Magbegor, Prince lead the Storm over Los Angeles 84-74
With Jewell Loyd out, others stepped up big time to help lead Seattle to the victory.
(Los Angeles, California) - A massive third quarter by the Los Angeles Sparks gave Seattle a scare, but ultimately the Storm were able to leave LA with another victory and pick up another W in the WNBA’s Commissioner’s Cup mid-season tournament. Seattle defeated the LA Sparks 84-74 to improve to 14-4 on the season which is tied with Las Vegas for the best record in the WNBA. Los Angeles falls to 6-11 on the year which puts them as the 11th seed currently, only better than the 2-16 Indiana Fever.
But to Coach Fisher’s credit, despite all the injuries to both Ogwumike sisters, their first-round pick Jasmine Walker, and even Kristi Toliver, the Sparks are battling in these games. By pure hustle, defensive effort, and timely shooting, they were able to turn a nine-point halftime deficit into a two-point lead entering the final quarter. They’d ultimately lose by ten as Seattle dominated the fourth. But it isn’t for a lack of trying. Earlier in the week, they held the #1 offensive team in the WNBA (the Las Vegas Aces) to just 66 points. But it wasn’t enough as they managed to only score 58 points in that game on Friday.
For this game, this really was a story about two players. One, a 12-year WNBA veteran who answered the call when they needed her the most. And a blossoming 21-year old just in her second season in the WNBA. Epiphanny Prince got the start in this game with Jewell Loyd out with an ankle injury that she suffered against Atlanta on Friday. Prince finished the game with 18 points on 6-12 field goal shooting. Prince had three steals, two rebounds, and two assists. She was also a game-high +21 in plus/minus while she was on the court.
Not only did Prince fill in admirably for the three-time All-Star (Loyd), but her performance was absolutely necessary considering that Seattle got almost nothing from Katie Lou Samuelson or Stephanie Talbot in this game. Lou finished 1-6 from the floor and just two points in the game in 17 minutes. Talbot did finish with four rebounds and four assists, but did not score a single point and surprisingly didn’t even take a single shot in the game during her 16 minutes.
“Piph is a vet. We’ve all seen over her career the ability to come up off screens, put pressure at the rim, hit threes, and pass the ball. So, again, another opportunity for a player who hadn't gotten as many minutes as of late just taking advantage of that opportunity. She was solid on both ends. And today her assignment was [Erica] Wheeler, and that was a little bit different, but overall, very good effort from her and just very solid all around.” Coach Quinn stated.
Magbegor continues to shine with Candice Dupree no longer on the team. After scoring 12 points in 15 minutes on Friday against Atlanta, Ezi scored a career-high 20 points on 64% (7-11) FG shooting and pulled down a team-high nine rebounds in 23 minutes of action. In the only other game this season that she played over 20 minutes, Magbegor put up 14 points and 13 rebounds against the Las Vegas Aces in 26 minutes of action.
“Ezi is so stoic. She is never too high and never too low. But just her presence in general, the energy she brought running the floor, finishing around the rim, blowing by her defender, shot-blocking, and rebounding. I mean, all the other intangibles that Ezi presents while keeping a very straight face and just kind of going to work, putting her heart in it, and doing whatever we ask her to do. Just an amazing effort on both ends of the floor.” Quinn on Magbegor’s performance.
Overall, Seattle’s coach was pleased with the team’s effort. Despite the struggles of the third quarter.
“We had some breakdowns and we actually were resilient and got through those breakdowns. In the fourth quarter, our zone was effective. I thought Ezi had a very good game, with her rebounding ability and shot-blocking. So, all in all, another road victory, [another] Commissioner's Cup victory. All the things that we're kind of focused on right now, getting better on a day-to-day, and I thought we had some good contribution, without having Jewell on the floor.” Coach Noelle Quinn said after the game.
Breanna Stewart led the team in scoring with 21 points rebounding from a poor performance on Friday against the Dream where she was held to a season-low nine points. Stewart had a solid game overall with four rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and a steal.
After the game, I asked Stewart to talk about the performances from Ezi and Piph.
“Piph came in and does what Piph does. You can ask anyone on our team, we're always telling her to shoot more and be more aggressive because we know who she is. And if you don't know who Epiphanny Prince is then you need to look her up. And it’s the same for Ezi. I felt like this game was coming for Ezi. She’s been practicing really well leading up to these past few games, being more aggressive, more assertive, more vocal, and she just came out and did what she can do. And it's something that we need from her every night. So, for her to just continue to use this, build confidence and build off of it, it's going to be huge for us.” Stewart said.
Sue Bird was the only other player to score in double figures with 13 points connecting on 4-8 shots including 3-5 from beyond the arc. Surprisingly, Bird was only credited with a single assist in the game. That’s something you rarely see for the league’s All-Time assists leader. Bird is ten assists away from 3,000 for her career. She’ll likely hit that mark either on the road at Phoenix on Friday, July 9th, or at home against the Mercury on Sunday, July 11th.
Bird did make more history during Friday’s game as her 13 points moved her ahead of Katie Smith into 6th place on the All-Time scorers’ list. Bird now has 6,464 career points. Sue will likely move into 5th all-time in WNBA history if she continues to play past this season. She’s currently 347 points behind Cappie Pondexter. She would need to average roughly 25 PPG the rest of this season to break it this year, so I don’t think that’s happening. Even still, the achievement is very impressive for the pass-first point guard.
The Sparks had three players score in double figures with Brittney Sykes having the best game of the group. Sykes had a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds. She also five assists which were tied for a team-best with Erica Wheeler. Wheeler also had 19 points in the game. Nia Coffey added 11 points including knocking down 3-6 three-pointers. Karlie Samuelson got the better of the matchup against her younger sister Katie Lou, scoring six points hitting two triples in the game.
Game Breakdown
Seattle got out to a 7-4 lead early, but both teams struggled offensively through the first several minutes of the game.
Amanda Zahui B knocked down a couple of baskets to give Los Angeles an 8-7 lead with about four minutes remaining in the first quarter.
Ezi Magbegor continues to excel with a larger role now that Candice Dupree is no longer on the team. Magbegor had six points, three rebounds, and a blocked shot in the first quarter.
Breanna Stewart led Seattle with seven points in the opening period.
The Storm’s defense was effective in the first limiting the Sparks to just 25% Field Goal shooting (5-20).
Brittney Sykes had a nice baseline drive with an AND1 in the opening period and led LA with seven points after one.
Seattle was able to open up a ten-point lead early in the 2nd quarter. Epiphanny Prince hit a three, both Ezi Magbegor and Katie Lou Samuelson got easy layups to put Seattle up 27-17.
A couple of frustrating plays occurred where Los Angeles drew a couple of questionable charge calls. They may have been actual offensive fouls, but the Sparks players went flying as if they had just been tossed by the Incredible Hulk.
Regardless, LA used this to their advantage and went on their own 5-0 run. Sykes made a pair of free throws and then Nia Coffey drained a three.
Sue Bird responded with a three of her own, but Te’a Cooper matched her on the other end to cut Seattle’s lead back down to five at 30-25 with about five minutes remaining in the first half.
The Storm would then go on a 7-0 run to go up 12 at 37-25, Stewie hit a three, Sue got her own offensive rebound and put the ball back up from short range for two more, and Jordin Canada made a very difficult layup through contact.
From the 3:15 mark left in the 2nd quarter, Seattle would only score one more time on an Epiphanny Prince jump shot. LA ended the first half on a 5-2 run.
Breanna Stewart led all scorers with 10 points. Epiphanny Prince did an excellent job replacing Jewell Loyd in the starting lineup scoring nine points in the first half. Sue Bird and Ezi Magbegor had eight points apiece.
Brittney Sykes led the Sparks with nine points and Erica Wheeler added seven more despite shooting 1-6 in the first half.
Seattle shot considerably better through two quarters. The Storm shot 49% (16-33) and 50% (5-10) from beyond the arc. While Los Angeles shot just 29% (10-35) and 38% (3-8) from three. LA did have an advantage at the foul line knocking down 7-7 free throw attempts while Seattle had just two (2-2).
The Los Angeles Sparks scored 16 points on seven consecutive possessions. They knocked down six of their first seven shots of the third quarter. The one they missed, Karlie Samuelson got an offensive rebound that led to a nice reverse layup by Erica Wheeler. Samuelson also hit a three at the shot clock buzzer for Los Angeles after it had appeared that the refs missed an obvious jump-ball call when Prince tied up Erica Wheeler who went up and down with the ball. Wheeler eventually got the ball away from Prince and kicked it out to Karlie for the triple.
Breanna Stewart kept Seattle’s offense alive early in the quarter with a nice mid-range jumper and a jump hook from the right low block.
Credit to LA who just out-hustled and outplayed Seattle in the third quarter. Brittney Sykes jumped the passing lane with a pass intended for Bird and raced coast to coast for the easy two to cut Seattle’s lead to just one at 45-44. It was part of a 14-4 run by the Sparks to begin the third period.
Seattle did not have a successful defensive possession in the third until the 5:19 mark when they forced a bad pass out of bounds that was intended for Amanda Zahui B.
Lauren Cox tied the game at 48-48 after Brittney Sykes drew multiple defenders and found Cox wide open under the basket. LA then took the lead on a pair of free throws from Sykes.
Trailing Seattle 48-44, the Sparks went on a 12-0 run capped off by another three-pointer from Karlie Samuelson to put Los Angeles up eight at 56-48. It was the Sparks’ largest lead of the game. All of the hustle plays were going Los Angeles’ way.
I spoke to Breanna Stewart after the game about what went wrong in the third period.
“We were a little late on our rotations. We were a little funky defensively. And then we were letting the last play dictate the next play. I think Sue said it best, all in all, everything that went on in the third quarter and how terrible it seemed, we were down two. We were right in the ball game going into the 4th.” Stewie said.
Jordin Canada made two really nice plays towards the end of the quarter. First, she drove hard to the basket drawing the foul, connecting on both free throws. She then made a circus shot with the defender all up in her face as the shot clock buzzer went off. The basket cut Los Angeles’ lead to four at 56-52.
Ezi’s athleticism really shined in the final minute of the third. First, she drove from the top of the left lane right past Lauren Cox and finished at the rim. Then in the final seconds, she caught a pass in mid-air from Kennedy Burke and completed the alley-oop play off the glass for two more.
After leading by nine at halftime, the Storm entered the 4th quarter trailing by two 58-56 as the Sparks outscored Seattle 28-17.
A quick 5-0 by Seattle to begin the 4th quarter allowed the Storm to regain the lead 61-58. Kennedy Burke completed a nice reverse layup and Epiphanny Prince buried a three beyond the top of the key. Prince’s three actually capped off a 9-0 run for Seattle between the end of the third and the beginning of the fourth quarters.
Seattle went to a heavy zone defensive set in the fourth quarter to limit Los Angeles’ ability to score. Coach Quinn talked after the game about the strategy they wanted to implement by going with the zone.
“The Sparks presents difficult matchups. [They have] very athletic guards. They put pressure on you at the rim. So, it was essential for us to defend without fouling. The biggest thing was just changing up with our zone. It just gave a different look. Their game kind of slowed down in a way. We got some good presences on the inside to take away their cuts out of their horn set that they were trying to run. Just coming up with the loose balls and really securing the rebounds. I believe that we communicated well in our zone and we were able to get a lot of stops from that.” Coach Quinn said.
“That's something that we kind of worked on and singled within training camp. Obviously, we know Klop is a disruptive guy defensively. He wants to trap and things of that nature, but if you just look at our roster and the players that we have. This is something that we've been preparing, and I think that when we play teams that aren't as aggressive on the offensive rebounds and don't present three-point threats as the majority of their offense, then it is something that we can go to, using our length.” she added.
Ezi Magbegor was extremely impressive in the fourth quarter scoring eight points in the final period. She was able to get to the foul line multiple times successfully knocking down her free throw attempts. Magbegor also had a beautiful drive down the lane that was freed up by a screen from Breanna Stewart.
Speaking of Stewart, she also came through late in this game scoring seven points in the final period, including a three to give Seattle their largest lead of the game (14) at 78-64.
“[We were] just having the confidence to know that it was time to kind of put the game away, to make a run like that. We felt like we were right there every time, whether it was almost getting a steal or not finishing a play, things that we could control. We had a mixed group in between the bench and the starters and we just came in and really focused in on getting scores and stops.” Stewart told the media after the game.
Epiphanny Prince closed out the game knocking down a pair of free throws and a long-range shot in the corner in the final seconds. Prince finished with a season-high 18 points.
“I just wanted to come out in and be aggressive. Do what my teammates and coaches asked me to do. I was just the same. Just trying to take what the defense gives me, but I was more a little more assertive I'll say. I wasn't thinking like ‘score, score, score.’” Prince said.
At the final buzzer, the Seattle Storm won the game 84-74. Seattle shot 47% (30-64) and 40% (8-20) from three. Los Angeles finished shooting 39% (25-65) and 39% (7-18) from beyond the arc. The Storm outrebounded LA 33-30 and had one more assist 19-18. Both teams combined for 33-34 from the foul line (97%) as the Sparks went a perfect 17-17 and Seattle missed just one 16-17.
Additional Analysis
Ezi, Ezi, Ezi, Oi, Oi, Oi!
I spoke to Ezi after the game about how rewarding it is for her to have such strong performances in back-to-back games after putting in so much effort into improving in the offseason but not really having the opportunity to show it until recently.
“I think it's pretty rewarding but I guess early on the season I still needed to be more effective with the minutes that I do get. I'm grateful that I got more minutes in the last couple of games, but I think earlier on I still need to bring that energy off the bench and help my teammates where I can, no matter how big or small the minutes.” Magbegor told me after the game.
That was an extremely mature answer from the 21-year old Australian. And she’s right, she has had a few games where she’s had around 14-15 MPG and managed to only score four points or even held scoreless. In those games, she does have to be better than going 0-4 or 1-5 from the floor. But it’s also true that Ezi Magbegor has only been given the opportunity to play over 20 minutes in two games this season and is averaging 17 points and 11 rebounds in those games.
I am a big believer in Ezi Magbegor and her talent. She’s extremely athletic as evident by that impressive alley-oop play in this game. She has great height (6’4”) and length with her wingspan. She’s very quick off the dribble for a big as we saw her blow by Lauren Cox multiple times in this game. And she’s even shown off her three-point range this season in limited attempts.
When I wrote about what I had learned from Seattle Storm training camp back in early May, I talked about how Ezi was ready to take on a larger role with the team. You can read the entire article at the link above or just read this part I wrote.
“One of the reasons I feel Seattle was willing to trade away Natasha Howard was the emergence of Magbegor. Ezi is capable of doing a lot of the things that Natasha also brought to the team. She runs the floor well for transition baskets. She is athletic and has the ability to be a plus defender. Her offensive game is strong down low and she continues to develop her outside shot.”
And while I was wrong about my prediction on the impact Candice Dupree would have on the team (so was Seattle’s front office). I feel much better about the high praise and expectations I have for Magbegor.
The Vegas Aces will be tough to catch
I shouldn’t harp on the past, but that loss to Las Vegas was really bad for Seattle. Especially considering they had the lead the entire game. It’d be one thing if Vegas dominated them as they did in the 2nd game of the season. But the Storm held a 5-to-9 point lead throughout that entire game. It should have never gone to OT in the first place. Credit to the Aces, they made the big plays and Seattle didn’t. The victory for Vegas gave them a 2-1 season series win over Seattle and gives them all tiebreaker advantages if the two teams end up with the exact same record at the end of the regular season as they did in 2020, Vegas will once again be the top seed in the WNBA.
But if I’m being honest, I’m not sure if Seattle is going to be able to re-take that top seed away from Vegas this year. The Aces defeated the Atlanta Dream 118-95 on Sunday afternoon. That’s something I’ve noticed as the season plays out. Las Vegas is crushing the bad teams. They just beat the Sparks by 24 points in late June and by 28 points back in May. They beat New York by 27 and 22 points a couple of weeks ago. They throttled the Indiana Fever by 36 points and again by 23 in late May. Complete and utter domination.
Of the 14 victories Las Vegas has this season, seven of them have been by 20 points or more. By comparison, only three of Seattle’s 14 victories have been by at least 20 points. Both teams have a 14-4 record but the Aces are clearly the more dominant of the two teams.
It’s why I talked about them winning the Championship this season. If they don’t do it, it’ll be a huge disappointment for that organization.
And that’s not to say that Seattle can’t beat them. The Aces also outplayed Seattle in the regular season in 2020, but when the title was on the line, the Storm were clearly the better team. Seattle has enough talent to beat them if they rematch again in the Finals, but Vegas would likely be the favorite, especially if they maintain home-court advantage.
The Connecticut Sun, Minnesota Lynx will likely also compete for the title. And we still haven’t seen how Chicago matches up against Seattle or Las Vegas yet this season. But for now, the Aces are the cream of the crop.
Jersey Count
Seattle were back in their green and gold, Explorer uniforms on Sunday evening in Los Angeles. Seattle basketball’s most traditional color scheme has served the Storm well so far this season as they’ve only lost once while wearing these jerseys. They improved to 4-1 on the year while wearing their Explorer outfits.
Records per jersey type this season:
Rebel: 3-3
Explorer: 4-1
Heroine: 7-0
Overall Record: 14-4
Up Next
The Storm return home to face the Los Angeles Sparks again, this time up in Everett, WA at the Angel of the Winds Arena. The game will be on Wednesday at 7:00 PM local time. You can watch the game on the national broadcast if you have CBS Sports Network or local channel JoeTV.
Seattle must continue to win not only to keep pace with the Aces but also to keep claim to the top spot of the Commissioner’s Cup. If Seattle goes 3-0 in their final three games before the Olympic break they will automatically qualify for the Championship Cup game and likely face either the Connecticut Sun or Chicago Sky in that game.
Editor’s Note: Thank you for your support! If you know any Storm fans that aren’t currently aware of my coverage through Substack and Twitter (@WNBAStormChaser), please let them know. Word of mouth can be super helpful and is greatly appreciated! Photo Credits to Neil Enns/Seattle Storm/WNBA Photography.