Without Loyd, Storm Fall to the Mystics 73-66

Seattle gave a strong effort but struggled offensively without their leading scorer.

(Seattle, WA) - Without Jewell Loyd the Seattle Storm (1-5) put up a good fight against the Washington Mystics but simply didn’t have enough offensive firepower to keep up. That tends to happen when you lose 28.0 PPG and your best player. The home team battled hard but ultimately fell to the Washington Mystics 73-66.

Ezi Magbegor led the way with a new career-high of 24 points. She struggled with her rebounding which was ultimately a larger problem for Seattle. She finished the game with just five rebounds. Ezi did add three assists and three blocked shots.

I spoke with Ezi after the game about what it was like being on the court without Jewell.

“Not having Jewell is a big loss. We definitely felt her presence still during the game she was very talkative throughout the game, at halftime, before the game. Even though she wasn’t on the court with us, we definitely still felt her. But it was next woman up and we did a great job playing together as a team tonight. As I’ve said previously, I think we’re just getting better and better every game.” Magbegor told me.

Rookie Jordan Horston had her second strong game in a row. She finished one rebound short of her first career double-double. Horston added 10 points, nine rebounds, two steals, and two blocked shots. She did struggle with her shot-making just 4-13 FG. Jordan admitted as much after the game.

“(Shooting) 4-13 FG is not the greatest. But I had a lot of open looks and I felt pretty comfortable. But I just need to finish them. There are a lot of shots I felt I still rushed. But I feel it’s definitely coming to me. My teammates are instilling confidence to me and they believe in me. I just have to get back into the gym and find my touch again.” Horston stated.

The positive is that she did knock down two three-pointers and shot 40% from beyond the arc. Those were the first three-pointers of her young WNBA career.

No other Storm player reached double figures. Sami Whitcomb added seven points and Ivana Dojkić contributed with six points off the bench. Seattle’s bench outscored Washington’s 24-19.

The Storm shot the ball slightly better overall at 41% (25-61 FG) and 29% (6-21) from three. They continue to play well in transition as they outscored the Mystics 9-0 in fast break points.

“I thought we fought and we battled. Especially, without Jewell on the floor. We manufactured some points with Ezi’s aggressiveness and Jordan's as well. We are continuing to grow in a lot of ways and I’m super encouraged with what I’m seeing with this group. It’s a quick turnaround, we have them again on Sunday. We will clean up some things and be ready to rock on Sunday!” Coach Quinn said in her opening statement.

Washington Mystics

Shakira Austin sure is good at basketball. Austin finished the game with a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds. Brittney Sykes led the team in scoring with 18 points. Sykes who reportedly met with the Storm in the offseason before ultimately signing with D.C. had one of her best games of the season.

Coach Quinn praised Sykes's efforts.

“(She offers) more athleticism on the wing. She’s guarding the ball handlers a lot. It’s hard to get into our offense because she’s such a hawk on the ball. When she’s off the ball, she is in passing lanes, she’s aggressive and athletic enough to cover a lot of ground. Sykes has been working on her game a lot and they are able to plug her into the backup point guard role. She hit some threes today. Just with her experience and her vet leadership, she’s able to bring another layer to their already stout defense. It just makes it super tough on our guards.” Quinn stated.

Elena Delle Donne added 11 points and seven rebounds. All 11 points came in the first half. Part of that was because she only played around 11 minutes in the second half despite it being a relatively close game. But Seattle also did a really good job limiting her damage after the first half.

D.C. dominated on the glass and out-rebounded the Storm 41-30. They also pulled down 13 offensive rebounds and outscored Seattle 13-0 in second-chance points. The Mystics edged the Storm in the paint 36-32.

Game Breakdown

Elena Delle Donne scored the game’s first basket off her own offensive rebound. Delle Donne scored again driving baseline past Mercedes Russell. Ezi Magbegor was then able to drive against Delle Donne to put Seattle on the board. Kia Nurse had her shot deflected and she was able to catch it mid-air and toss it in at the shot clock buzzer. Sadly, a few minutes later it was reviewed and called “no basket”.

On the other end, Delle Donne continued to be the primary focus of offense for the Mystics. Ariel Atkins found Shakira Austin under the basket for the easy layup that allowed D.C. to grow their lead to 12-4 roughly six minutes into the first period.

Ivana Dojkić and Tiana Hawkins exchanged three-point baskets. Arella Guirantes checked in and quickly knocked down a jumper. Guirantes was able to get a steal in the final ten seconds of the period and raced down the other end for the easy two points.

At the end of the first quarter, the Mystics led 19-16.

Dojkić was able to draw a foul driving to the rim and split the pair of free throws. Tiana Hawkins bullied her way down low against Seattle’s smaller defenders for a layup. Kristi Toliver then knocked down a corner three to put the Mystics up seven at 24-17. Dojkić was able to get another steal that resulted in another transition basket.

After Brittney Sykes hit a three-pointer, Sami Whitcomb was able to respond on the other end. Jordan Horston was able to get a couple of strong blocks. Jade Melbourne was then able to throw a full-court pass up to Horston for the fast break layup.

With the Mystics leading 28-24, D.C. finished the first half on an 18-8 run to carry a 46-32 lead into the locker rooms. Shakira Austin scored six points during that run and Natasha Cloud added five more. Washington’s Li Meng also knocked down a corner three during that span.

D.C. outshot Seattle in the first half as they connected on 49% (18-37 FG) and 39% (5-13) from beyond the arc. Seattle was solid from inside the arc making 45% (13-29 FG) of their shots. But they struggled from the three-point line making just 17% (2-12). The Mystics also out-rebounded the Storm 20-13 through two periods.

Kia Nurse hit a pull-up jumper to begin the 2nd half. Brittney Sykes was able to drive past Yvonne for the Mystics’ first basket of the third period. Both teams played evenly through the first five minutes of the quarter. Austin and Magbegor swapped baskets inside the paint.

Seattle went on a nice 9-0 run to cut into Washington’s lead including five points from rookie Jordan Horston and the other four from Ezi. That cut the 14-point deficit down to five at 50-45.

D.C. responded to finish the quarter on a 6-3 run and led 56-48 at the end of the third period.

Defensively, the Storm were able to hold the Mystics scoreless for nearly the first three minutes of the final quarter. Unfortunately, the Storm didn’t score until four minutes into the final frame. A missed opportunity that could have swung the game in their favor.

Seattle did make their run though as they cut the 11-point lead down to six at 66-60. Jordan Horston had two shots about three feet from the rim but sadly missed them both. That would have cut it to four with two minutes remaining in the ball game.

The Mystics did just enough to keep Seattle at bay. The final score was 73-66.

I spoke with Coach Quinn after the game about what she liked about her team’s defensive adjustments as they held Washington to just 27 points in the 2nd half.

“I thought we were too aggressive (early) with Delle Donne. She was just facing up. We were too anxious to go double her. In the second half, we settled down. We were on our horses and connected a little bit more on our defensive rotations. We still have to clean up our turnovers (17) and we didn’t have a lot of O-Boards. If you think about the possessions that we lost, it hurts us there. Overall, I thought our defensive effort was very good in the second half.” Quinn told me.

I also got to talk with Jordan Horston about the late rally after the game as well.

“I think we tightened up on our defense in the second half. We played really hard. I felt like we gave the effort and we just have to clean up some things. We’ll watch the film, clean it up, and see them on Sunday. But I felt everyone on the team gave it their all. Everyone was pulling for each other. The effort was there. We’re going to figure it out.” Horston replied.

Additional Analysis

Shakira Austin and Ezi Magbegor

It is such a pleasure to watch these two teams battle one another because you get to watch two of the league’s premier Centers that aren’t even close to scratching the surface of their primes. When Ezi Magbegor and Shakira Austin go to battle it’s Must Watch TV! They are amazing talents and a big part of the future of the WNBA.

This game was no exception. Magbegor finished with a game-high 24 points. Her athleticism was on full display gliding down the lane for basket after basket. She was extremely efficient making 63% (10-16 FG) of her shots. Many of them came against Austin.

Meanwhile, Shakira was marvelous for her own team. She finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds and certainly looked like the future star piece of the Washington Mystics once Elena Delle Donne calls it a career.

The 6’5” Center is so tall, so lanky, and so athletic.

I asked Noelle for her thoughts on both young star players.

“It was a double-double for Shakira and a career-high for Ezi. I think this league with the young players that have the athleticism and the growth that both of them are showing is just tremendous. It’s good to see Shakira so comfortable on a team that has a lot of good players on it. For us, Ezi continues to grow every single day. It’s a testament to their work. Their physicality, their athleticism is elite for both of those players. It’s good to have them both in our league as young players. To continue to see their growth, I’m excited about both.” Coach Quinn told me.

After the game, I also spoke with Ezi about her thoughts on Austin and what it’s like to play against her.

“Shakira is a great player! You’ve definitely seen the growth of her game from last year to this year. She has a big role for her team. We are, I guess, similar players so I think it is a fun matchup. She’s a very explosive player. We both like to run. Knowing each other’s game I think it is always going to be a good matchup. She is a great player. (Under her breath) … I’m looking forward to playing them again on Sunday.” Magbegor answered.

With players like Sylvia Fowles and (possibly) Tina Charles retiring from the WNBA. And who knows how much longer Candace Parker is going to play, especially if the Aces win the championship this year.

I know everyone talks about the big matchup whenever Breanna Stewart and A’ja Wilson square off. But I truly believe one of the best battles moving forward in the WNBA is going to be between Shakira Austin and Ezi Magbegor!

Rookie Report

Beyond Jordan Horston’s stat line mentioned above. Jade Melbourne had a pretty solid game outside of her poor shooting effort (1-7 FG). Melbourne finished with four points, a team-high five assists, and four rebounds. The five assists are great for the young 19-year-old point guard who may be asked to take over the reins before the season’s end.

Ivana Dojkić added six points, all in the first half. She also had two rebounds and an assist.

Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu did play in this game but was in very limited action playing just three minutes. She didn’t have any notable stats.

Assists Were Up!

One real positive from this game despite the turnovers was that the Storm set a season-high with 17 assists on Friday night. I did find it a little funny although not all that surprising that the team set a season-high in assists in the game Jewell Loyd wasn’t a part of. That isn’t really a knock on Loyd. She is a ball-dominant guard that takes a lot of shots and excels in one-on-one isolations. Very few defenders can guard Jewell one-on-one, so when she gets those opportunities she does need to be attacking and looking to score. Especially, as the team’s and the WNBA’s current leading scorer.

With that said, I think one of the drawbacks of relying on such an iso-heavy player is that it can result in the rest of the team just standing around waiting for Jewell to get something done. Often, other players might just stand and watch Jewell as opposed to running pick and rolls, setting screens, or cutting to the rim.

On Friday against Washington, without Loyd, the team was more reliant on good offensive execution to find their points. The team certainly still struggled to score managing just 66 points. But it was positive to see the assist numbers go up.

I was curious what Coach Quinn thought about their improved assist numbers and talked to her about it after the game. I thought she had a really good response.

“Honestly, the other game where we only had 10 assists. It’s not that we aren’t moving the ball. We have different players. If we have a player that can break someone down and get to the rim that’s different from having a team that moves the ball with pace and wants to play pretty. Sometimes it’s just a matter of finding a mismatch and attacking that mismatch. I don’t think that we aren’t sharing the ball. It’s just how our offense is evolving with the players that we have. It’s a little bit different now. When we do get good shots (and assist opportunities) I just think we aren’t shooting efficiently as well. It’s a combination of those two things. I don’t think we’re being selfish. We just have players who can create on their own.” Quinn answered.

I do want to state, that part of the assist numbers going up is partially because Loyd wasn’t out there and they couldn’t rely on solely one player. But also just the fact that this is a very new team with a lot of new pieces, many of them very young pieces. This was only their 6th game of the season. They are still gelling and looking to improve themselves. The assist numbers should continue to improve with that growth.

The Future of the Storm

In the third period of this game, we got a glimpse of the Seattle Storm’s future. The future of the organization for the next several years. Jordan Horston had by far her best quarter scoring eight points including knocking down two three-pointers.

Ezi Magbegor also made some nice plays scoring four points in the quarter. The two combined for 12 of the team’s 16 points in the quarter.

It dawned on me during that period that I was watching the future of the franchise right in front of my eyes. Despite it being Ezi Magbegor’s 4th season in the WNBA already, she is still only 23 years old. Magbegor entered the WNBA at 19 years old back in 2020.

Horston, the team’s first-round pick, is just 22 years old.

Both players are under contract for multiple years. Both players are still years away from their prime.

We really don’t know what Jewell Loyd’s future is in Seattle. What we do know is that she will be an Unrestricted Free Agent at the end of this season. It’s very difficult to say if she’s going to want to stay. She may want to head home to Chicago. She may want to join a team that is much closer to title contention to have a better shot at winning her third WNBA title.

It’s also possible, the Storm may opt to trade Loyd during the season if they get strong indications that she’s going to leave in Free Agency in 2024. Breanna Stewart ended up leaving in Free Agency this offseason and the team wasn’t able to get anything for her in return. They weren’t able to work out any sign-and-trade deals and she just left.

If the team also loses Loyd in the same fashion it’ll be a devastating blow to the franchise.

When Elena Delle Donne forced her way out of Chicago, the Sky were able to get Kahleah Copper and Stefanie Dolson in return. At the time, Dolson was the bigger piece but ultimately Copper has gone on to become the Sky’s franchise player. Both Dolson and Copper were critical in the team’s 2021 WNBA Championship.

If the Storm are going to lose Jewell Loyd it would be much nicer if they could get some young pieces back in return that they can build around.

While the future of the organization has some questions that still need to be answered. What we do know is that the future is bright because the team can build around Ezi Magbegor and Jordan Horston and that’s a fantastic start!

Up Next

A rematch with the Washington Mystics (4-3) on Sunday afternoon at 12:00 PM in Seattle at Climate Pledge Arena. Storm fans will definitely want to be in attendance as the franchise will honor the GOAT, the Legend, The Masked Wonder, etc. Sue Bird will be there as the team will officially retire her Number 10 jersey into the rafters never to be worn again. It will take its rightful place alongside Lauren Jackson’s #15 and the Championship banner.

Notes:
Follow my Twitter (@WNBAStormChaser)
Photo Credits to Seattle Storm/WNBA Photography
Thanks for all the great support! Please tell other Storm fans about my coverage.