Why big battles against the Aces and Lynx are critical for the Seattle Storm going on a potential deep playoff run
By Rowan Schaberg, edited by Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA - With the Seattle Storm back in playoff - if not championship - contention this season, Wednesday’s matchup against the Las Vegas Aces felt reminiscent of the battles between these two teams back in 2022, when Breanna Stewart and A’ja Wilson were both trying to lead their teams to a championship and themselves to an MVP award. After the Aces seemingly breezed past the competition to secure back-to-back championship trophies, they are currently fourth in WNBA rankings with an overall record of 14-7, pushing one spot above Seattle with 14-8, who previously occupied that spot prior to the last result between these two sides. This closeness in competition made for a playoff-like atmosphere at Climate Pledge Arena yesterday with a sold out crowd of 12,500, with a lot children in the seats, for the Storm’s annual “Kids Day” game. While the octave of cheers was a tad higher than usual, the excitement of a highly competitive and high stakes game felt as though it was foreshadowing to later in the season.
“So are we where we want to be in the middle of the season? This is a good test to see where we match up and there are things that we did well in this game that we will take and improve things that we need to get better at.”
Our Seattle Storm and the Minnesota Lynx matched up in the season opener back in May, with the Lynx taking the first of three head to head matchups so far. (Photos by Liv Lyons)
While only halfway through the 2024 season, these last few home games are, in an odd way, preparing Seattle for the playoffs already. Las Vegas, the Minnesota Lynx (who the Storm play tomorrow), and Seattle have been floating around the same area in the standings all season, with extremely competitive matches between them all. Despite three neck-in-neck games, one of which going into overtime, Seattle hasn’t been able to pull off a win against Minnesota yet this season, with their current record against the Lynx at 0-3. The Aces are currently 1-1 against the Lynx and 2-1 against the Storm. As we approach a month-long Olympic break that awkwardly puts a pause on WNBA season momentum, having these evenly matched games at this point in the season is honestly the perfect scenario for Quinn’s coaching staff. Having sore spots exposed by these teams that Seattle will likely meet in the postseason will allow the coaching staff an entire month to truly focus on making those adjustments to ensure success in the playoffs.
Under Quinn’s leadership, defense has always been Seattle’s identity. They are currently ranked third in defensive rating in the league, but if the third quarter against Las Vegas was evidence of anything, it’s that there are still holes in their defensive system. These defensive weaknesses certainly transfer to the other end of the court, as well, as Seattle often has a difficult time producing offensively when they struggle defensively.
“I think a lot of our offense stems from our defense. So when we’re being aggressive, when we’re getting deflections, when we’re playing help defense, I feel like that just triggers out offense, so we want to do that… When we can sustain the aggression defensively throughout all four quarters, we put ourselves in great positions to win.”
A strong offense is vital in overcoming the Aces, who lead the league in offensive rating despite not leading the league in overall record. Seattle sits at number six in offensive rating, which is a decent position to be in, but could always be improved upon. Unsurprisingly, the Lynx have a 0.2 edge over the Storm, even more evidence of how evenly matched these teams are.
Wednesday’s loss will certainly be studied tirelessly by Quinn’s coaching staff in film over the next month, as Seattle will not have a team practice again until August 16th. The Storm are hoping for their first win against the Lynx this season, tomorrow at Climate Pledge Arena at 7PM, and the atmosphere will likely be that of a playoff game. Win or lose, utilizing Minnesota as a way to measure their improvement so far throughout the season will allow for a great opportunity to pinpoint more issues to solve over the Olympic break to prepare for success beyond the regular season.
What’s next?
Following Wednesday’s home loss to the Las Vegas Aces, as they celebrated “Kids Day” at Climate Pledge Arena with a noon tipoff time, our Seattle Storm will begin to wind down their historic nine-game homestand when they play the eighth game of it on Friday. That July 12th matchup comes against the Minnesota Lynx, a team that the Storm have failed to beat so far this season across three competitions throughout the course of the 2024 WNBA campaign so far, with a tipoff time of 7PM PDT at Climate Pledge Arena that will be broadcast live on ION, KFAN FM / Lynx App. It’ll be an interesting matchup between the Lynx and our Storm, two of the top teams in the Western Conference of the WNBA, as Minnesota has gone an average 3-3 over their past three games coming off a seven-game win streak, while Seattle has hit a snag in the latter part of this homestand having lost two of their last three games after winning the first four games of the long home stretch.
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Check out our previous articles with photos by Liz Wolter here, and her portfolio here.
Check out our previous articles written by Rowan Schaberg here, and her portfolio here.
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