Storm clinch playoff spot in 82-77 win over the Mystics

Seattle hangs on for a very important win!

(Washington, D.C.) - This game might as well have been a playoff game with everything that was on the line. Seattle (the 4th seed) and Washington (the 5th) entered this game with an identical record of 18-11. Per Kevin Pelton of ESPN, these two teams have more than an 80% chance to meet in the first round of the playoffs. Seattle and Washington play back-to-back games this weekend on Saturday and again on Sunday. The Storm needed to win one of the games to claim the season series and the Mystics needed to win both.

Fortunately, for Seattle, they were able to outplay D.C. just enough to claim an 82-77 victory. In doing so, they clinch a playoff berth. And they now own the head-to-head tiebreaker as well. This means the Storm are currently two games ahead of the Mystics with six games left to play.

“I thought it was a great game, especially for basketball fans in general. Washington is a tough team and Delle Donne is a load. But I thought we had great contributions from everyone. Great contributions from the bench… Ezi, Piph, Steph Talbot. Also, just down the stretch, Jewell was hitting some very big shots and Stewie hit those big free throws. All around very happy with our effort and energy today. We just have to go get ready to do it again tomorrow.” Coach Quinn said in her opening statement after the game.

Seattle was led by the trio of Breanna Stewart, Jewell Loyd, and Tina Charles. Stewart led the team in scoring with 18 points. She also added five rebounds and four assists. Loyd finished with 17 points including seven crucial points in the final minutes of the 4th quarter to prevent Washington from stealing the victory. Charles finished the game with a near double-double of 16 points and nine rebounds. Sue Bird finished with just four points but did have a team-high seven assists.

Speaking with Charles after the game, she praised Jewell’s clutch moments late in the game.

“That’s why she’s the Gold Mamba! Jewell is someone who takes pride in who she is, what she does on the court; but more importantly how she prepares. It’s been beautiful to just see her maturation over the years. Just how poised she is and how she loves those moments. She wants to be that person taking those shots. I’ve been on the opposite end of that. It’s been great to be able to watch her flourish and she knows what she brings to this team. This was a great win, every win is important moving forward!” Charles stated.

Their reserves narrowly outscored the Mystics’ bench 19-17. Ezi Magbegor was a big reason for that as she had arguably her best game since being moved to the bench four games ago. Magbegor finished with eight points on 4-6 FG shooting and six rebounds. Epiphanny Prince and Stephanie Talbot each scored four points off the bench. Talbot was especially effective by contributing in other ways. She had five assists and four rebounds while continuing to play solid defensively.

Not surprisingly, team stats were nearly identical between the two teams. Seattle shot marginally better overall as they completed 43% (29-68 FG) of their attempts compared to 42% (28-67 FG) for the Mystics. The Storm had small advantages in assists (21-18) and steals (11-7). They also edged out D.C. scoring 34 points in the paint compared to 32 for the Mystics.

The Washington Mystics

Washington had four starters reach double figures in scoring and was led by former two-time MVP Elena Delle Donne. EDD scored 22 points to lead all scorers in this game. She also had five rebounds and three blocked shots. No surprise, she was a perfect 7-7 from the FT line.

After the game, I spoke with Coach Quinn about the challenges of defending Elena Delle Donne and how they were able to slow her down towards the end. She started the game 7-8 FG but finished 7-14 on her shot attempts.

“She’s a load. She plays at her own pace. She’s never sped up. The elevation of her shot, her ability to back down and get to the rim, to knock down jumpers - she’s just a tough matchup in general. I think down the stretch, you think about her not playing many games in a few days, fatigue might have set in. Even if it didn’t look like it physically. That maybe allowed us to attack differently. I do think we need to clean up our schemes. I didn’t think we were as sharp on making sure we show bodies or trap (her). We need to be a little more present on some of her catches. I think we’ll clean that up. All in all, she’s an MVP and Olympian for a reason, she’s a great player.” Quinn addressed.

I also brought this up to Stewie to get her perspective on EDD.

“Obviously, being really aware that she prefers to go left and try not to go for her shot and head fakes. It’s tough because she’s a really good shooter. Especially, late (in the game) we were all very aware of where she was - ready to help. I think that’s what Tina was talking about earlier. We don’t have a lot of practice time so we have to adapt and learn on the fly and we were able to do that.” Stewart added.

Ariel Atkins was the next leading scorer with 13 points including 3-6 FG from beyond the arc. Both Natasha Cloud and Shakira Austin had double-doubles in this game. Cloud scored 10 points and had a game-high 11 assists. Austin finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds as the third overall pick from the 2022 WNBA Draft continues to impress in her rookie season. Austin is a shoo-in for the All-WNBA Rookie team and may even get a vote or two for Rookie of the Year.

Myisha Hines-Allen put up similar numbers to Austin while coming off the bench. She had eight points to go along with 10 rebounds. Shatori Walker-Kimbrough was also effective as a reserve scoring seven points on an efficient 3-5 FG.

They out-rebounded the Storm in a close rebounding battle 37-35. Washington had a small advantage in fast-break points (9-7). They also scored 16 points off of Seattle’s 13 turnovers.

Game Breakdown

Washington came out fired up, especially on the defensive end. Elena Delle Donne stuffed Tina Charles with an impressive block. Delle Donne would reject Breanna Stewart a few plays later. The Mystics jumped out to a 5-0 lead as Ariel Atkins hit a three and Delle Donne scored low. The Storm were able to respond with their own 5-0 run as Jewell Loyd buried a three and Sue Bird was able to connect on a mid-range jumper.

The Mystics then scored five straight points as it would be Atkins that made the two and Delle Donne burying the triple. Charles then found Gabby Williams cutting to the rim who was fouled at the rim. It was one of the few times Washington was late on a defensive assignment. Williams completed the AND1 three-point play and then Charles would drive to the rim on the next possession to tie the game again at 10-10.

From there Washington would go on an 8-2 run. Natasha Cloud, Shakira Austin, and Rui Machida would score points in the paint and Myisha Hines-Allen made a pair of free throws. Charles would battle down low surrounded by multiple Mystics defenders. She had her shot blocked but was able to get the ball back and put it back in before time expired in the first quarter. At the end of one, the Mystics led 18-14.

To begin the second period, Ariel Atkins connected on a shot but Briann January responded with a three-ball. Shatori Walker-Kimbrough and Delle Donne would score another four straight points to put Washington up seven at 24-17, forcing Coach Noelle Quinn to call a timeout.

Stewart scored out of the timeout with a hook. Hines-Allen scored her own hook and then January made a bad pass turnover that led to a Walker-Kimbrough wide-open layup. This gave the Mystics their largest lead of the first half (28-19).

It looked like the Mystics were about to blow this game wide open but the Storm were resilient. Seattle would finish the quarter on a 16-7 run including a couple of drives into the paint for Jewell and a three from Stewie. Ezi and Tina also converted points and Charles knocked down two free throws to tie the game before the end of the second.

Seattle managed to take the lead briefly and finished the first half tied with the Mystics at 35-35. Elena Delle Donne led all scorers in the first half with 12 points. Ariel Atkins added seven more points for Washington. Jewell Loyd led the Storm with 10 points. Tina Charles added eight points and Stewie seven more.

Both teams didn’t shoot the ball well in the first half but the Mystics were better.
Washington shot 40% (14-35 FG) through the first two quarters while holding Seattle to 36% (14-39 FG). The Mystics also had a 22-20 edge in rebounds.

Cloud blew past Sue Bird and there was no help defense allowing Natasha to easily lay it in. Charles was able to recover a deflected ball and hit one of her patented mid-range jumpers. Washington continued to attack Sue Bird on the defensive end. Bird got switched onto Delle Donne who was able to easily score in the paint on a short jumper. Cloud then went right at Bird and managed to make the shot as she was fouled.

Charles and Delle Donne exchanged points. Tina stayed aggressive in the paint drawing another foul against the Mystics and sinking both free throws. Gabby Williams sank a three and Bird made one but her toe was on the line to tie the game back up at 50-50.

Seattle regained the lead as Stewart was able to make a driving hook just past the outstretched arms of Delle Donne. The Storm were able to get a rare defensive stop against Delle Donne on the next possession where the Mystics bench felt like she got fouled. As Seattle was trying to get out in transition the Mystics bench and Coach Mike Thibault was called for two technicals. Stewart sank both technical free throws to give Seattle the lead at 54-50.

Walker-Kimbrough would drain a corner three and then Hines-Allen would convert another pair of free throws to put the Mystics back up one. Talbot was able to draw a foul on the other end and split the pair. Ezi Magbegor was able to tip a rebound away from Hines-Allen and lay it in to give Seattle a 57-55 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Magbegor scored again to begin the quarter. Then Charles went to work again in the low post and got the ball to rattle in and through the net. Epiphanny Prince was able to break up a pass at the top of Washington’s perimeter and raced down to lay it in. This put the Storm up eight points at 63-55 and forced Coach T to call another timeout.

It was Déjà Vu as Prince stole another pass near halfcourt and laid it up again. Magbegor hit a short jumper and Talbot hit a three. That capped off a 16-0 run by Seattle that put the Storm up 70-55. Washington finally was able to end the run as Delle Donne was able to force a foul against Stewart. EDD is automatic from the foul line. Atkins then drilled a three to cut the lead back down to ten.

Bird and Loyd checked back in and Jewell was able to drill a three with Delle Donne sagging off of her on the defensive switch. Shakira Austin was able to convert down in the low post for Washington on back-to-back possessions. Austin then sank a pair of free throws to cut Seattle’s lead to single digits at 74-66. Washington’s run wouldn’t end there as Ariel Atkins drilled a corner three to cut it to five.

Jewell made two more critical baskets late in the game. Delle Donne sank a pair of free throws in between and Seattle still led 78-71 with 1:16 left to play. It felt like Seattle had full control of the game. They did not.

Natasha Cloud drove down the lane and got a very weak (no contact) call against Ezi Magbegor as she finished near the rim. Cloud made the free throw to complete the three-point play cutting Seattle’s lead to four with roughly a minute left in the game. Loyd would miss a jumper on the other end and Cloud was able to find a wide-open Alysha Clark who connected on a triple to swiftly cut Seattle’s lead down to one at 78-77 with 26 seconds left.

From there calamity would ensue. Seattle brought the ball up and with only two seconds between the shot clock and game clock they were going to force Washington to foul or take the best possible shot with as little time remaining. But then the refs called timeout despite Seattle not actually taking a timeout which resulted in a furious Sue Bird.

The referees stopped play and the Storm were questioning what was going on. Eventually, the refs determined it was an inadvertent whistle and at that point, Seattle did call a timeout. Near halfcourt, Stephanie Talbot would inbound the ball. You could tell all the momentum was on Washington’s side. Seattle couldn’t get loose and instead of calling timeout, Talbot made an errant pass that forced Loyd to scramble for the loose ball only to knock it out of bounds giving the possession back to the Mystics.

I assumed Seattle was out of timeouts otherwise I would have thought Talbot would have smartly called timeout if she couldn’t find anyone open. It turns out I was wrong and the Storm did still have a timeout as we would later learn.

Fortunately, the Storm’s defense held strong. More importantly, Ezi Magbegor’s defense held up against the great Elena Delle Donne. She forced Delle Donne into a contested shot that narrowly rimmed out. Stewart snatched the rebound out of mid-air and immediately called timeout.

This time they were able to properly inbound the ball and Stewart was fouled. She would make both free throws to give Seattle a three-point lead with 12 seconds to go. Cloud would take a deep three nearly 30 FT away from the rim but she had a decent look at it. Stewart got the rebound again and was immediately fouled. Stewie calmly sank another two free throws as the Storm capped off a very important win in the District of Columbia by a final score of 82-77.

After pulling out the narrow victory in a hostile environment on the road I asked Coach Quinn how a gutty win like this can help them prepare for the playoffs.

“I think for this team specifically, going through adverse situations in the midst of a game is important because we haven’t been through it as a unit together. Though you don’t want to lose a lead, and you don’t want to turn it over late, you don’t want to give up fouls late. These are the things we have to grow through to get us over the hump. To go through it together right now, it’s not necessarily ideal but I think it’s important for this team.” Coach explained.

I also spoke with Breanna Stewart about this during the post-game press conference.

“Yeah, (the win) is huge! The rest of our games are important but we knew these two coming up were especially important because of having this series. If things come down to it with playoffs. As you know, it’s important to have homecourt advantage. We won this game but that doesn’t mean our job is done. We have to win our remaining games.” she added.

Additional Analysis

The Run That Changed the Game

Trailing 55-54 with 1:12 left in the third quarter, Seattle would spend the next five minutes (last minute of the third and first four of the fourth) going on an impressive 16-0 run against the Mystics that completely changed the tides of the game.

And it was Seattle’s bench that played the biggest factor in that run. In fact, Tina Charles was the only starter to score during that run and even that was just two points. The remaining 14 points were scored by Magbegor, Talbot, and Prince.

Not only did they do all the scoring but their defense forced Washington into nine straight offensive possessions without any points. Seattle’s reserves forced the Mystics into four turnovers during those five minutes and an additional five missed shots. And while some of those turnovers came from Washington’s bench, the Storm’s defense did force Delle Donne, Cloud, and Atkins all into missed field goals.

After the game, I spoke with Coach Noelle Quinn and Breanna Stewart about the 16-0 run and what stood out the most to them.

“Epiphanny got a couple of steals just being aggressive and getting some layups. Ezi, her presence, blocks shots and rebounding. I think our pace was uptempo. Steph Talbot hit a big three in that stretch as well. It was contributions from everyone. The ball was moving. Defensively, we were very physical and aggressive. We had a solid aura about ourselves and we weren’t backing down. We were very aggressive on the offensive end.” Quinn stated.

“Getting stops! Ezi had a block, Piph had two steals, and Steph was getting rebounds. Making plays defensively and then converting on offense, hitting some big shots.” Stewart told me.

Don’t Get Tired of Winning

Far too often in professional sports, we can take things for granted. I think in a lot of ways people in this region, including politicians and the big money makers took the Sonics for granted, and then we had them stolen away by Oklahoma City.

We’ve seen it a lot in recent years with the Seahawks and their fans. Since Pete Carroll and John Schneider took over the franchise more than 10 years ago they’ve turned the Seahawks into one of (roughly) the five best NFL franchises (of 32) in the entire NFL. Since 2012, there have been just five teams to have multiple Super Bowl appearances and win at least one of them. Those teams are the New England Patriots, Kansas City Chiefs, Seattle Seahawks, Los Angeles Rams, and the Denver Broncos. Only the New England Patriots, who are one of the biggest outliers in modern professional sports, have won multiple Super Bowl titles during that time. Over the past 11 years in the NFL, there have been just 13 different teams to reach the Championship game. That means 19 teams have not made it over the past 10+ years.

Going back specifically to the Seahawks and their success, it’s true they haven’t reached the NFC Championship game (final four) since 2015 and haven’t won a playoff game since 2019. However, for the most part, they’ve always been a playoff team over the past several years reaching the post-season in eight of the ten seasons since Russell Wilson had been drafted. If your team is making the playoffs 80% of the time over a ten-year period, the coach and general manager are clearly doing something right.

Which made recent seasons interesting as Seahawks fans demanded head coach Pete Carroll and GM John Schneider be fired. Just because the team wasn’t winning Super Bowls every year. And news flash, unless you’re New England, every other normal NFL team doesn’t win Super Bowls all the time because winning championships is extremely difficult!

You might be asking, what the hell does this have to do with the Seattle Storm? And I’m getting there. The Storm are part of an elite group in the WNBA. They are one of just three franchises to have won four WNBA titles alongside the Minnesota Lynx and the now defunct Houston Comets. And frankly, Seattle has won over a longer period of time. From the WNBA’s debut, the Comets had a more talented roster than the rest of a (then) brand new league. Minnesota won their four championships in an era prior to major free agency changes where player movement is now encouraged and much easier for players to get out from playing with a specific team.

On Saturday, after defeating the Washington Mystics, the Seattle Storm clinched the playoffs for the seventh year in a row. They have not missed the post-season since Jewell Loyd’s rookie season in 2015. In total, the franchise has made the playoffs 18 times in their 23-year history (78% of the time). That’s honestly incredible and speaks to the way this franchise has been run by multiple owners, coaches, and general managers.

Since Force10 Hoops purchased the team and took over the organization in 2008, the team has reached the playoffs in 13 of its 15 seasons. That’s 87% of the time over a 15-year period. It’s unprecedented levels of success and it shouldn’t be taken for granted.

I wanted to write about this after what happened during the post-game press conference. Breanna Stewart and Tina Charles didn’t know the team had clinched a playoff spot until they were informed during the post-game press conference. Tina Charles immediately became emotional and started to tear up a little bit.

Making the playoffs is old hat for the Storm players, the organization, and fans of the team. But sometimes you have to take a step back to realize that it’s not like this everywhere. Even in the WNBA where over 60% of the teams do make the post-season every year. There are still tons of players and teams that aren’t seeing that same level of success in their towns.

You can watch the highlight of the interview clip with Stewie and Tina here. It’s definitely worth checking out.

Balanced Sports @balanced_sports

Tina Charles gets choked up after learning that the @seattlestorm have clinched a playoff spot. #WNBATwitter

Charles’ emotions remind us that this is still special. Winning is special and even if you’ve won a bunch of games and multiple championships as an organization, it should always be considered special. Because not every team and fan base gets to experience this.

Seattle sports fans don’t have to look very far. The Seattle Mariners haven’t reached the playoffs in 21 straight years. There are people that have grown up in this city that can now legally buy alcohol that have never seen playoff baseball in their hometown. That is an agonizingly long time.

I was able to speak with Coach Quinn a little bit about this topic after the game on whether winning is taken for granted. As well as the fact that Tina Charles got emotional after learning the team was guaranteed a playoff spot.

“I love that for her. I love that for us. That shows the care and wanting to honor success and be successful. You’re right, sometimes with the players that we’ve had for the past few years, playoffs seem like something you’re supposed to be doing and that’s not normal for a lot of other teams within the league. I think sometimes we do breeze over that. But it’s not saying that it doesn’t matter in any way. But because we’re used to winning championships the past few years. I think it’s important to soak it in. This is huge for our organization, for our team, and for everyone that pours into the Storm organization. Though the job is not done, the success is winning a championship. And I think that’s all in our hearts and minds.” Coach Quinn told me.

Obviously, everyone wants their hometown team to win championships every single year. It’s important to not lose sight of the incredible success and achievements that take place even during the years when they don’t.

Jersey Count

The Storm were back in their green and white “Heroine” jerseys. At this point, maybe it’s best to call them their Primary jersey as the team has played nearly 50% of their season’s schedule while wearing the green and white uniforms. The “Heroine” jersey combination is the first to reach double-digit wins this season as they improved to 10-5 while wearing them. Overall, the Storm improved their record to 19-11 and remain in the 4th overall seed in the WNBA standings. Seattle is behind the first-place Chicago Sky (22-7), the Las Vegas Aces (21-8), and the Connecticut Sun (20-9). It is very difficult but not yet impossible for the Storm to move up higher in the standings. Outside of a complete collapse by the Sun, their best chance will be to defeat the Las Vegas Aces two more times at the end of the season.

Records per jersey type this season:
Rebel: 7-2
Explorer: 2-4
Heroine: 10-5
Overall Record: 19-11

Up Next

That was really fun, let’s do that again! And the two teams will do just that. These two teams rematch again on Sunday at 12:00 PM (PDT). The Storm will have an opportunity to sweep the Washington Mystics if they win Sunday’s game. That would be huge for multiple reasons. It would give them a three-game lead in the standings (factoring in the tiebreaker) with just five games remaining. It would give Seattle the psychological advantage if they’re able to sweep the Mystics and then rematch in the playoffs. Lastly, another win would almost guarantee that Seattle would have a homecourt advantage in at least the first round of the playoffs.

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