two games of her young career, she has had to guard A’ja Wilson, Candace Parker, Satou, and Natasha Howard. These are All-Stars and MVPs in our league. Just imagine that. With new schemes (to learn) and a big role. So I have grace in that. I do want her to be aggressive on the offensive end because it helps us. Defensively, you might get the scheme incorrect but your aggressiveness and athleticism can cover that. That’s fine. We’ll get there with her.” Quinn added.

I’m not concerned. All rookies have tough moments in this league. The Storm’s PR pointed out that Jewell Loyd had very similar numbers through the first two games of her WNBA career back in 2015. Loyd scored seven points in her first game and was held scoreless in her second professional contest. Horston finished with eight points in her WNBA debut and was held scoreless Friday night against Dallas.

Another player, I think the Storm and Jordan can learn from is Jackie Young from the Las Vegas Aces. The former #1 overall pick in the 2019 WNBA Draft struggled in her first couple of seasons but with confidence and experience and natural advantages with her height and athleticism, she is becoming a dominant guard in this league. While Jordan is currently playing a lot at the Power Forward role. I think in the long-term she’d be better playing as an oversized guard/wing that can dominate smaller players. Get her into matchups against smaller guards.

On Friday, the Wings started three players standing between 5’5” and 5’9”. Jordan is 6’2”. Instead of having Jordan go up against 6’4” Satou Sabally. Have her punish the smaller guards in this league. Something Jackie Young has become excellent at doing. I hope we see this as Jordan gets more comfortable with herself and in the WNBA. Whether that comes this season or not remains to be seen.

Beyond Horston, Ivana Dojkic was the only other rookie to get playing time in this more competitive game. Dojkic finished the game playing six minutes, scoring three points on 1-2 FG shooting attempts. All of her playing time came in the first half.

The other two rookies, Jade Melbourne and Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu are currently the 11th and 12th players in the rotation. As most teams only go with a nine or ten-player rotation, they are currently the two players least likely to see playing time. And I don’t blame Quinn for that. Especially, during Friday’s contest against Dallas which was a game within reach of winning in the final minutes.

I was hopeful Melbourne would be able to get on the court more this season but in a limited sample size, it appears she is much lower on the depth chart than the other guards.

Kia Nurse Comes Alive

The best part of this game for the outlook of this season was the performance from Kia Nurse. After playing less than 11 minutes in Saturday’s loss to the Las Vegas Aces where she was held scoreless; she came alive Friday night. Nurse was Seattle’s second-leading scorer behind Loyd. She finished the game with 20 points including connecting on six three-pointers.

“This is what happens on an injury rehab I feel like. This week of practice for me was really good because I had extra time (to work on things). We are new, right? There are a lot of new faces here. The moment you get into a game, you come into the first game, it’s on ABC, you’re playing the defending champs; it comes at you fast! And we have a lot of players who haven’t been in that position before. We didn’t play the way that we wanted. Now that we have one under our belt, it’s a different feeling and a different level of comfort. It’s something we worked on in practice. How to execute on the offensive end. These are really great places to get Jewell a shot, here is a really great spot to get me a shot. This is where we want to get our bigs posted up on the inside. We executed those against ourselves and against the practice guys and that translated really well today. The biggest thing was the resiliency and the fight that we had. If you score 91 points you’ll give yourself a chance to win any game in this league.” Nurse stated to the media after the game.

Earlier in the week I spoke with Nurse and she specifically mentioned needing to build up her confidence after returning to the WNBA from a major injury. I asked her about how her confidence was growing in this game after more and more shots went in.

“Putting them up when I’m open. Not second-guessing it. I don’t need a whole lot of time and space to do it. But also, I didn’t want to be an offensive liability. That’s something I struggled with in the first game. You can sink off of me and throw another defender at Jewell. We know how important it is offensively to have the spacing. Even when Sami is out there, her ability to knock down the three-ball, it’s important to create that spacing for us guards to get downhill or for our bigs on the inside to be able to go to work. It was nice to see that first one go in. That always helps a little bit (she says jovially)! There was one practice this week where I saw quite a few go in. It (reassured me) - yeah I can still do this!” Nurse told me.

Seattle needs other players to step up and score beyond Jewell. Even when Loyd scores 30 points the Storm are going to need multiple other players to score in double figures. The expectation is that Ezi Magbegor must be one of those players. She wasn’t in the first game against Las Vegas where she scored just seven points. Fortunately, Magbegor played much better against Dallas finishing with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

Nurse is the other player Seattle must rely upon for points. The Canadian is a former WNBA All-Star with the New York Liberty in 2019 where she averaged nearly 14 PPG. She has a good shooting touch as seen by her multiple three-pointers in this game.

I spoke with Jewell after the game about whether that’s a formula for the team to find success moving forward.

“Why not? I honestly think it’s how we practice. (Kia) is working her butt off in practice. Same with Ezi. I think everyone is coming into their own. We are still learning each other a lot. I think we (her and Nurse) talk the most. We are learning a little faster on how we like to play together. But why not? We have a lot of players on this team that can step up every night depending on matchups and our system. That’s why our system is unique to us. It’s built for every single player on this team. Not just for two or three people. We have very dynamic people. Once everyone gets comfortable we will have some consistency sooner than later.” Loyd replied.

Coach Quinn gave her thoughts on the matter as well.

“I think Kia was in rhythm. When she’s able to hit threes and space the floor then those lanes are going to be more open for Jewell, getting to the rim. When Ezi is active in her screen setting or offensive rebounding in her aggressiveness; offensively I thought in the open court she had some good reads on some plays. It allows our spacing to flourish when those three are on the floor.” Quinn added.

Defensive Struggles

Storm players have frequently talked about the importance of the team’s defense this season. That they need to be extra focused and diligent on the defensive side of the ball. Through two games this year, they have been anything but. The team gave up 105 points in their season debut to the Las Vegas Aces.

They followed that up by giving up 30 points in the first quarter against the Dallas Wings. At halftime, the Wings were on pace to score 104 points. Fortunately, Seattle was able to make some defensive adjustments to slow down Dallas in the second half. They limited the Wings to 43 points over the final two periods and most importantly, held Dallas to just 20 points in the 4th quarter.

Seattle was able to outscore Dallas 27-20 in the final frame which helped them rally late and almost pull off the upset. It got the crowd fired up and gave everyone hope.

I spoke with Coach Quinn after the game about the defensive adjustments made in the second half.

“First of all, our rotations. I thought they were very athletic and then went with a small-ball (lineup). I thought we tried to match their athleticism with that. With our rotations flying around we were a little bit sharper. In the 2nd half, we weren’t as aggressive on the ball until isolations. We tried to keep it very simple. That’s what happened in the second half, simplicity with our execution. Even if it’s a switch with a big on a guard. Just guard your yard and have each other’s back. Just play hard.” Quinn told me.

Kia Nurse provided some really great quotes about the team’s defense.

“We’re sending different coverages. That’s something we did a lot today. We changed our coverages a couple of times. For every single quarter, we changed it up. Based on who was in the game with us and some of the lineups we had were quicker lineups. It’s easier to fly around, rotate a little bit harder. Some of that will be a feel for the game, understanding matchups. Who is a good shooter if you’re going to rotate off of a good shooter versus playing the percentages? That’ll come as we keep working together and understand each other’s rotation patterns. We will throw different types of defenses at different people. We threw different defenders at Arike as well, we tried to change it up that way too.” Nurse provided an explanation.

When asked to elaborate further she had this to say.

“Yeah, that’s essentially what you do in training camp. You build your basic defensive coverages. Run with those and see how far that can take you. Then understand, maybe we build one extra thing. Maybe we add a second rotation. Maybe we drop down on a certain side. Now this person is going to trap every single time. As we continue to go, we’ll start to see more from our coverages. We are new! The more you throw at people, the more you have to think about coverages, the harder it is. A lot of it is reps and tendencies as well.” Kia added.

Lacking Assists

One thing that has been disappointing through the first two games has been Seattle’s ball movement and ability to find their teammates for open shots. While it definitely improved in the second half of this game it’s been a noticeable observation for me. There has been a bit too much isolation ball with the team. That’s going to happen when a large portion of the offense relies on Loyd creating scoring opportunities for herself. However, the team needs to improve its offensive flow via better cuts, screens, etc.

Everyone knows replacing Sue Bird is impossible. But Seattle needs better than what they’re getting from that position right now. In 2019, with Sue Bird out injured for the entire season, Jordin Canada was the lead point guard and averaged 5.2 APG. In 2020, when Bird also missed a portion of the regular season, Canada averaged 5.5 APG.

Yvonne Turner, the team’s current starting point guard currently has just two assists through two games. Ivana Dojkic, who has been the primary backup PG so far this season has one total assist through two games. In total, the Storm have just 26 assists as a team after two games. That ranks dead last in the WNBA this season.

There did appear to be a shift in the second half of Friday night’s game. Sami Whitcomb played a lot more minutes and she played as the lead point guard for a good portion of that time. Whitcomb played 15 of her 20 minutes in the 2nd half including all 10 minutes in the 4th quarter.

It was a noticeable uptick with Sami running the point. She looked to get more of her teammates involved and has a great rapport with Ezi after playing together in Australia during previous offseasons. Whitcomb had all three of her assists in the 2nd half. The three assists tied with Loyd for a team-high.

I spoke with Loyd about Whitcomb’s impact in the second half.

“That’s Sami! She comes in and she’s ready to go all the time. She can get hot at any moment. I think her ability to constantly talk. She’s been here. She knows this gym, the people, the vibe. When she talks, we all listen. She knows how to get going. She’s a big leader on this team and she knows how to change momentum. That’s who Sami is.” Jewell told me.

I also had the chance to speak with Coach Quinn about it and got a surprising answer.

“It’s something that I didn’t really want to do early on this season because she’s so deadly from the wing. But what it did was create a rhythm for her. She’s done it before, she’s done it in this league at a high level. Being a point guard is tough but she kept it simple. She got us in our schemes. Her pace was good. She found some confidence within that.” Quinn replied.

Up Next

The Seattle Storm (0-2) will welcome back Breanna Stewart and the New York Liberty (1-1) on Tuesday, May 30th at 6:00 PM at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle.

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