Seattle Storm coast past the Minnesota Lynx 82-72 (Free Edition)
The game wasn't nearly as close as the final score indicates as the Storm led by 30 points in the 4th quarter.
(Everett, WA) - This was another solid win for the Seattle Storm (5-1) who continue to impress early into the 2021 season. While the final score, a ten-point victory over the winless Minnesota Lynx (0-4) doesn’t sound all that impressive. It certainly was if you watched the game from start to finish.
Seattle shot lights out in the first half while opening up a 58-36 lead through the first two quarters. Early in the 4th quarter, the Storm pushed their lead to 30 points at 80-50 before they finally took their foot off the pedal.
The Storm had five players score in double figures and seven players score at least seven points or more. They were led by Breanna Stewart who had 15 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Jewell Loyd (12 points), Candice Dupree (12 points), Sue Bird (11 points), and Epiphanny Prince (10 points) were the other players to score in double figures in this game.
Minnesota had four players score in double figures as well with former MVP Sylvia Fowles leading the way with 15 points. Napheesa Collier scored 14 points in her season debut but struggled to shoot against Seattle’s tough defense; limiting her to just 4-12 shooting and 0-2 from beyond the arc. Collier did have a game-high six assists.
Kayla McBride and Bridget Carleton each added 12 points, but seven of Carleton’s 12 points came late in the 4th quarter (garbage time) with all of Seattle’s starters on the bench and the game out of hand.
Game Breakdown
The Storm looked excellent early on connecting on their first five shots to take a 10-2 lead just two and a half minutes into the game. Seattle started the game 5-5 and all five starters each scored a basket. The streak kept going as Seattle built a 15-2 lead before Napheesa Collier was able to draw a foul in the low post. Collier nailed both free throws. Seattle led 17-4 roughly midway through the first quarter, but it wouldn’t last.
After a second timeout, Minnesota was determined to get Sylvia Fowles going in the low post. She hit consecutive shots down low and then Kayla McBride knocked down a corner three and a cutting layup as part of a 9-2 run by the Lynx to cut Seattle’s lead to just six at 19-13.
Over the final five minutes, Minnesota outscored Seattle 19-10. Ezi Magbegor was able to score a basket down low to give Seattle a 27-23 edge after one period of play.
Jewell Loyd led Seattle with seven points in the opening frame. But Kayla McBride led all scorers with eight points, including two big threes that helped cut into the Storm’s lead.
After Seattle led 17-4, the Minnesota Lynx tied the game early in the 2nd quarter at 29-29. It was the closest the Lynx would get as they never led in this game. The Storm went on a 13-2 run to push their lead back up to eleven at 42-31. Then things just snowballed for Minnesota from there.
Seattle’s defense was a huge story of the 2nd quarter, they got steals and blocked shots that led to multiple transition baskets. They were able to draw fouls on Minnesota, including back-to-back AND1 scoring opportunities by Stephanie Talbot and Breanna Stewart that pushed the Storm’s lead to 18 at 54-36. Seattle finished the half on a 10-0 run and led 58-36 at the midway point. In total, the Storm outscored the Lynx 31-13 in the 2nd quarter. It was reminiscent of their 37-15 outburst in the 4th quarter of their first game against Minnesota.
The home team shot 64% from the floor (25-40) in the first half while limiting Minnesota to 42% (14-33). Seattle had five steals and forced the Lynx into seven turnovers in the first half. The Storm also dominated the rebounds throughout the first two quarters with a 19-11 edge.
The Minnesota Lynx had absolutely no answer for the juggernaut that was the Seattle Storm’s offense. Even though Seattle started the third quarter a little sloppy with a few turnovers in their first handful of possessions, the Storm continued to score at will. They extended their lead to 27 points at 69-42 with five and a half minutes left in the third.
Seattle’s offense was like a hot knife through butter against Minnesota’s defense throughout the first three quarters. The Storm led 77-50 at the end of the third period.
A three-pointer by Kennedy Burke pushed Seattle’s lead to 30 points early in the 4th quarter. But credit to the Minnesota Lynx who refused to give up and continued to play hard. Outside of that triple by Burke, the Storm scored just two more points the rest of the way. Seattle didn’t score a single point in the final eight minutes and thirty-two seconds of the game. The less said about that 4th quarter the better.
Minnesota finished the game on a 19-0 run and still lost by double digits (82-72). Seattle missed their final 12 shots of the game taking their field goal percentage from a sizzling 58% (35-60) down to under 49% (35-72) for the game. They also committed four turnovers during that time.
It should be noted that Stewart, Bird, and Loyd all sat out the entire fourth period (all five starters did in fact). Rookie Kiana Williams did play six minutes going 0-2 from the field and did collect one rebound.
Surprisingly, several of the team stats were nearly equal by the end of the game. Seattle outrebounded Minnesota by just a few (35-32) after dominating the glass in the first half. Both teams had the same amount of assists (20) and turnovers (12). Seattle did have the defensive edge in steals (8 to 5) and blocked shots (7 to 2). It was the Storm’s best defensive effort this season, limiting the Lynx to just 72 points on 37% (25-67) shooting from the floor.
Additional Analysis
The Seattle Storm are a really good team. I’m not quite ready to say the Minnesota Lynx are a bad team but the 0-4 start is certainly surprising. It’s arguably the most shocking thing about the 2021 season so far. A lot of it is circumstantial. The Lynx have only played four games, whereas other teams have already played seven (nearly twice as many). More games equal more chances to pick up that victory they’re in desperate need of. On top of that, two of their four games have come against the 5-1 Seattle Storm who might just be the best team in the WNBA (Top 3 for sure). They’ve also been missing pieces. Napheesa Collier missed the team’s first three games of the season while finishing up her overseas season in France. Aerial Powers, one of the team’s biggest free agent acquisitions is out with a hamstring injury and missed Friday night’s game in Seattle. And their first-round pick Rennia Davis has been out all season (so far) with a foot injury.
I think the Lynx have way too much talent on their roster to remain winless for much longer. They were the 4th best team in the bubble and made it to the semi-finals last season before being eliminated by Seattle. On paper, they made some of the biggest free agent moves in the offseason and appeared to get a steal in the WNBA draft when Rennia Davis fell to them at nine (many projected her as a Top 5 pick). On top of all of that, Cheryl Reeve is generally considered one of the best head coaches in the league.
I do expect the Lynx to turn things around pretty soon and they have plenty of time to do so, especially with the season being back up over 30 games (32) this year. With that said, the schedule doesn’t get much easier in the short term.
Focusing back on Seattle, if you’re an optimist you’re thrilled with their 5-1 start especially because they haven’t played extremely well in some of these games. The defense hasn’t been great up until Friday’s game against Minnesota. Their offense has looked out of sync at times, especially through the first two-to-three games. But even after factoring in those negatives, they finish the month of May with just a single loss. And it came against one of the best teams in the WNBA (Las Vegas Aces) in a game in which the Aces shot lights out from three, got dominant performances from Liz Cambage and A’ja Wilson, and all of their guards and perimeter players played incredible as well.
But what we saw Friday night, I’m not sure any team is beating the Seattle Storm if they can play the way they did against Minnesota through three quarters. What might be even more impressive is the fact that Seattle, a notoriously excellent three-point shooting team, shot just 24% (4-17) from beyond the arc in this game. Seattle scored with incredible ball movement and dominant scoring in the paint (56 points).
That was the best I’ve seen them play since their complete and utter dismantling of the Las Vegas Aces in Game 3 of the WNBA Finals last season where they won 92-59 to claim their 4th WNBA Championship.
This is Seattle’s 11th win in a row against the Lynx which is pretty unreal considering the success of Minnesota’s franchise over the years. The Storm have really had the Lynx’s number over the past three years including knocking them out of the playoffs in both 2020 and 2019. The 11 game win streak is currently the Storm’s longest against any WNBA opponent.
Here’s a quick breakdown of those games:
2021 Season
Seattle 82 - Minnesota 72
Seattle 90 @ Minnesota 78
2020 Inside the Bubble
Seattle 92 - Minnesota 71 (WNBA Semi-Finals)
Seattle 89 - Minnesota 79 (WNBA Semi-Finals)
Seattle 88 - Minnesota 86 (WNBA Semi-Finals)
Seattle 103 - Minnesota 88
Seattle 90 - Minnesota 66
2019 Season
Seattle 84 - Minnesota 74 (1st Round Playoffs)
Seattle 82 - Minnesota 74
Seattle 90 @ Minnesota 79
Seattle 84 - Minnesota 77
Editors Notes: Thanks for all of your support! If you enjoyed this article and are interested in more content like this, paid subscribers receive the game recap articles in their full extended versions with more analysis, more game details, and quotes from players and coaches. And will also receive it in the early morning the day after the game. Photo Credit: Seattle Storm/Neil Enns.