Rough Start Dooms Storm Against Aces 94-83

Seattle drops their 2nd game in a row after another poor 1st quarter.

(Las Vegas, Nevada) - Another slow start found the Seattle Storm down big early. Just like their game against the Phoenix Mercury, they were never able to overcome that initial hole they dug themselves. Seattle trailed 29-16 at the end of the first period and 47-32 at the half. Despite winning both the 3rd and 4th periods by marginal numbers, that 1st quarter loomed large in the Storm’s 94-83 loss to the Las Vegas Aces.

Before the game, I spoke with Coach Quinn about the team’s focus in practices after the game against the Mercury. She emphasized needing to be better defensively to start the game against Las Vegas. When that clearly didn’t happen, I spoke with Quinn after the game about the team’s (lack of) effort and energy.

“It’s unacceptable. Energy and effort are something that we should show up with all the time off of the strength of us being professionals. And that's something that we shouldn't have to coach or continue to remind ourselves with. When we have the proper energy effort, the want to, the mindset; I think that we can compete against any team in this league, but if our mindset is not that, then we struggle and it's across the board. It has to be one through 11, and coaches included. It has to be everyone who has the mental fortitude and mentality that we're going to get stops, whether it's KYP (Know Your Personnel), individual matchups, being connected in our defensive effort. But those things shouldn't have to, I shouldn't have to bother those things. We should show up with that. It's the intangibles.” Quinn replied.

Seattle had four players score in double figures. Nneka Ogwumike led the way with 21 points. She also had four rebounds and four steals. Ezi Magbegor had a strong second half and finished the game with a double-double of 19 points and 13 rebounds. Skylar Diggins-Smith added 10 points and a team-high six assists but was held in check by the Aces defense compared to their last matchup where she had 21 points. Jordan Horston continued to shine off the bench scoring 18 points. She also had six rebounds and three assists. Joyner Holmes also deserves some praise. In her limited minutes (9) Holmes added six points, four assists, three rebounds, and two steals.

Nneka praised her younger teammates in Magbegor and Horston after the game.

“They're both my accountability partners so we are aligned always. I'm not surprised each night by how Ezi plays. I think it's also amazing to know that we're both free to be aggressive how we want and to supplement that with Jordan coming in. And I mean, each game she's just getting better. I tell them all the time that they're the future of this team, but they can build that future right now. And so I'm grateful. That I get to play with them. I get to learn from them. I get to empower them. And I think those are two good performances tonight that we can build off of.” Ogwumike said.

Seattle was outshot by Las Vegas 56% (35-63 FG) to 44% (31-70 FG). The Aces were also much better from three-point range. That was a key difference in the game. Las Vegas shot 40% (8-20 FG) from beyond the arc while the Storm made 25% (4-16 FG). Those four extra three-pointers resulted in 12 extra points and the Aces won by 11.

The Storm out-rebounded the Aces 32-29. They had a large advantage in second-chance points 15-7. Both teams were effective in the paint with the Aces edging out the Storm 50-46. Las Vegas also had a small advantage in fast break points 15-12. Both teams had 15 turnovers each but Seattle capitalized a little more on the mistakes scoring 20 points off of the Aces’ turnovers. Seattle’s bench outscored Las Vegas 27-11.

Las Vegas Aces

Make no mistake about it, this was the Jackie Young show. Young dominated Seattle scoring at will throughout the first half. She scored 14 points alone in the first quarter. Young nearly matched the Storm in that opening frame (16 to 14). Young finished with 32 points on 11-19 FG and a perfect 8-8 from the FT line.

Ezi Magbegor talked about Jackie Young after the game.

“She's a great player. I think she was able to get to her spots, but I think on the other end we didn't make it tough for her, especially in the first half she got going. And I think she is like all of us are, confidence players. So, you know, when she sees the ball go in, she's going to keep attacking, keeping aggressive. And although she isn't our primary matchup, I think it takes a team. So I think we need to do a better job of getting back, building a wall defensively. Helping out the guards because we play defense as a team. So it's not one single person that had to guard Jackie. But credit to her. She's a great player.” Magbegor said in the post-game.

While Young scored 19 of her 32 points in the first half, A’ja Wilson did most of her damage late in the game. Surprisingly, Wilson was having a very quiet game heading into the fourth quarter. Even though Las Vegas had dominated, Wilson wasn’t the reason through the first 30 minutes. Seattle managed to hold A’ja to just 11 points on 4-10 FG shooting by the end of the third period. In the 4th quarter, Wilson scored 16 points on 7-8 FG. The game was never in question but she certainly closed the door on Seattle anyway.

Kelsey Plum (11 points), Tiffany Hayes (10), and Alysha Clark (10) were the other three players to score in double figures.

Chelsea Gray also made her 2024 WNBA debut. After injuring her foot during the WNBA Finals last season, Gray has still been recovering from that injury as the current season has progressed. She played 16 minutes off the bench. And while she didn’t hurt Seattle with points, her presence was still felt. In just 16 minutes, she had seven assists and four rebounds.

The Aces are significantly more dangerous with a healthy Chelsea Gray playing for them. If she can get to the point where she’s scoring on top of all the impressive passes, then Las Vegas will have a legitimate chance to repeat as champions for a third year in a row.

Game Breakdown

Ezi Magbegor scored the game’s first basket. It would be Seattle’s only lead of the game. A’ja Wilson scored in the paint and Jackie Young made a three-pointer to put Las Vegas on top. Wilson added a couple of more free throws.

Victoria Vivians somehow managed to bank in a corner three (physics!?). Nneka split a pair of free throws. Seattle played good defense for 23 seconds but allowed Kelsey Plum to get a three-pointer off at the buzzer which she nailed.

Jackie Young drove past Seattle’s flat-footed defense for two easy points to put the Aces up five at 14-9. A’ja Wilson got an AND1 as Magbegor was called for the foul on the midrange jump shot. Ezi had a travel turnover and Jackie Young was able to score on back-to-back possessions to give Vegas a 10-point lead at 21-11. In total, the Storm had six turnovers in the first quarter.

Chelsea Gray checked into the game with just under two minutes to play in the first period. She immediately drew Seattle’s attention which led to an Alysha Clark three-pointer and a 13-point lead at 26-13. Sami Whitcomb and Jackie Young exchanged three-pointers to close out the quarter. Las Vegas led 29-16 after the first 10 minutes.

The Aces took full control of the game during the opening minutes of the second quarter. Seattle looked completely out of sync just not executing on offense and letting Las Vegas get whatever they wanted on the other end.

It was clearly going Vegas’s way once Kiah Stokes buried a corner three. Seattle got some nice plays from their bench as Jordan Horston was able to draw a foul for two free throws and Joyner Holmes drove past Stokes for a floater in the lane.

Jackie continued to punish Seattle as Young muscled through Jewell Loyd for the AND1. That put the Aces up by 15 points at 37-22. Nneka was able to respond with her AND1 but the Storm still trailed by double digits.

Seattle made a bit of a run getting baskets from Skylar Diggins-Smith and Nneka Ogwumike. Tiffany Hayes responded with another corner three at the shot-clock buzzer. A’ja Wilson scored inside the paint to put the Aces back up 14.

Chelsea Gray had some impressive defensive plays. First with a block on Vivians and then she ripped the ball right out of Diggins-Smith’s hands on Skylar’s layup attempt.

At the end of the first half the Storm trailed the Aces by 15 with a score of 47-32. Ezi Magbegor, Jewell Loyd, and Skylar Diggins-Smith combined for just seven points total. Jackie Young had 19 points by herself through the first 20 minutes.

Seattle came out with a solid response. They got two scores from Skylar and Nneka and then forced a 24-second shot clock violation. But Jackie Young took over again with seven straight points. That put the Aces up 18 at 54-36.

Both teams played evenly over the next few minutes. The bank was open on the National Holiday as Nneka banked in another three-pointer. Ezi Magbegor then got an AND1 from a nice pass from Horston. Seattle had some opportunities but couldn’t cut the deficit to less than 10. At the end of the third, the Storm trailed 66-54. Seattle won the third quarter 22-19.

Tiffany Hayes scored to open up the fourth quarter. Jackie Young was fouled by Horston on a three-point attempt and made all three free throws. Ezi Magbegor made four free throws over the next couple of possessions. Young got another basket in the paint. A’ja scored again and then was fouled. It allowed the Aces to extend their lead to 18 points.

Jordan Horston made several nice plays in the fourth. She led the team in scoring with 13 points on 5-6 FG over the final 10 minutes. She was attacking the hoop, getting to the rim a lot, making good cuts, running out in transition, and more. Horston also hit a corner three as she continues to work on her three-point shot.

Ezi Magbegor also finished strong, scoring eight of her 19 points in the fourth. Six of those points came from the foul line as Ezi was aggressive around the basket and forced the Aces to commit multiple fouls against her.

Coach Quinn praised their efforts after the game.

“(I saw) great activity, want to, energy, aggressiveness, a mindset defensively that they were going to be locked into their scout and live in their number one roles. It's a great passion for playing this game, honestly. The things that Ezi and Jordan were doing with pace, a lot of those deflections, and we talk about the energy that Jordan brings on the defensive end helped kind of spark a lot of things in the second half. As with Ezi, getting the deflections, rebounds, and getting into the paint. I think what you're seeing is a testament to the work they're putting in and the focus that they want to have to be at their best for their team.” Quinn said.

Seattle scored 29 points in the 4th quarter nearly matching their entire first-half offensive output. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to get any stops on the other end and Las Vegas was more than happy to exchange baskets over and over again; already clinging to a double-digit lead.

A’ja Wilson wouldn’t allow her team to give an inch. She took over the game late scoring 16 points in the fourth quarter. She took advantage once Nneka came out of the game and started scoring deep inside the paint. A’ja helped Vegas close it out with a 94-83 victory at home.

Final Box Score

Additional Analysis

Poor Starts

The poor starts have been brutal for Seattle these past two games. The league is far too talented to not come with 100% effort right out of the gate. Especially because Seattle has had some days off recently. They went from playing almost every other day to finally having 2-3 days off in between each game. For whatever reason, the focus and energy haven’t been there.

Credit to both the Phoenix Mercury and Las Vegas Aces who took it to the Storm over these past few days. But Seattle has looked out of sorts. They aren’t executing at either end of the court.

Coach Quinn talked about the poor start.

“I thought that our effort defensively wasn't there to begin (the game). You can't go down 13 points on the road to an amazing team. Defensively, our activity was low. 12 minutes of that first half, we had one deflection, and that's not normal for us. Jackie Young's too comfortable. Just a lot of defensive lack in my opinion.” Quinn stated.

Nneka Ogwumike was also asked about the slow starts over the past couple of games.

“I would probably attribute it to our posture, our posture starting the game. I think that we could have a posture that's a little bit more forthcoming, a little bit more competitive. I think we have our schemes down. We know what we have to do when we go out there. But definitely changing how we approach the game, I think, is something that could really help.” Ogwumike added.

Streaks Ended

Jewell Loyd had her streak of double-digit scoring come to an end. She had scored at least 10 points in 55 consecutive games. Jewell finished with just one point on 0-9 FG. Loyd has really struggled recently as I wrote about in my last article. Her shooting has just been off. In this game, she just didn’t have the necessary energy at all. I’m not looking to make excuses but I do have to wonder if Loyd has been sick or dealing with a lingering injury. We do know that Mercedes Russell missed the Phoenix Mercury game because she was too sick to play. I think multiple players on the team may be sick right now. That could also explain the poor defense lately as defense is all about energy and hustle.

Jewell wasn’t the only player to have their streak broken. Ezi Magbegor had her streak of 17 consecutive games with at least one blocked shot come to an end as well. Magbegor had an incredibly impressive streak of 3+ blocks per game for eight straight games that just ended against the Dallas Wings on June 13th. Even then, she still had two blocks and four steals in that game. But Magbegor didn’t have even one against Las Vegas.

Tough Tests

The largest concern from this game was definitely the poor start and poor defensive effort. But beyond that, the other concern when looking beyond the scope of this one game is that the Seattle Storm have struggled against the best teams in the WNBA all season long. Seattle’s record against teams that currently have a winning record is just 2-6. That could drop to 2-7 if they lose their next game at home against the Connecticut Sun. That’s not very comforting if you’re looking way beyond this month and start thinking about the WNBA Playoffs later this summer.

With an overall record of 9-6, the Seattle Storm currently hold the fourth-best record in the WNBA. But the Las Vegas Aces and Phoenix Mercury, the two teams they just lost to this week, are right on their heels. Seattle would have to go on some significant winning streaks at this point to catch up to the Top 3 teams - Connecticut (13-1), Minnesota (12-3), and New York (12-3). As of right now, Seattle looks like they’ll probably finish somewhere between the 4th and 6th seeds in the standings. That would have them matching up against either Las Vegas, Phoenix, or New York in the first round of the playoffs if everything held as it is today. None of those are favorable matchups.

So what does this all mean? They’re 15 games into a 40-game season. I think we have a pretty good idea of what this team is capable of. They have a lot of strengths as we saw during their six-game winning streak. They also have plenty of weaknesses; poor three-point shooting, and streaky scorers in Jewell Loyd and Skylar Diggins-Smith.

I’d like to see better performances against the league’s top teams. That’ll need to happen if they want to be viewed as a legit title contender this season. Their upcoming game against Connecticut will be another tough test. Let’s see if they pass.

Up Next

The Storm return home to play the Connecticut Sun (13-1) on June 23rd at 12:00 PM/Noon PDT in Seattle at Climate Pledge Arena.

Notes:
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