Minnesota Lynx defeat exhausted Storm 76-70
The Lynx snapped an 11-game losing streak against the Storm with this win.
(Minneapolis, Minnesota) - Seattle’s 11-game winning streak against the Minnesota Lynx came to an end on Tuesday evening. The Lynx defeated a fatigued and exhausted Seattle Storm team who had to play six games on the road in 12 days. On top of that, they spent all day Monday visiting the White House and the President of the United States.
This game came down to two things. The Storm players struggling with fatigue and poor shooting. And their inability to slow down Sylvia Fowles. Fowles led the way with 29 points and 20 rebounds. Fowles also added four steals and three blocks as she continues her Defensive Player of the Year campaign. She was one point shy of becoming the first WNBA player in the history of the league to have a 30 point and 20 rebound performance.
“We wanted to finish this road trip with more wins than losses. Today was a load from the beginning. They established their inside presence and we dug ourselves in a hole in that first quarter. We played pretty even for the rest of the game but couldn’t quite get over that hump. I think this road trip was a grind and we just have to get back home, refresh, regroup and take care of business.” Coach Noelle Quinn said after the game.
“Sylvia Fowles is one of the best centers to have ever played our game. You throw traps at her. You ask our players to be aggressive, defend her and push her out, but you're not moving her. She's a load and she's very tough. And we caught her on a bad night for us. Obviously, a great night for her. I think that they were very intentional about establishing her. When Syl has her mind set on dominating, she does that. And that's the type of Syl that came out tonight. She's hard to defend. You throw various looks at her and she's still able to go get rebounds and be very efficient. So, we just caught a great player on a bad night for us. It was a great night for her and you just kind of hope that she misses a couple. You hope that she's not as engaged, but when she is, she is very hard to stop.” Quinn continued.
“Sylvia Fowles is obviously a load. She is one of the best to make an impact offensively and defensively and when she gets super deep under the paint, it's hard to stop. And it was something that if we ever see them again down the line, we will make sure that we do a better job collectively. All five of us on the court continuing to rebound and making it tough for her. She played great tonight.” Breanna Stewart added.
The Storm were led by Breanna Stewart’s 18 points, 16 rebounds, and three blocked shots. But it was not a great game for Stewart who struggled from the floor shooting just 26% (6-23) and 14% (1-7) from the three-point range.
Jewell Loyd added 15 points on 6-14 FG shooting. Sue Bird was the only other Storm player to score in double figures with 10 points. She also had a game-high seven assists.
Seattle didn’t get quite enough from their bench as the reserves scored just 17 points. They did outscore the Lynx bench 17-12. Ezi Magbegor led the way with eight points and eight rebounds. A lot of those coming in the fourth quarter. Jordin Canada gave them a boost early in the fourth as well scoring four points to help cut Minnesota’s lead down. Canada also had four assists and three rebounds.
The poor shooting by the Storm was the primary reason for this loss. Which was likely affected by fatigue. Seattle was limited to just 38% (28-74) FG shooting and just 33% (8-24) from beyond the arc. Minnesota wasn’t significantly better but it was just enough to beat Seattle. The Lynx shot 42% (28-66) and 36% (5-14) from the three-point range. The Lynx also held a 16-7 FTA advantage and scored nine additional points from the foul line. The Storm actually had more rebounds (41-37) and assists (20-18) in the losing effort.
“Sometimes that happens. I think we got makeable shots, we just didn't make them. I knew we didn't score a lot of points, but I didn't realize the shooting percentages were that low. And we still had a chance to win, you know. We were still on this game. It was a one-point game in just a couple minutes, so that to me is the takeaway. Because sometimes you have off nights. We got good enough shots, we just didn't make them.” Sue Bird discussed the poor offensive night for Seattle.
The Storm did do a good job defensively on everyone not named Sylvia Fowles or Napheesa Collier. Collier was the only other Lynx player to score in double figures with 18 points. She also had five rebounds. Her three at the end of the game was the dagger.
I asked Coach Quinn and the players what they learned from this five-game road trip.
“I learned that we have a group that plays hard, that wants to do the right thing and that shows toughness. We had a lot of good showing from our bench for the majority of this road trip. What I also know is that we are relatively new and we’re just learning how to win games understanding that it is the little plays for us. There was a lot of growth in this road trip. There was a lot of bumps and bruises on this road trip, but I think for the most part I'm super proud of how everyone just played hard and fought through the adverse moment learning about one another and learning what it takes to hold the standard of excellence or this championship level standard night in and night out.” Quinn said.
“Obviously, it was a long tough road trip to be on the road since the Commissioner’s Cup game. As you're well aware I did not play the first two regular season games coming back from the [Olympic] break. And I think it was just fatigue getting back into it. Still, stealing two wins on the road is something that we're going to appreciate, and just try and try to collect wins at home. I think the thing is that we should focus on one game at a time. Obviously, we know bigger picture, but just focus on here and now.” Breanna Stewart responded.
“This road trip, it was the cards we were dealt. It's not ideal, but what I'm looking forward to is the practice time we're going to get in the next couple weeks. We haven't had that. I really occurred to me today, and I'll go down the lines: Stewie has had zero practices with the team post-Olympic break, I've had one, I think Jewell has really only had one. Because, as you know, once you hit a road trip you're not really practicing, you're just going from one game to the next. So, like I said, it was the cards we were dealt. We did the best we could, and now I'm looking forward to being home and getting some practice time. I think that's going to help us. Just kind of iron some things out and get back to who we are.” Sue Bird added.
Game Breakdown
Once again the Storm got off to a slow start. Including the Commissioner’s Cup game, this was their 6th road game in 12 days. And that doesn’t even factor in their trip to the White House or the fact that five Storm players traveled to Tokyo to participate in the Olympics for a month.
They missed seven of their first eight shots as Minnesota jumped out to an 8-2 lead roughly four minutes into the first quarter.
Minnesota extended their lead to 11 after Sylvia Fowles found an offensive rebound and put it back in to give the Lynx a 22-11 lead. Breanna Stewart was able to knock down a three, her first points of the game but the Lynx would finish the quarter scoring the final three points to take a 25-14 advantage after one.
Seattle’s defense picked up its intensity limiting Minnesota to just three points through the first four minutes of the second quarter. The offense still struggled but did manage an 8-0 run in the quarter.
After cutting the Lynx lead to just six, Minnesota went on a 6-0 run to push their lead up to 12 at 36-24. It was all Sylvia Fowles who scored four of those points including picking off a Sue Bird pass and racing down the court for the easy two.
Seattle finished the quarter on a 9-4 run to turn the double-digit deficit into something more manageable. Stewart scored five of those points and Loyd added the other four. The Storm trailed the Lynx 40-33 at the midway point.
Seattle made a big run in the third capped off by a Katie Lou Samuelson three-pointer to cut the Lynx 14-point lead down to just one at 46-45. Coach Cheryl Reeve called a timeout and Minnesota immediately went on a 7-0 run spurred by their bench players Bridget Carleton and Crystal Dangerfield.
The Storm were able to cut the lead to a manageable five-point deficit entering the fourth quarter.
Jordin Canada gave Seattle a big lift off the bench scoring four points in the early part of the fourth period which allowed Seattle to cut the deficit to one at 61-60.
Ezi Magbegor was also a bright spot of the final quarter scoring six of her eight points in the fourth. But more important than that was her defensive against Sylvia Fowles limiting her to just two points over the final ten minutes of the game.
With 3:30 left in the game, Magbegor converted on a fastbreak layup to cut Minnesota’s lead back down to one point at 65-64. That was as close as Seattle would get as the Storm never led in this game.
Following Magbegor’s layup, Damiris Dantas and Napheesa Collier knocked down back-to-back three-point baskets to secure the victory for Minnesota, putting them up seven with two minutes left to play.
Magbegor scored four more points on layups in the final 40 seconds of the game but it was too little, too late as the Lynx finished the game on an 11-6 run after the Storm cut it to one.
Behind a historic performance from Sylvia Fowles, the Minnesota Lynx defeated the Seattle Storm 76-70. It snapped an 11-game winning streak Seattle had going against Minnesota.
Additional Analysis
Goodbye Double-Bye?
There’s no denying that losing 3 of their last 5 games has hurt the Seattle Storm in the standings. Seattle tried to steal a win in the two road games that they played without Breanna Stewart and Sue Bird but they came up empty. That then gave them no room for error in the final three games of the road trip. They were able to win at least two games but ran into a fully healthy Minnesota team that ended up being too much for Seattle on Tuesday. So now they return home with an 18-8 record and the current owners of the #3 overall seed in the WNBA standings.
The good news is that mathematically Seattle still has a ton to play for in their final six games, five of which will be played at home. If they can manage to go 6-0 in their remaining games there is a very high probability that Seattle will secure a top-two spot and the critical double-bye.
If they go 6-0, they need either the Connecticut Sun or Las Vegas Aces to finish the season 6-2 (or worse). Seattle can finish the regular season with the same record as the Connecticut Sun and move up in the standings but they need the Las Vegas Aces to finish the year with at least one extra loss in their record to leapfrog them.
There is a minor chance Seattle can lose one of their remaining games and go 5-1 and still claim a top-two seed. But this requires Connecticut or Vegas to finish their final eight games 5-3.
Seattle’s remaining opponents are:
Home: Chicago, Chicago, New York, Washington, Phoenix
Away: Los Angeles
Las Vegas’s remaining schedule:
Home: Chicago, Minnesota, Dallas
Away: Atlanta, Indiana, Chicago, Chicago, Phoenix
Connecticut’s remaining schedule:
Home: Los Angeles, Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta
Away: Washington, Dallas, Los Angeles, Phoenix
The good news for Seattle is that five of their final six games will be played at home in front of their fans. Overall, I’d say Connecticut has the easiest remaining schedule as most of their opponents are not playoff teams and they have an equal amount of home and away games.
What About a First-Round Bye?
Fortunately, because of Seattle’s excellent 16-5 record prior to the Olympic break, they have already clinched a playoff spot despite their recent losses. The reason the double-bye from a top-two seed is so important is because it allows your team to avoid all single-elimination playoff games. But the third and fourth best teams in the league still get a single-bye in the first round of the playoffs and only have to play one elimination game. Seattle is almost guaranteed to finish in the top four and currently holds the third-best record.
Despite Tuesday’s loss to Minnesota, the Storm still hold a two-game lead over the Lynx in the standings. And that’s actually a three-game lead because Seattle owns the season-series tiebreaker. If Seattle goes 3-3 in their final six games then Minnesota needs to go 7-1 to pass the Storm in the standings. If the Storm are able to go 5-1 in their final six then there is nothing Minnesota can do to get ahead of Seattle even if they finished the season 8-0.
If the Storm play .500 basketball the rest of the way it’s almost guaranteed that they will finish in the Top Four securing a first-round bye.
But as we’ve seen in the past four years, there have been multiple times where the New York Liberty (2016, 2017), as a Top Four seed, lost in their first playoff game which was a single-elimination game. We’ve also seen it happen in 2018 with Diana Taurasi and the Phoenix Mercury eliminating the Connecticut Sun who owned the fourth seed of the playoffs.
If the Storm finish third or fourth this season, they’re likely going to have to beat a team like the Phoenix Mercury, Chicago Sky, Dallas Wings, or Washington Mystics in a winner-take-all elimination game.
Jersey Count
The Storm were back in their green and white uniforms for this game against the Minnesota Lynx. While Seattle has played their best in these uniforms, they’ve now lost the last two games they’ve played in their “Heroine” jerseys. After winning just two of the five games Seattle will need to turn things around quickly as the playoffs begin in about a month from now.
The team was fatigued by the end of this road trip.
“We had a late night yesterday and an early morning shoot around today. You got to think about the team. In the last month we had all our Olympians going to the Olympics, but our other crew stayed, going through like a training camp process and getting on this road trip. It's a grind playing minutes that you don't normally play. Fatigue, going from city to city, and now we're at the end and going mind over matter at this point. But if we have a group that has never really been in this position together before, it's hard to kind of push through that. Some fatigue has set in and so I'm happy that we get to go back home and regroup.” Quinn said after the game.
Records per jersey type this season:
Rebel: 5-3
Explorer: 5-2
Heroine: 8-3
Overall Record: 18-8
Up Next
After the Tokyo Olympics and a six-game road trip including the Commissioner’s Cup, the Seattle Storm finally return home for four straight games starting with a pair of games against the Chicago Sky. Seattle lost to Chicago without Breanna Stewart and Sue Bird earlier this month.
The Storm host the Chicago Sky in Everett on Friday at 7:00 PM. The game will air nationally on NBA TV and locally on JOE TV (Comcast/Xfinity Channel 110).
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! Also, feel free to drop comments in the section below. If there’s any part of the coverage you really enjoyed let me know. If you have questions on something, I’ll do my best to track down the answer and ask during media availability. Photo Credits to Neil Enns/Seattle Storm/WNBA Photography.