Storm steal Game 1 in Las Vegas 76-73

Seattle picks up a gigantic road win to open up the semifinals series against Las Vegas.

(Las Vegas, Nevada) - The Seattle Storm stole Game 1 of the WNBA semifinals against the Las Vegas Aces. It was a game that the Storm controlled throughout. The Aces started out ice-cold in the first quarter and didn’t get a single lead in this game until midway through the 4th quarter. With the game on the line, it was Jewell Loyd and the Storm who were able to execute down the stretch to win the game 76-73.

“I’m proud of our group. I thought from the jump our intensity was where it needed to be in regard to our schemes. Early on we weren't hitting our shots but that didn't affect our defense. Holding an amazing offensive team to 73. I thought that effort was amazing. By no means are we satisfied or that this series is over. But this is a big win for us. We’ll look at the film, get better, and adjust but I am super proud of our group today.” Coach Noelle Quinn said in her opening statement after the game.

“We are resilient. This particular group hasn’t had multiple years together or playoff series together. But the growth we experienced during the latter part of our season and the playoff series against Washington - we learned a lot about ourselves. With the highs and lows of a game, the runs. The last time we were here in Vegas, they had a big 3rd quarter run. Just know that is going to happen in this environment. Just to respond. You have to stay poised and resilient. Continue to execute and stay the course and we did that today.” she added.

Loyd led the team in scoring with 26 points on an efficient 10-19 FG from the floor. Jewell also made four of Seattle’s five three-pointers as the team was not good from beyond the arc. Breanna Stewart was the most consistent scorer for the team finishing the game with 24 points. She also had a strong defensive effort with six rebounds, three blocks, and a steal. Seattle’s Dynamic Duo carried the offensive load scoring 50 of the team’s 76 points.

“Jewell is playing with a lot of confidence. We need that! We’re not going to be successful if Jewell is not at her best. Point. Blank. Period! I think she understands that and is locked into that. What’s amazing today, she guarded Gray most of the day and was still able to be very effective down the stretch. She’s finding ways to help our team outside of getting buckets. It’s the defense, it’s the steals, getting in passing lanes, and the energy. On the road, those extra things matter and she’s really locked in right now. She’s growing up before our very eyes.” Quinn told us.

Tina Charles had a monster game in her own right. While she shot just 6-18 FG, Charles did finish with a double-double of 13 points and 18 rebounds! Her 18 rebounds allowed the Storm to out-rebound the Aces 37-34. Stephanie Talbot finished with seven points scoring all of her points in the opening quarter. Talbot got the start in place of the injured Gabby Williams who missed Game 1 after suffering a concussion late in Game 2 of the team’s first-round matchup against the Washington Mystics.

Seattle’s ability to run and limit the Aces was critical to their success. They outscored the Aces 16-0 in fastbreak points. The Storm also had better ball movement edging the Aces in assists 23-16. They also had a 32-28 advantage with points in the paint.

The Las Vegas Aces

“Obviously, we didn’t come out of the gates the way we wanted to. We gave up 26 in the first quarter and then we were digging out of a hole the rest of the game. After that, beat them by five, beat them by five, and tied (for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quarters). We didn’t do so many things that we had talked about. Obviously, we didn’t shoot the ball well tonight. Sometimes it comes down to not making shots at the end of the game.” Coach Becky Hammon said in her opening statement.

“We played tight. Especially in that first quarter. We played tight. We played like the world was on our shoulders.” she later added.

Seattle really clamped down on the Aces defensively. It was no easy feat to stimy an Aces’ offense that was #1 overall this season with so many dynamic scorers but that’s exactly what the Storm were able to do.

One player Seattle was not able to slow down was Chelsea Gray. Gray finished the game with a team-high 21 points on 9-15 FG shooting. Some of Gray’s shots she made in this game were absolutely ridiculous. If I hadn’t seen her hit these all throughout her career I would call it a fluke. The difficulty level on some of her makes was outrageous. Storm defenders often couldn’t have played any better defense. You just have to tip your cap and jog back on the other end.

Kelsey Plum was the Aces’ other leading scorer. Plum really turned it up after the first quarter where she was held scoreless. Plum finished with 20 points but really struggled with her shot. She finished 8-23 FG and 2-10 on her three-point field goals. Plum had a chance to send the game into overtime but missed a three on the Aces’ final possession.

The Storm’s defensive job on A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young can’t be overstated. They limited A’ja Wilson to just eight points on 3-10 FG. Wilson took just one shot attempt in the 4th quarter with the game on the line. A shot that she missed.

“It’s interesting because you have a game plan for everyone on the team. But in particular, Chelsea Gray. You see what we do on ball screens. Now what happens is you get aggressive as a point guard to go hard against the bigs on ball screens. A couple of those possessions, it takes the ball out of A’ja hands. Now, we’re preparing next game that A’ja is going to get the ball way more. She only took 10 shots. That’s not enough. We understand, we have to game plan and scheme as the game adjusts.” Coach Quinn stated when asked about the defensive job on A’ja.

Becky Hammon gave her perspective on the Storm’s defense of A’ja.

“They really swamped her every time she touched the ball. She had a great pass to Kelsey on one of her kick-outs. When they’re going to bring bodies like that, you have to be strong with the ball and the ball has to keep moving. The ball got sticky there and we lost some of our movement. At the end of the day, I thought Jewell hit some tough ones. I thought Stewie hit tough ones all game. We’ve got to get our girls going in the same way.” Coach Hammon replied.

Young was also held to just 11 points in this game. Including being held scoreless in the 2nd and 4th periods. Like Wilson, Young also took just a single shot in the final period and missed it.

I talked to Loyd after the game about how important it was to limit one or two of their key players.

“It’s tough! Great players like that, scorers like that, they can get to their spots and score in different ways. With Vegas, we just wanted to make it difficult for them. Our activity was huge. We were able to communicate. It was loud there and yet we were able to hear everything defensively with our schemes and we could talk. That made up for things we did wrong. We were just trying to be as tactical as possible on the defensive end.” Loyd answered.

Defensively, Las Vegas also did a great job. The last time these two teams played the Aces beat the Storm 109-100 but gave up 100 points. On Sunday, they limited Seattle to just 76 points on 41% (31-75 FG) and a very poor 23% (5-22 FG) from beyond the arc.

I asked Coach Hammon if she was concerned that they lost the game despite holding Seattle to such low shooting numbers.

“They missed some open ones. I didn’t think either team shot the ball particularly well. We missed some, they missed some wide-open ones. The more frustrating point, as a coach, was the things we talked about - they ended up beating us on the boards. That’s something we wanted to win. We didn’t take care of the ball. 11 turnovers don’t seem much but when they scored 19 points (off of those) that’s hard when you’re playing a possession-by-possession game like it is in the playoffs. Those things come back to bite you. You can’t have an accumulation of those kinds of mistakes. The worst part about it, they were live-ball turnovers. They were just getting out and running. When it’s 16-0 (fastbreak edge for Seattle). ZERO in transition? Not a very good job on our part even attacking back at them when we did get stops. I can’t recall very many times when we kicked the ball ahead and when we did, we made bad rim reads. You have to have an angle, you’ve got to have patience, you have to change your pace sometimes. I thought we were in a hurry to win the game.” Coach Hammon told me.

With Talbot moving into the starting lineup, the Aces bench outplayed Seattle’s in this game. Something they rarely did all season long as Las Vegas relies on their starters more than any other WNBA team. Riquna Williams scored six points off the bench with a pair of three-pointers. Iliana Rupert also hit a triple. Those two were the only bench players to play in the game for Vegas. Ezi Magbegor was the only Storm player to score for Seattle. They outscored Seattle’s reserves 9-4.

Game Breakdown

Jewell Loyd hit a three to open up the game. Then Stephanie Talbot immediately got a steal and raced past Jackie Young for the layup. The Aces responded by finding Kiah Stokes open on a pick and roll and Chelsea Gray knocked down an insanely difficult mid-range shot with Tina Charles's hand in her face.

From there, the Storm went on an 8-0 run to take a 13-4 lead and forced Coach Becky Hammon to call an early timeout. Tina Charles and Breanna Stewart both scored. Charles then split a pair of free throws. Stephanie Talbot then hit a corner three.

Neither team scored for several minutes. Seattle had an opportunity to take a significant lead because they held the Aces to just four points until the 2:36 mark of the first period.

Iliana Rupert hit her only shot of the game, a wide-open three, to snap the Aces’ drought. Stewart scored and Gray countered with an AND1 on the other end. Steph had a nice drive to the rim. Something we’re more accustomed to seeing Gabby do but it was a welcome sight for Seattle. Loyd would follow that up by hitting a three to give the Storm their largest lead of the game up 22-10.

Ezi Magbegor scored back-to-back baskets to finish the quarter for Seattle. The refs missed a couple of obvious calls on Vegas and the Aces took advantage. They kicked the ball out to Jackie Young who buried a three at the top of the perimeter. Even with that, Seattle would carry a 26-15 lead over the Aces. Talbot led the team with seven points in the opening frame.

A’ja Wilson immediately went to work in the 2nd quarter scoring in the low post. Gray then hit another basket to cut the lead to seven. Sue Bird found Charles in the middle who was able to score down low. Stewart was then able to hit a jumper to put the Storm back up double-digits.

Plum then hit two straight after missing her first five shots of the game to cut the Storm’s lead back to seven. Seattle’s offense really struggled during the early minutes of the second quarter scoring just four points in the first six and a half minutes of the quarter.

Sue Bird finally ended that drought by knocking down one of her patented mid-range jumpers. Stewart was then able to get a deflection on a pass that was intended to go into the low post to Wilson. Stewart raced down the loose ball and was able to draw a foul against Stokes.

Plum hit her first three and then got penetration in the middle for two more. Stewart scored in between those two plays as Seattle maintained a small lead. The Storm then finished the 2nd quarter on a 7-4 run.

Seattle maintained their lead 43-36 as the teams entered the locker rooms at the midway point. Both teams shot poorly with the Aces connecting on 40% (14-35 FG) and the Storm were even worse at 39.5% (17-43 FG). The Storm out-rebounded the Aces 22-16 in the first half.

Charles and Stokes exchanged jumpers to begin the 2nd half. Plum then made an aggressive drive past Loyd, was fouled, and converted the three-point play to cut the Storm’s lead down to four. Jackie Young then hit a short jumper to cut the deficit down to two points (45-43). Stewart and Charles responded with four quick points. Bird found Charles wide open on a beautiful pick and roll. Young and Loyd exchanged jumpers as the two Notre Dame products battled it out.

Bird had multiple outlet passes that led to fastbreak points for Seattle. She seamlessly threaded her passes past all the defenders to her teammates.

Seattle Storm @seattlestorm

QB1 🏈 @S10Bird x #TakeCover

Riquna Williams hit a killer three in the corner for the Aces to cut the Storm’s lead back down to four. Stewart then hit another jumper to give her 20 points in the game. Plum responded again with another AND1 layup drawing the foul against Magbegor.

Las Vegas continued to whittle away at Seattle’s lead. The Storm’s once 12-point lead was down to just three points as the two teams entered the 4th quarter. Seattle led 60-57.

Young hit another mid-range jumper to start the 4th quarter cutting Seattle’s lead down to just one. Stewart responded by scoring four consecutive points.

Kelsey Plum and Riquna Williams then hit back-to-back three-pointers to give the Aces their first lead of the game at 65-64 with 6:09 left to play in the game; forcing Seattle to call a timeout. Plum scored again to give the Aces a three-point lead. Jewell responded on the other end with another jumper.

Gray was able to draw a foul on Bird for two free throws. Loyd responded with another drive to the rim and a short shot. Gray made another clutch shot but Loyd was able to find Charles open down low for a layup to cut the Aces’ lead down to one (71-70). Neither team scored over the next couple of minutes as both teams made costly late-game turnovers. Jackie Young accidentally ran into Chelsea Gray as A’ja Wilson was trying to outlet the ball to Gray after getting a defensive stop. The two Aces players collided and the ball rolled out of bounds back to Seattle.

Trailing by one, Talbot drove from the right corner and kicked it out to Loyd who was on the left wing. Loyd hit the three-ball to put Seattle back up by two. Once again, Gray hit another tough shot for Vegas. Loyd was able to draw a foul and surprisingly missed one of two free throws but still put the Storm back on top. This time for good.

With under a minute left in the game, Tina Charles came up with one of the biggest defensive plays of her career. Plum had the step on Bird going baseline and Charles was able to knock the ball off of Plum’s knee and out of bounds as Tina was in perfect help-defense position.

On Seattle’s next possession, Loyd hit a cold-blooded step-back jumper with A’ja Wilson’s hand right in her face with 35 seconds left to play. Plum got a quick look at a three to tie the game immediately from the sideline out-of-bounds play but missed the shot and Charles was able to secure the rebound. Las Vegas played their defense straight up and Loyd attempted to seal the game away with another three that just rimmed out.

The Aces would have one last shot as Riquna Williams secured the defensive rebound and Coach Hammon immediately called a timeout. Becky drew up a fantastic final play where Gray lobbed the ball across the court to only where Wilson could grab it. Kiah Stokes set two separate screens against Bird to free up Kelsey Plum. Wilson passed the ball back to an open Plum. Bird ran as fast as she could to recover but Kelsey got a clean look off.

The shot bounced off. Steph Talbot had boxed out Young but wasn’t able to fully secure the ball. She did just enough to deflect the ball towards Stewart who scooped up the rebound. With less than two seconds left, the Aces did not foul and Seattle walked away the Game 1 winner!

Additional Analysis

Closing Time

This game reminded me so much of Game 1 between Seattle and Washington during the first round of the playoffs. During that contest, the Mystics had control the vast majority of the time. Ultimately, they weren’t able to hold onto their 4th quarter lead and let a major opportunity slip through their grasp. Seattle won Game 1 and the Mystics were never as competitive in Game 2 leading to them being swept in the playoffs.

For a brief moment midway through the 4th quarter, it looked like we were going to see a repeat of that. The road team (in this case - Seattle) was in control all game long but the home team took the lead late and had the rowdy crowd rallying them back to a win. But this time that didn’t happen. Seattle’s veterans wouldn’t let it happen. With the game on the line in the final two minutes, the Storm outscored the Aces 6-2 to steal Game 1 and gain homecourt advantage. Seattle is guaranteed to play both of their playoff games at home in this round unless they sweep the Aces. That means whether it’s in this round or the next, Storm fans are guaranteed at least two more home games this season and Sue Bird is guaranteed two more games in front of the Storm Crazies.

I spoke with Coach Quinn after the game about not letting this opportunity slip away.

“That’s the goal, right? Vegas is trying to protect home and we’re trying to steal one on the road and possibly two. We understand what happens in the series if we get another one on the road. You get in front of your home crowd, it’s different when you’re home. It’s important to not be satisfied at all. The job is not done. We did nothing but obtain a goal. That’s not the end goal. We have to continue to stay focused, look at the film, adjust, and get ready for Game 2.” Quinn told me.

I asked Stewart a similar question during the post-game press conference.

“First off, I don’t think we’re even thinking about the last series. Whatever happened in those games are done and over with. But we knew this was going to be tough. These games against Las Vegas were going to be tough. All regular season and in previous seasons (are challenging). We have respect for all their players and what they do. Coming in here to their home court, we wanted to obviously try and steal one. We wanted to get one. We did that and now we get to focus on Game 2.” Stewart said.

There is something to be said about having veterans who have been in this position before. Jewell Loyd and Breanna Stewart aren’t young players anymore. They are veterans with championship experience. They know what it takes to win the title. Bird and January know as well. It is one of Seattle’s biggest advantages over the Las Vegas Aces in this series. For as great and talented as the Aces are (and they are) - they don’t have the type of experience up and down their roster. Chelsea Gray is the only player to have won a championship before this season on the Aces’ roster.

Breaking Records!

Sue Bird may not have had a huge impact scoring in Sunday’s playoff win over Las Vegas. But you would be foolish to think she didn’t have a huge impact. Bird played 37 minutes and dished out a game-high 12 assists. She also finished with zero turnovers which is simply absurd considering how much time the ball is in her hands. Bird currently has 24 assists and just one turnover in three playoff games this season. It’s no coincidence that the Storm are 3-0 in the playoffs up to this point.

While the 12 assists by Bird wasn’t a playoff record for her. She had 16 assists in Game 1 of the 2020 WNBA Finals. However, with her 12 assists on Sunday, Sue Bird surpassed Lindsay Whalen as the WNBA’s All-Time Playoff Assists leader with 342 for her career.

Top 5 All-Time Playoff Assists leaders

1. Sue Bird - 342

2. Lindsay Whalen - 341

3. Diana Taurasi - 291

4. Courtney Vandersloot - 280

5. Briann January - 239

Bird wasn’t the only player to break a record in this game. Tina Charles set a Seattle Storm franchise record with 18 rebounds! That 18 rebounds surpassed Lauren Jackson’s previous record of 17 that was earned during the 2010 Western Conference Finals agains the Phoenix Mercury (per Kevin Pelton). It was also a personal playoff career-high for Charles as well.

I spoke with Coach Quinn about the importance of her rebounding in this game.

“Huge! We say Tina is a bucket. We know she’s a prolific scorer in this league. But one of our deficiencies before she came to our team was our rebounding. She’s done an excellent job of cleaning boards up on the defensive end. That helps our defense tremendously. The 18 is amazing. That’s championship level! We’ll continue to need that from her the rest of this series.” Quinn responded.

Tina also spoke about it after the game.

“For me personally, when I made the decision to come to (Seattle). I just wanted to fill in the holes. I knew that was rebounding. Being the 3rd or 4th option scoring. Just taking my shots when they come to me. Coming into this game, the things I could control was the boards. Watching their tendencies when they box out. I took it personal, coming into this game. Be on the boards, start early outlets, get 2nd chance points. Those are always key come playoff time.” Charles stated.

The media also spoke with Breanna Stewart about it and she had this to say.

“Having Tina be on our team and for me as a post in general, it’s huge! Because every team has to guard her. She’s a three-level threat. She’s able to score all over the court. When she’s also getting those double-teams, there’s so much opening up for the rest of the team. And you see the way she crashed the boards tonight. A franchise playoff record. That just goes to show she never stops. She’s always working. She’s shooting it, rebounding it, whatever the case is. She’s been tryign to get the ball and help us win in any way possible.” Stewart added.

Seattle Can Still Play Better

Are you a glass half full type of person or a glass half empty? From my perspective, I would say the Storm should feel really good about how they won Game 1 because they did not play their best game whatsoever and still stole the first game on the road. Offensively, outside of Stewie and Jewell, the team did not play well at all. There is so much room for improvement that it should be encouraging. Loyd and Stewart were the only two players to shoot better than 50%. The rest of their teammates shot a combined 30.7% (12-39 FG).

Sue Bird, Briann January, and Epiphanny Prince combined for just two points total. January and Prince both played under 10 minutes off the bench and took just three shots overall. Bird was just 1-6 on her shot attempts. The hope if you’re Seattle is that those three will give you more than two points in the next game.

Magbegor, despite being the only reserve to score, also struggled with her shot (2-5 FG) and was rejected by A’ja Wilson multiple times. Magbegor has the potential to do a lot more than that.

And even Tina Charles. Yes, Charles was incredible with 13 points and 18 rebounds. But she missed several shots down low that she normally makes. What I did really like from Tina was that she was aggressive looking to score inside the paint. She didn’t settle for a ton of outside shots and only took one three-pointer. Charles must continue to challenge Wilson and Stokes down low and force them to play defense. The more A’ja has to work on the defensive end the tougher it’ll be for her to dominate on the offensive end.

Lastly, if everything works out with her health. Gabby Williams still has the potential to return to this series as soon as Game 2 on Wednesday. I strongly believe that Williams, along with Charles, are two of the biggest keys to winning this series for Seattle. Stewie is going to get her points. Jewell most likely will as well. They should counter the Aces’s best players. It’ll be up to Seattle’s other players like Bird, Charles, and Williams (if she returns) to make the difference.

Oh, but what if you’re a pessimist? Well, I’m not sure if Seattle can play better defense than they did in Game 1. They held the explosive Aces’ offense to just 73 points. They limited A’ja Wilson to more than 10 points under her season average (19.5 PPG). They held Jackie Young to five points under her average (15.9 PPG). From a defensive perspective, holding two of the Aces top scorers is about as good as the Storm can hope for.

While I think the Storm can and will be better offensively in Game 2. I also believe the Aces have the better offensive weapons overall. It is easier to envision A’ja Wilson scoring 20 points in the next game than it is to think Stewie and Jewell will both score around 25 again AND Sue Bird go from scoring two points to 15 points.

Fortunately, defense travels. Seattle was one of the best defensive teams all season long. When the shots aren’t going down you can always rely on good defense. If the Storm are able to slow down some of the Aces’ best players they should be able to win the series.

Jersey Count

Seattle wore their “Heroine” green and white jerseys for their first road playoff game against the Aces. The Storm went 10-7 this season while wearing this specific jersey combination. They are now 1-0 in the playoffs in the Heroine jerseys and 3-0 overall. After defeating Las Vegas in Game 1 - the Storm are now the only WNBA team that is still undefeated in the playoffs.

Records per jersey type this season:
Rebel: 7-3 | 2-0 (playoffs)
Explorer: 5-4
Heroine: 10-7 | 1-0 (playoffs)
Overall Record: 22-14 + 3-0 playoffs = 25-14

Up Next

Game 2 of the semifinals against the Las Vegas Aces takes place on Wednesday night, August 31st at 7:00 PM PDT.

Notes:
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Photo Credits to Neil Enns/Seattle Storm/WNBA Photography Team
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