Storm Steal 80-79 Win Over the Dream

Skylar Diggins hit the game-winner with 3 seconds left in the game.

(College Park, Georgia) - The Seattle Storm went into Atlanta and got a bit of revenge. After previously blowing a 17-point lead against the Dream in Seattle earlier in the season, the Storm rallied down five points with two minutes to play to beat the Atlanta Dream 80-79. Erica Wheeler drilled a crucial three-pointer with around 30 seconds left to play to cut Seattle’s deficit to one. After a defensive stop, Skylar Diggins was able to use Nneka Ogwumike’s screen up top to get past her defender and Brionna Jones to score at the rim with just over three seconds to play in the game. It was a gutsy performance by Diggins, who had been ill all week long and had missed Seattle’s last two days of practice. With the win, Seattle goes into a virtual tie with the Atlanta Dream for the fourth-best record in the WNBA, currently at 11-7.

In a twist of fate, it was Seattle’s three-point shooting that helped them secure the victory despite being dominated in some other statistical categories. The Storm outshot the Dream 46% (32-69 FG) to 44% (29-66 FG), including 44% (10-23 FG) compared to just 19% (4-21 FG) from beyond the arc. In Atlanta’s previous victory against Seattle, the Dream went 9-31 FG and hit six more three-pointers than the Storm did. In that game, Seattle attempted just 11 three-point field goal attempts and made just three of them. It was after that game that I asked Coach Quinn if she felt her team was taking enough three-point attempts, as the Dream took 20 more attempts from beyond the arc. In Thursday’s victory for the Storm, Seattle attempted 12 more three-point attempts than the first time they played Atlanta, and it was the Storm that made six more three-point attempts in this game against the Dream.

The Storm had four players score in double figures. Nneka Ogwumike led the way with 24 points, seven rebounds, and three steals. Ogwumike also surpassed both Sue Bird and Cappie Pondexter in the WNBA’s All-Time Scoring List. Nneka moved into 7th place now. Ogwuike downplayed the achievement after the game and joked about it, just meaning she’s played for a lot of years. But Erica Wheeler praised her teammate.

Speaking of Wheeler, the Storm definitely don’t win this game without her. Wheeler finished with 21 points on better than 50% FG shooting. She also hit 3-5 FG from beyond the arc. She commented about how her teammates have told her she’s shooting a career-high from beyond the arc this season. This is true, as she’s shooting a career-best 42% from three. She also had five rebounds and three steals.

Seattle needed Wheeler to step up because both Gabby Williams and Skylar Diggins struggled offensively. They each finished with 11 points, and Gabby added a team-high six assists, grabbed five rebounds, and also had two steals, but neither player shot the ball well. Williams made 5-15 FG and went 0-5 FG from the three-point line. Diggins, who was ill and almost didn’t play in the game, finished 4-12 FG and looked a step slower than usual.

While they lost most of the box score battle, their defense stepped up big. They forced Atlanta into 17 turnovers and outscored the Dream 21-9 in points off turnovers. Seattle held the advantage in steals (12-7) and blocked shots (6-0). They also had a 14-9 edge in fast break points.

Atlanta Dream

The Dream had just three players score in double figures. Jordin Canada scored a career-high against her former team. She finished the game with 25 points on 7-15 FG shooting. She also had more free throw attempts and makes than the Storm did as an entire team. Canada finished 10-12 from the FT line. Canada added a team-high five assists, had five rebounds, and four steals.

Brionna Jones contributed with a monster double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds. Jones is such an impressive scorer down low. Her combination of size, footwork, and speed was on full display.

Allisha Gray was held in check by Gabby Williams and Seattle’s defense, but still finished with a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds. Gray went 3-13 from the field. Seattle’s defense was able to put more focus on stopping Gray because Rhyne Howard missed the game with an arm injury she recently suffered against New York on June 29th.

Despite the narrow defeat, the Dream dominated the team stats. They out-rebounded Seattle 46-24. That included a 15-3 advantage in offensive rebounds and a 14-9 edge in second-chance points. Atlanta dominated Seattle inside the paint, outscoring them 42-28. The home team was plus-11 points at the free throw line and had nearly three times the number of free throw attempts and makes (17-21 FT compared to 6-8 FT). The Dream’s bench also outscored the Storm’s reserves 16-8. They held a slight 20-17 edge in assists as well.

This game came down to Seattle’s ability to turn Atlanta over and execute in the final two minutes, where the Storm outscored the Dream 10-4.

Game Breakdown

Seattle forced a miss on the first possession, but couldn’t box out Brionna Jones for the offensive rebound. Jones finished with the putback layup. The Storm got a stop on the next possession and pushed the pace 5-on-4 as Nneka Ogwumike finished at the rim. Gabby Williams made a pull-up midrange jumper. Allisha Gray knocked down a three-ball to give the Dream a one-point lead. Gabby got an open-court steal and raced down the other end for two. Brionna Jones finished at the rim off the high-low from Brittney Griner. Ezi Magbegor made a pull-up in the paint.

Jordin Canada got to the rim. Brionna Jones scored inside the paint on a beautiful up-and-under. Alysha Clark made a three-pointer from some nice ball movement between Clark and Zia Cooke. Erica Wheeler made a midrange baseline jumper. Canada was fouled on a drive and made both free throws. Seattle led 15-13 at the end of the first period. Both teams shot poorly. Seattle made 35% (7-20 FG) and Atlanta connected on 31% (5-16 FG).

Dominique Malonga struggled with her early minutes in the game. She fumbled a couple of passes and made a couple of bad passes as well. The Dream went on a 9-2 run to open the second period. Canada and Gray were able to get to the free throw line. Brionna Jones continued to score easily down low. Then the Dream used some nice passing to find Brittney Griner open inside the paint. This forced Coach Noelle Quinn to call a timeout.

After giving up another easy layup to Canada, the Storm hit back-to-back three-pointers by Ezi Magbegor and Nneka Ogwumike. That allowed Seattle to cut Atlanta’s lead down to one. Canada got to the rim again, this time past Skylar Diggins. Gabby made a beautiful score in transition, where she faked turning one way and then scored by spinning the other way. Jordin snatched a live-ball steal away and raced down the other end. However, Gabby was able to recover and alter the shot, forcing Canada to miss. Seattle then pushed in transition and found Diggins in the corner for the open deep jumper. That tied the game up (28-28) with around 3:30 left in the first half.

After a nice rainbow shot by Te-hina PaoPao, the Storm went on a 5-0 run to take a three-point lead. Wheeler hit a three-ball, and Nneka made two free throws. Naz Hillmon hit a three, but her toe was on the line, so it was changed to a two. Then Skylar hit a no-doubter from beyond the arc. Allisha Gray and Alysha Clark exchanged three-point baskets. Seattle led 39-37 at the midway point.

Atlanta jumped out to a 7-3 run to start the 2nd half. Griner and Canada each got to the foul line. There was a lot of chaotic action with both teams turning the ball over to each other, sometimes immediately after each other. Seattle’s defense continued to be aggressive, looking for steals. Erica Wheeler got a deflection that led to a fast break, where Skylar found Wheeler running the lane for two. The Storm got another stop and used a nice screen to get Williams wide-open for the layup. Ogwumike then made a three to put the Storm ahead by five at 51-46.

After some scores by Atlanta, the Storm ended the third on a 6-2 run as Wheeler made a couple of shots and AC had a nice move down under the rim. Seattle led 59-56 at the end of the third.

Brionna Jones scored down low. Erica Wheeler scored five straight, including knocking down another triple. Offensive rebounds continued to kill the Storm, as Caldwell snagged the O-Board and Canada knocked down a three-ball.

Atlanta went ahead by three after Skylar dribbled the ball off her foot, which resulted in an open layup for Caldwell. Diggins made up for the last possession by finishing a nice drive past Canada. Nneka and Bri Jones swapped baskets down low. Back-to-back baskets from Jones and Caldwell put the Dream ahead by five at 75-70 with 2:32 left to play.

Nneka answered back with an AND1. Naz Hillmon collected two offensive rebounds on Atlanta’s next possession and finished with a layup down low. Ogwumike cut the deficit to two with 1:06 remaining. Jordin Canada got past an exhausted (and sick) Diggins and was fouled. Canada made both free throws. Nneka missed a three-point attempt, but Skylar got the offensive rebound. It was one of just three offensive boards the Storm collected all game long, but it came in the most crucial moment. Wheeler connected on a three-ball to cut Atlanta’s lead down to one at 79-78.

Seattle had just enough time to play defense straight up and got the stop they needed. Coach Quinn ran to halfcourt to call a timeout with 11 seconds left in the game. Out of the timeout, Wheeler was pushed to the ground by Bri Jones, but the refs let the two teams play on. That allowed Ogwumike to set a strong screen, and Skylar darted past Jones for the game-winning layup with three seconds to go in the game. Atlanta had one more opportunity, but Wheeler was able to contest a Jordin Canada three-point attempt that went wide left. The Storm players celebrated the impressive comeback win as the final buzzer sounded, and Seattle was ahead 80-79.

Final Box Score

Up Next

The Storm (11-7) travel to New York (12-5) to face the Liberty at 10:00 AM on Sunday, July 6th. Despite the setback at Golden State, the Storm can really help themselves on this road trip if they can get another win against New York. Jonquel Jones is still expected to be out, but Leonie Fiebich returned to the team’s starting lineup in New York’s win against the LA Sparks on Thursday.

Part 2

Part 2 will include additional thoughts, quotes, and discussion from Thursday’s game against the Atlanta Dream. It’ll be sent exclusively to paid subscribers tomorrow morning.

Notes:
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