Lynx outlast Storm in 2OT thriller 102-93

Seattle falls to 0-2 on the season.

(Minneapolis, Minnesota) - The Seattle Storm fought, clawed, scratched, and willed themselves to a 78-78 tie at the end of regulation after trailing by 13 points with five minutes remaining in the game. They battled back and forth throughout the first OT and settled on another tie at 88-88. Unfortunately, with Jewell Loyd fouling out of the game for the first time in her 10-year WNBA career, the team ultimately fell short against some clutch three-point shooting by the Lynx in an exciting 102-93 double-overtime defeat in Minnesota.

I talked to Coach Quinn about the team’s fight after the game.

“I’m very proud. I saw a lot of connectivity. We talked about the first game when some adversity hit, we got disconnected. I saw really the body language and I saw that our mentality was strong. We never let the lead dictate how our posture was for possession by possession. We came up with some good defensive possessions and some good execution down the stretch.” Quinn said.

Skylar Diggins-Smith also spoke to me about how the team battled.

“I thought we locked in. We played an even third quarter. And we won the 4th quarter 22-15 to get us back in. We were able to execute defensively. We are able to get to the line. I thought we were resilient through that. I thought the effort was there tonight. Credit them for finishing, 14-5 in that 2nd overtime. We just couldn’t get it going like we wanted to. But I definitely think the effort is there. We’re encouraged. We know the mistakes that we made. Going forward to get more games under our belt, we can correct some of those. Credit them for taking care of business in the 2nd overtime.” Diggins-Smith told me.

Despite another loss to the Minnesota Lynx, this game showed much more of what everyone hopes to see out of Seattle this year. Nneka Ogwumike, Skylar Diggins-Smith, and Jewell Loyd each scored 20+ points. Ogwumike led the way with a double-double of 24 points and 11 rebounds. She also had five steals! Diggins-Smith scored a season-high 22 points and added five assists. Despite continued struggles from the floor after shooting 4-21 FG, Loyd did manage to battle through to provide 20 points. That included going 10-11 from the foul line and sinking three in a row in the final seconds to send the game to OT.

Unfortunately, the shots just aren’t falling for Loyd right now. She has shot a combined 7-40 FG (18% if we round up) through the first two games. Loyd is a high-volume shooter and I don’t see that ending anytime soon. Despite her struggles, she is an elite offensive scorer and it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Seattle’s offense fell apart in the second overtime period when Loyd was no longer allowed to be on the court. The key for Jewell this season will be to get to the foul line when the shots aren’t going down. And to also acknowledge that she has help this season. Nneka Ogwumike shot 67% (8-12 FG) in this game. Ezi Magbegor shot 60% (3-5 FG). Together, they combined for fewer field goal attempts than Loyd. That will need to change as the team progresses and continues to build more chemistry.

Diggins-Smith supported Loyd after the game when a media member asked her about Jewell’s early shooting struggles. She said…

“I don’t care. It’s the first few games. Nobody’s gonna be sexy right now. It’s the first two games. We don’t even claim that as a slump. We want her to be aggressive. We want her, I think she’s been doing a good job getting to her shots. And I think it’s on us and me specifically to find more opportunities to get her in space.”

Ogwumike chimed in.

“We need to get her open.”

Magbegor’s performance was disappointing not because she played poorly. Far from it. She scored nine points, had six rebounds, five assists, two blocks, and two steals. But the team needed her to be more aggressive on the offensive end. Magbegor took just two shot attempts in the final 20 minutes of the game (4th quarter and both OT periods). Napheesa Collier had five fouls going into the first OT and they never once challenged her to try and force that 6th foul to get her out of the game.

While Seattle was outshot by Minnesota, they did do a great job of getting to the free throw line overall. After having just 14 free throw attempts in their first game, they got to the line for 29 free throws and made 26 of them (90%). They made seven more free throws than the Lynx which helped the Storm keep the game close.

This game also had some crazy defensive numbers. The teams combined for 38 steals and 53 turnovers!! With such a short training camp for teams with so many new players, this was bound to happen. Hopefully, it’ll be cleaned up as the team builds more chemistry.

Minnesota Lynx

MVPhee Season Loading… MVPhee Season Loading… All systems are a go for Napheesa Collier. Collier continues to elevate her game to new heights and 100% should be looked at as a legit MVP candidate this season. She followed up her 20-point and 12-rebound performance in Game 1 with 29 points, nine rebounds, six steals(!), and five assists in Friday night’s game. Collier is literally doing it all out there and has quickly led her team to a 2-0 start this season.

But she’s not alone. Minnesota had strong contributions from several players. Four out of their five starters scored in double figures. Kayla McBride scored 19 points. Alanna Smith had another strong performance against Seattle with 16 points, five rebounds, six blocks(!), and three steals. Courtney Williams added 10 points, six rebounds, and six assists. The one starter that didn’t reach double figures, Diamond Miller, scored nine.

The Lynx were the better shooting team once again in this game. They connected on 44% (35-79 FG) and more importantly 43% (13-30 FG) from beyond the three-point arc. Minnesota’s three-point shooting was the difference in this game. Both teams had identical rebounds (42-42) and roughly the same amount of points in the paint (40 SEA-36 MIN), but the Lynx converted eight more three-pointers. They were a +24 points from beyond the arc.

Game Breakdown

Napheesa Collier knocked down a midrange jumper to score the game’s first basket. Nneka Ogwumike connected on one of her own to tie the game early on. The two teams exchanged baskets from Skylar Diggins-Smith, Collier, Alanna Smith, and Jewell Loyd. Then another layup by Smith and two more free throws from Collier put Minnesota up by four.

With Seattle trailing 10-6, Kiana Williams was able to drive into the paint and finish off the glass for her only shot and points of the game.

Kayla McBride buried a three-ball. Then Jordan Horston scored on back-to-back possessions to help cut into Minnesota’s lead. Smith also knocked down a triple. Minnesota’s sharp shooting from long distance would become a story of the game.

Seattle tied the game back up at 16-16 off a Mercedes Russell deep jumper. However, Minnesota would finish the quarter on a 6-0 run receiving points from Collier, Smith, and Natisha Hiedeman. Seattle trailed by six at the end of the first 22-16.

Diamond Miller connected on a three-pointer with the assist from Alissa Pili. Sika Kone then converted a fast break put-back layup to quickly score five points to begin the 2nd quarter. That forced Coach Quinn to call another timeout as the team quickly found themselves trailing by 11.

The Storm continued to struggle on offense. The Lynx went on a 13-0 run between the end of the first and the beginning of the 2nd period. Courtney Williams and Kayla McBride each knocked down three-point shots. McBride was also fouled on her three-point attempt and completed the rare four-point play to give Minnesota a 16-point lead at 36-20.

Seattle finally responded with back-to-back triples from the Australians, Sami Whitcomb and Ezi Magbegor. That cut the deficit to 10 and forced Coach Cheryl Reeve to call a timeout. Seattle continued to pour it on with a couple of steals that resulted in a layup for Ogwumike and a three-pointer by Jewell Loyd.

Minnesota pushed their lead back to nine with a pair of free throws from Collier and a fast break from Diamond Miller.

Skylar Diggins-Smith found some success by attacking the paint and drawing fouls. She scored Seattle’s final four points from the free throw line. Collier was able to draw a foul in the final seconds of the first half. After making both, Minnesota extended their lead to seven at 44-37. Seattle found some success late in the quarter that helped them cut the 16-point deficit to single digits.

Alanna Smith and Jewell Loyd swapped baskets to begin the 2nd half. Diamond Miller hit another three-pointer. Seattle had cut the lead down to five after one more Ogwumike jumper but then Kiana Williams turned the ball over. From there the Lynx knocked down back-to-back three-pointers by Kayla McBride and Alisa Pili. That put Minnesota back up by nine at 56-47.

Jordon Horston had a couple of bad turnovers that also led to a fast-break basket for the Lynx. But she did get a couple of offensive rebounds after that which resulted in points for Ogwumike.

Bridget Carleton knocked down a back-breaking three-pointer. A basket by Ogwumike made it 63-56 at the end of the third period.

A three-point play (AND1) by Mercedes Russell opened up the final frame. Horston then scored inside the paint which helped cut the deficit down to just two points. Minnesota rallied after that. They got an outside jumper from McBride. Then the Lynx got multiple offensive rebounds and it eventually led to another Collier layup to extend their lead back up to six.

Minnesota’s run wouldn’t end there, as they would go on an 11-0 run in total to regain a 13-point lead. Diggins-Smith had a couple of bad passes that resulted in turnovers. The second saw Courtney Williams race down the court for the uncontested layup. A pair of free throws from Carleton capped off the run.

As she did earlier, Nneka Ogwumike ended Minnesota’s run, this time with a three-pointer. Loyd also hit a three and then both she and Nneka were able to get to the foul line.

The Lynx led by 11 points with three minutes to play but Seattle was able to overcome that to tie the game at 78-78. It happened after Kayla McBride missed both of her free throws and then fouled Jewell Loyd on a three-point attempt. Loyd calmly sank all three foul shots to tie the game.

Minnesota had a chance to hold the ball until the final seconds but Courtney Williams foolishly took a shot almost immediately out of their timeout with the game tied. Diggins-Smith got the rebound and immediately called timeout for Seattle. Jewell had a good look to win the game in regulation but it rolled out.

Nneka Ogwumike scored to open up the overtime period but Kayla McBride tied the game by getting back to the foul line. She then gave a dismissive wave to the hoop after she connected on both free throws to begin the OT period. She was still mad about missing both free throws in regulation that would have sealed the victory for the Lynx.

Diggins-Smith was able to get to the rim to put Seattle on top. But then Courtney Williams buried a three at the top of the arc to put the Lynx back up one at 83-82.

Both teams would go back and forth. Loyd was able to get back to the foul line to put Seattle ahead. Then Collier was able to score down low. Seattle responded as Nneka was able to draw another foul quickly putting Seattle back on top 86-85 with under 40 seconds to play in the OT period.

After points from Collier and an answer by Diggins-Smith, Seattle needed one more defensive stop to win the game. They appeared to have gotten it when Ezi Magbegor tied up Courtney Williams for a jump ball with just 12 seconds to go. Magbegor had a huge size advantage and should have easily won the tip but after making contact with the ball, Napheesa Collier jumped the tipping lane and essentially stole the ball back for Minnesota.

Collier was then fouled with 2.7 seconds left with a chance to win the game. But once again Minnesota couldn’t finish things off as Collier missed the second free throw which sent the game to double OT at 88-88.

To begin the 2nd overtime, Seattle turned the ball over as Ezi lost control of the ball. Then Minnesota quickly struck first as Collier connected on a three-pointer. Horston tried to drive into the paint but was met by multiple defenders and they blocked or tipped the ball away. On the Lynx’s next possession, they knocked down yet another triple to go up six points.

Diggins-Smith was able to get to the rim for the AND1 to cut it back to a one-possession game. But from there, Minnesota would go on a 7-0 run with baskets from McBride, Collier, and a dagger three from Alanna Smith.

Seattle ran out of time and couldn’t find a good offensive flow with both Loyd and Ogwumike on the bench. Nneka went down with an ankle injury late in the second OT. A couple more meaningless points gave us our final score of 102-93.

Final Box Score

Additional Analysis

Growth

Despite falling short in this game, there were a lot more positives to build off of. This is just the second game out of 40 this season. The team is already displaying growth which is a positive sign.

I asked Coach Quinn what signs of growth she saw from the team between the first game and Friday night’s game.

“Yeah, sustained level of competitive spirit and desire. A couple of, down the stretch, 50-50 balls that they got to but I thought it was way less this time around. I thought that our offense was flowing a little bit better than our first game. I thought that we withstood their physicality. Our disruption bothered them early and it sustained throughout the game. Just you know, learning on the fly with schemes and coverages. I thought that we were very locked in with our adjustments that we were making throughout the game. And again, I’ll just talk about the connectivity again. I thought we showed a lot of positive body language and positive moments when it got very tough.” Quinn explained.

I spoke with Nneka about that as well and she had this to say.

“I felt like it was two different games. I’m encouraged to grow from how we played tonight after evolving from the first night. I still think what we saw in the 4th quarter (outscored the Lynx by 7) and what we saw from OT can be sustained over the course of the game. I credit Sky, she really changed the energy in OT and we fed off of that. In the 2nd overtime, I don’t think we started off sharp enough. You only have five minutes. It’s a learning opportunity. For us to play in a double-overtime game in the 2nd game of the season, I think is something that … you know, a lot of teams are scripting right now. I felt encouraged.” Ogwumike added.

After starting 0-2 and now facing two more road games on back-to-back days, the team will have to grow quickly. It’s not the end of the world if the team drops a couple of hotly-contested games early on in the season. But at the same time, they don’t want to dig themselves too deep of a hole. They don’t want to be coming back to Seattle with an 0-4 record so the Storm will need to quickly learn and grow from these early season mistakes.

Jordan Horston and Victoria Vivians

Before training camp, I had Jordan Horston penciled in as the team’s starting Small Forward. The other four spots (Skylar, Jewell, Nneka, and Ezi) were locked in and Horston made the most sense as she started 17 games during her rookie season. Plus, add in the fact that Gabby Williams wouldn’t be able to come over this year due to the Olympics and her commitment to the French National Team. Horston seemed like the most natural choice.

Then it was surprising to see training camp open up with Victoria Vivians getting run with the first unit (starters). I would later find out that Jordan had tweaked her ankle and the team was cautiously easing her back in. That made sense, especially with the fact that Horston had to play with an injured shoulder all season long last year.

During the second preseason game with Horston activated to play, the team still started Victoria Vivians. And now during these first two regular season games, Vivians has continued to start over Horston.

Coach Quinn has already received multiple questions about this from the media beyond even myself. But she has provided a pretty solid reasoning for bringing Jordan off the bench.

First, they are still easing her back in. But mostly, she likes the dynamic of bringing Jordan off the bench for a variety of reasons. Here are some of the different things Coach Quinn has talked about.

• It bolsters the talent of the second unit.

• It allows Jordan to sit back and watch the game early (read the offensive and defensive schemes from the bench).

• Horston can bring energy and a spark off of the bench.

• Horston will have more shooting opportunities when not always playing with Jewell, Nneka, and Skylar. She becomes the first or second option with the second unit versus being the 5th option with the starting unit.

When you look at all of those reasons, I see where it makes sense to bring Jordan off the bench. On top of that, just because a player doesn’t start doesn’t mean they won’t be playing quality minutes. This game was a perfect example of that. Vivians started this game but played just 13 minutes. Horston came off the bench and played 36 minutes. The only players who played more minutes than Jordan were the “Core Four”.

Vivians didn’t play a single minute of the 4th quarter or either OT period. Jordan played 19 of those 20 minutes.

With all this said, the team does need to get more out of Vivians if she’s going to be starting and taking up a roster spot. Vivians has yet to score in the first two games. She’s gone 0-6 FG with her shooting. She’s tallied six rebounds and two assists during her first two starts.

I know it’s early. And it’s completely unfair to judge any player after just two games. But I still have to question whether cutting Joyner Holmes in favor of Victoria Vivians was the correct call to make. I know Joyner isn’t an elite defender and has the body more of a Power Forward. But I have to believe she would have been able to provide more offensive scoring for Seattle and that she could at least match any rebounds Vivians has gathered.

Las Vegas Moolah

You can watch the quick video above from the city of Las Vegas. Apparently, the city will pay every Aces player an additional $100,000 just for playing on the Las Vegas Aces team. This was quite surprising for me to see because it sure feels like a way for the stacked Aces team to circumvent the WNBA’s Salary Cap. And it’s particularly interesting to me because the Aces have had top elite stars sign contract extensions that are well below market value just so that they could keep the talented team together.

Jackie Young, who’s maybe just now starting to enter the prime of her career, just signed a new two-year contract extension for less than $170,000/year. Young is one of the 10-15 best players in the entire league and she’s taking $30,000 less than $200,000 and about $70,000 less than the Super Max. Chelsea Gray is also making slightly less than $200,000 while A’ja Wilson is only making $200,000. The two-time WNBA MVP doesn’t even get paid a Super Max contract? Well, I guess that doesn’t matter if the city is paying them all an additional $100,000 just to play for the team.

It also doesn’t help that there were already previous reports of the Las Vegas Aces organization paying their players under the table.

Now to set a few things straight. I am all for these amazing women and athletes getting as much money as possible. This approach and presentation just felt very odd. The optics of it felt illegal.

It can’t be illegal because I don’t think the city would be sharing a video of them offering to pay each player an additional $100,000 if it was going to get the team in trouble with the league. The WNBA would intervene if it was legitimately a form of cheating and against the rules.

But, to me, it did call into question the legality of something like this. Where is the line and how do we know when it’s been crossed? Could a rich Seattle billionaire like Steve Ballmer or Jeff Bezos just make a big public announcement that they will pay every player who signs with the Seattle Storm an additional $1 Million? Is that legal? Or would they need to create some shell corporation so that it isn’t 100% just a bribe?

The Las Vegas Review Journal had some more details on the payments but it still feels like a gray area to me.

Despite the previous allegations of the Aces paying players under the table, I’m not going to pretend like this probably isn’t done to some extent all across the WNBA. We know the New York Liberty illegally chartered their team around for approximately half the season in 2022. And while the WNBA did take action with a small fine for the organization. It also conveniently resulted in the additions of superstars Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones the following off-season.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the Storm, LA Sparks, and other teams around the league have done things to pay or entice players to play in their cities over the years as well. I don’t want to act like it’s only Las Vegas and New York.

To me, it just feels like we are in this really interesting/weird era. Maybe like the first years of NIL in college sports or even the years right before NIL was 100% legal. The transfer portal and NIL money are causing a ton of chaos and shattering previous expectations of how everything worked in the world of collegiate sports. I have to wonder if the WNBA is headed towards something similar and how that will affect everything moving forward.

Up Next

Seattle’s three-game road trip continues with a trip to our Nation’s Capital, Washington D.C. The Washington Mystics host the Seattle Storm on Sunday at noon (PDT).

Notes:
Photo Credits to Seattle Storm/WNBA Photography
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