Epic 4th quarter pushes the Storm past the Lynx
Seattle outscores Minnesota 37-15 in the 4th period to beat the Lynx 90-78.
(Minneapolis, Minnesota) - Watching the game on Thursday night I’m reminded of a famous speech Pete Carroll gave to the Seahawks after they rallied late to beat an opponent on the road. A few simple questions really.
“Can you win the game in the 1st quarter? Can you win the game in the 2nd quarter? Can you win the game in the third quarter? Can you win the game in the 4th quarter!?”
The answer to that final question is a resounding YES! as the Seattle Storm outscored the Minnesota Lynx 37-15 in the 4th quarter to complete a 19-point epic come from behind victory to move to 2-1 on the season.
Jewell Loyd spoke about the incredible comeback after the game.
“We had to find ways to win, and we had to find ways to get stops. Certain players, like Jordin [Canada], were huge with those free throws. We had to get rebounds, so Cedes [Russell] came in and had a good effort also making clutch layups down the stretch. So, you know, our team has players that are ready to step up and are capable of doing much more, so we always have each other's backs.”
Sue Bird also spoke about how the team was able to rally from down 19.
“I think we didn't let the score dictate how we played, we did not have a great first half, so everybody knows that. And I think, you know, there was a moment where we just kind of realized the only way to get through a crappy game is to keep playing hard and to play through it and basically swing for the fences. That's really the only way. I think we were able to take the pressure off ourselves by almost not worrying about the win or the loss, just worrying about playing through it. And with that, we started to have a little bit of success and get some stops. We started to cut down in the lead, and then going into the fourth quarter we talked about how we just wanted to be down five at the five-minute mark because that's the ballgame. And I think we were pretty much almost exactly down five, somewhere around there. So, mission accomplished. I think that's when the confidence started to kick in” Bird told the media after the game.
Seattle also picks up another important win the Commissioner’s Cup, where they are now 2-0.
The Storm were led by the backcourt of Jewell Loyd (23 points, five rebounds, four assists), Sue Bird (21 points, eight assists, five rebounds), and Jordin Canada (16 points, three assists) who combined for 60 of Seattle’s 90 points in the game.
It was important that they did because Breanna Stewart had an off night, to say the least. Stewart finished with 13 points on 5-14 FG (1-4 from 3-PT range) and seven rebounds. She was largely ineffective the entire game as Minnesota’s defense made a concerted effort to slow down the league’s best player.
Jewell Loyd spoke after the game about the Storm’s ability to pick things up with Stewie struggling.
“That's team basketball, you know. When someone struggles you would hope that your team is able to come together and help each other out and not get too down on each other. That's the mentality of our culture here in Seattle” Loyd said.
Sylvia Fowles was back to full strength after dealing with a calf injury in the bubble season of 2020. Fowles looked dominant in the low post scoring 20 points and collecting nine rebounds.
Crystal Dangerfield gave the Lynx a huge spark off the bench scoring a team-high 22 points on 10-16 field goal shooting. Dangerfield likely reminded the Storm and several other teams that they made a mistake passing on her in the 2020 WNBA Draft where she fell to 16th overall in the 2nd round. Dangerfield would go on to win rookie of the year last season averaging 16 points per game and helping lead the Lynx to the 4th best record in the league and a trip to the semi-finals. She’s proving her scoring is legit and wasn’t a fluke last season as she’s already scored 17 points or more in two of the three games the Lynx have played this season.
While Dangerfield scored 22 points, she was held to just two points over the final 10 minutes of the game. Jordin Canada spoke about their effort to slow her down late in the game.
“We just tried to crowd her. In the first half, she was getting a lot of backdoors and a lot of middle drives to the basket. In the second half, just trying to put a little bit more pressure on her and making her have to make a decision to give it up and not get it back. That was just my main focus on guarding her. So, that was just my job.” Canada said.
With the loss, Minnesota falls to 0-3. This comes as a surprise as many believed they would be one of the league’s best teams this season (and they likely will be). But for now, they will have to regroup. It also helps that they’ll finally be getting Napheesa Collier back in their lineup for the next game, which also happens to be against Seattle next week.
Now let’s take a look at how this game played out, shall we?
Game Breakdown
Another sloppy opening quarter for the Seattle Storm who are still learning to play with each other. Especially, with another new starting lineup, the third straight game with a different lineup. This time, they started Sue Bird, Jewell Loyd, Stephanie Talbot, Breanna Stewart, and Ezi Mabegor. Talbot got the start at Small Forward with Katie Lou Samuelson not currently with the team so she can participate in Team USA 3x3 Olympic qualifiers.
Sylvia Fowles immediately went to work in the low post. She also got Ezi Magbegor in foul trouble immediately forcing Magbegor into two early fouls that sent her to the bench rather quickly.
Four minutes into the game the Lynx led 10-3. A basket by Candice Dupree and then back-to-back threes by Sue Bird and Jewell Loyd allowed the Storm to cut Minnesota’s lead to three at 14-11. However, the Lynx finished the quarter with a 12-5 run. Minnesota led Seattle 26-16 after one period.
Seattle was careless with the ball committing seven turnovers in the first quarter. Many of them were unforced errors.
The Lynx shot lights out in the opening quarter going 11-16 (73%) from the floor. Sylvia Fowles led the way with 11 points.
Jewell Loyd did her best to keep Seattle in the game scoring nine points in the first quarter.
Minnesota continued to push the pace on Seattle in the 2nd quarter. Instead of the Storm cutting into the lead, the Lynx were able to expand it. Too many turnovers and missed shots led to really poor play in the first half from Seattle.
The Lynx also did an excellent job defending Breanna Stewart. They limited her touches and when she did get the ball, they were able to apply enough defensive pressure to affect her shots. Stewart was held scoreless through nearly the first 15 minutes of the game.
Stewart finally got her first points of the game off a double-team steal where she was able to run the length of the court for two easy points. Stewart finished the first half with just four points on 2-7 FG shooting.
Out of a timeout, Kayla McBride knocked down a quick three to put the Minnesota Lynd up 19 points at 43-24 with 2:44 left to play in the first half. It was the largest lead of the game for either team.
Jewell Loyd had a beautiful scoop layup over 6’6” Sylvia Fowles late in the 2nd quarter, where she drove to the basket with her left hand and switched to her right to finish over the elite center.
For a second consecutive game, the Storm had major problems on both ends of the court. They gave up 48 points to Minnesota and were on pace to give up 96 for the game. On offense, they scored just 33 points. It’s the second consecutive game where they’ve failed to score even 35 points in the first half.
Seattle’s backcourt had a much better game than on Tuesday night against Las Vegas. On Tuesday, Bird and Loyd combined for just two points at the half. But on Thursday night, those two had 19 points through the first two quarters. Unfortunately for the Storm, the other three starters (Stewart, Talbot, Magbegor) combined for just four points total.
Minnesota shot 55% (18-34) while Seattle shot the ball very poorly at under 39% (13-32). Both teams did not do a good job of taking care of the basketball with the Storm committing 10 turnovers in the first half; while the Lynx were nearly as bad with eight turnovers. The Lynx also outrebounded Seattle 17-13.
Sylvia Fowles led the Lynx with 13 points at the break, while Jewell Loyd led Seattle with 11.
The Storm started the 3rd quarter on a 10-3 run. Jewell Loyd started it off with an excellent defensive possession forcing Kayla McBride into a difficult shot in which McBride missed. Stewart and Loyd both hit three-pointers. Seattle’s defense was able to trap and get a steal, where Stephanie Talbot was able to drop a pass into the paint to Ezi where Magbegor was able to get an easy layup to cut the Lynx lead to just eight points with 51-43.
Unfortunately, Seattle not able to cut the lead further than that. Both teams battled back and forth the rest of the quarter evenly.
It was pretty apparent Breanna Stewart was having an off-shooting night when she missed two free throws at the end of the third quarter that would have cut Minnesota’s lead down to eight heading into the fourth. Instead, Seattle trailed by 10 at 63-53.
One minute into the fourth quarter and it looked like we were going to have a repeat of Tuesday night’s game. Where the Storm had used up all of their energy trying to cut into a big lead only to run out of gas in the final quarter. Minnesota scored the first four points of the fourth to go up 14 points at 67-53.
Kennedy Burke got Seattle on the board when she knocked down a three-pointer. Then Seattle got a transition basket that ended with a beautiful Sue Bird pass to a wide-open Candice Dupree to cut the Lynx lead back down to single digits in the 4th quarter at 67-58.
After the Lynx built their lead back up to 13 points and looked to put the game away for good, the Storm made another run capped off by Jordin Canada’s two free throws to cut Minnesota’s lead to four points at 71-67 with 5:30 left in the game.
But when Minnesota was in trouble, they went back to their former MVP in Sylvia Fowles who scored four quick points to push Minnesota’s lead back up to eight points.
With under five minutes to play, Coach Hughes made substitutions to have Mercedes Russell in the game along with Jordin Canada, Jewell Loyd, Sue Bird, and Breanna Stewart. Five players that are all very familiar with each other having won two championships over the past three seasons together. The chemistry was apparent as the team went on a monster run to close out the game.
Jordin Canada had a beautiful steal where she intercepted a cross-court pass and went the length of the court for the easy layup. It cut Minnesota’s lead down to just two points at 75-73 with just under four minutes left in the game. Breanna Stewart was then able to tie the game at the foul line. Then Jewell Loyd hit a three to take the lead for good!
13-0 run by Seattle in the 4th quarter and a 23-3 run total over the final five minutes of the game. It was hard to believe, so this image will help.
Coach Hughes talked about the team’s performance late in the game.
“I told them I was really proud because there was nothing easy about that [game]. We've got to learn to obviously get off to some better starts, but I was really proud of the way we played the fourth quarter. I asked them really only one thing going into that period, and it was that we became more aggressive and able to get ourselves into a bonus. I thought it could be a difference-maker in the fourth quarter and they did that.”
Jordin Canada gave an excellent quote after the comeback victory.
“We're just relentless, we keep pushing because we know we're the type of team that loves to keep pushing the pace and at some point, teams are going to get tired and that's when we take off and we just keep going. That's how our team has always been since I've been here, just continuing to push the pace and, at some point, catch up. And then, you know, in crunch time situations we’re able to execute” Canada stated.
Bird also touched on the pressure Minnesota had trying to hang onto the lead late in the game.
“When you're the team that's down you're exerting a lot of energy to get back right. But when you're the team that up, it can feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders when a team comes back on you. And I think it was more just the change of momentum that that wore them down a little bit. And believe me, I've been there. You start playing not to make mistakes instead of being aggressive. So, I think it was more just like the change of the momentum that wore them down more than anything because, you know, we were able to get enough stops that lead to good things for us on offense.”
It’s a huge credit to Seattle for not just outscoring the Lynx 37-15 in the 4th quarter, but also 57-30 throughout the entire second half!
Seattle ended up with a 35-31 rebounding advantage. And similar to their win against Las Vegas last weekend, the Storm’s three-point shooting was a big difference in the game. Seattle shot 48% (12-25) from beyond the arc compared to Minnesota who shot 29% (5-17). The seven more made threes are a +21 point differential.
Additional Analysis
I’d be lying if I said the team’s slow starts aren’t concerning. The Storm have now trailed by double digits in all three of the games they’ve played so far this season. Fortunately, they’ve been able to rally in two of the three games to secure the win. The team will hopefully minimize these mistakes moving forward as the new pieces get more time and rhythm together on the court with the core Storm players.
The positive news is that Seattle has a lot of firepower and tremendous depth. The fact they put up 37 points in the 4th quarter is a testament to that. There is so much talent on this team between Breanna Stewart, Jewell Loyd, Sue Bird, Candice Dupree, Jordin Canada, Ezi Magbegor, Mercedes Russell, etc. (I could name the entire roster) that they should be competitive in just about every game they play in.
It’s also a really good sign that Seattle can go to a place like Minnesota, where it’s extremely difficult to win ballgames as the road team, have their superstar player (Breanna Stewart) have a below-average game (13 points, 7 rebounds), trail by 19 points at one point and still come away with a 12 point victory.
The other night it was Katie Lou Samuelson and Ezi Magbegor giving you big production (outside of Seattle’s Big 3). On Thursday night it was Jordin Canada (16 points) and Candice Dupree (10 points on 5-7 FG). And that doesn’t even include contributions that don’t really show up in the box score like Stephanie Talbot giving good hustle plays and getting three steals or Mercedes Russell’s presence making things more difficult for Sylvia Fowles. Russell had a +19 in plus/minus which was only bested by Sue Bird’s +20. Russell was certainly missed in the two-game series against Las Vegas and her return was a welcome presence in this game.
There’s a lot of work for this team ahead. And I expect this season will be filled with more ups and downs than Storm fans have been accustomed to in recent seasons. There will be growing pains as we’ve seen over the past three games with so many unforced turnovers being committed and the team looking out of sync at times.
Jewell talked about that fact after the game was over.
“For me, it is trying to figure out how to continue to just build confidence in our system. Our system is built on chemistry and some of us have been here for years and years and we know it like the back of our hands. Others are just trying to figure it out. So, I thank them for continuing to just build their confidence up. Everyone on the team is well capable of being great and agile. I think there's a balance of knowing when to kind of get myself going or get others going, that’s kind of a toss-up but I have confidence in everyone on this team so I'm not too worried. You know, we just needed more practices and a couple more games” Loyd added to the discussion.
Sue Bird also chimed in on the subject of team chemistry.
“With new pieces. It's all about getting acclimated, you know, I've talked about this before. So, with that, hopefully, we can just continue to take steps in that direction, because we got to do it on the fly. That’s what's so unique about WNBA seasons. They're really short and the games come fast. So yeah, we're going to have to learn through games. Hopefully with more wins than losses, but as long as we're learning and getting better, that's really all that matters” Bird stated.
I think there’s no doubt this team will miss Natasha Howard and Alysha Clark at different times this season. Losing Howard really is unfortunate because Natasha worked so well in Seattle’s system. And despite being just 6’2” her athleticism and excellent defensive ability allowed her to guard opposing teams’ elite post players over the past three years with Seattle. I don’t know if Howard always got the credit she deserved on this team. I’ve always felt she was the key to changing this franchise around. Obviously, it was Stewie and Jewell. But they weren’t able to get out of the first round until Howard was added to the team and then they’d go on to win two championships over the next three seasons. Even after just three games, the team has definitely missed her at times.
This also makes me think about the move to trade the number one overall pick this offseason that they acquired for trading Natasha Howard. I don’t know what type of pro Charli Collier is going to turn into. But I do know she’s 6’5” and had a double-double in the first game of her WNBA career. And I know that Seattle has struggled early in these three games because of the opposing team’s dominant post players (see: A’ja Wilson, Liz Cambage, Sylvia Fowles) and it sure seems like they could use another 6’5” Center on the team.
With that said, I understand the move because it’s also partially just bad timing with the way their schedule ended up where they had to face off against Liz Cambage and A’ja Wilson in back-to-back games to start the season before 6’6” Mercedes Russell could join the team. With Russell’s height, 6’4” Ezi Magbegor, and 6’4” Breanna Stewart, the team probably doesn’t need a 6’5” Charli Collier on the team in the long run.
Katie Lou Samuelson is a type of player that can excel in Seattle with the way they spread the court and the offense focuses on three-point shooting. Samuelson has already had one of the best games of her WNBA career just two games into the season with the Storm (13 points on 71% FG shooting), but I still feel it’s fun to debate. I’ll be curious to see how Collier does with Dallas this year and beyond.
Lastly, it is truly incredible to watch Sue Bird play the game of basketball at the age of 40 and do the things she’s doing out there against players that are in their early to mid-’20s. To put up 21 points, including 5-9 from beyond the arc, and dish out eight assists is just special. I will never get tired of seeing her play the game of basketball.
Jersey Count
I think it’d be fun to keep track of the Storm’s record wearing each of the different jersey types. We have the Rebel (Black), Explorer (Green and Gold), and Heroine (White and Green).
Rebel: 1-0
Explorer: 0-1
Heroine: 1-0
Up Next
The Storm continue their road trip as they travel to Texas to face off against the Dallas Wings (1-0) on Saturday at 5:00 PM. You can watch the game live on Facebook or on Joe TV (Channel 110 on Comcast Xfinity).
I wish you (and others) would stop perpetuating the myth that we ever had the #1 pick. The only way we “got” it was to agree in advance to trade it to Dallas for Katie Lou. So let’s embrace Katie Lou and STOP focusing on Collier.