Storm surge falls short: Seattle’s fierce comeback attempt falls just short in 65-71 loss to Mystics
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – In similar fashion to their only victory of the season, June 6th over the Sparks, the Seattle Storm used a thunderous comeback to overcome an ugly start to their game against the Washington Mystics. The Storm once trailed by as much as 28 points before rumbling back into this game with their suffocating defensive performance and big performances from Ezi Magbegor, Kia Nurse, and Ivana Dojkic. The surge from Seattle wasn’t enough, as the Storm ran out of time in a six-point loss to the Mystics on the day that the team honor Sue Bird and send her retired jersey into the rafters of Climate Pledge Arena.
“Just weren’t hyper aware and focused with our speed and our scope. I think we just struggled to score. Jewell had to really focus on that and help us offensively. Not playing well in transition, we made some mistakes...””
Sluggish Seattle start
These past three games for Seattle have seen slow and sluggish starts in the first half, immediately pitting themselves in a hole to begin the contest and putting them at a huge disadvantage. In all three games, the Storm have been able to come back and keep themselves in the fight thanks to adjustments and improvements on defense plus some quality contributions from the starting lineup and Ivana Dojkic. Washington built an early lead with domination in the paint while hitting more than half their shots from beyond the arch, taking advantage of Seattle’s aggressive defensive play. It wasn’t as if the Storm weren’t displaying the right effort on defense, they were almost displaying too much as they overcommitted and left Mystics players open.
Seattle’s offensive struggles in the first half were ugly, as the Storm made four shots in each quarter and eight total in that first half. In the first quarter in particular, Seattle struggled heavily in the paint to create offense. The Storm missed their last nine shots and saw the Mystics go on a 12-point run in the final four and a half minutes of that frame. Those struggles continued into the second quarter, as Seattle continued to miss shots while Washington buried jumper after jumper. It was getting ugly, as the halftime mark saw the Mystics more than double the Storm score.
Out of time
Seattle found their spark in the second half, as they got out to a hot start immediately after the break before Washington’s Natasha Cloud buried some tough shots to mitigate the beginning of the Storm comeback attempt. Similar to the first game against the Mystics this weekend, rookie forward Jordan Horston helped infuse the necessary energy into the Storm to push their comeback effort. Jewell Loyd and Kia Nurse found their stride a bit from the field, trading baskets with Cloud as Seattle stayed stubborn in their battle to get back into the game.
As the fourth quarter rolled around, with the Storm down by 21 points, young center Ezi Magbegor began to go to work in the paint and seemingly dragged the team's offensive effort back into the game. Their big push came as that fourth and final quarter began, as Seattle went on a 17-point run in the first six minutes. The Storm defense suffocated and battled hard, while the starters and Ivana Dojkic gave their all towards the effort. A Kia Nurse three-pointer brought them within a basket, but that was the closest that Seattle got. On a possession a little over two minutes later, Nurse got a rebound and gave a little bit of a shake on Washington’s Ariel Atkins which earned Nurse a technical foul. It pushed the Mystics lead to four, and the Storm couldn’t battle back. A tough loss to put a cap on a strong and ferocious effort.
“Confidence. Her understanding of our schemes and being in the correct place, especially on the defensive end. She’s an elite athlete, it’s so important for her to hone in on the how-to things and she’s doing that on the defensive end. Then offensively, just playing basic in transition and finding things to learn.”
Lineup changes
As head coach Noelle Quinn has said, the Storm rotation isn’t really solidified yet and it appears that the starting lineup isn’t either. Shooting guard Jewell Loyd returned to the lineup after missing the last game against Washington with a foot injury. A new face in the starters was rookie Jordan Horston, who took over at the power forward spot in place of veteran Mercedes Russell. Considering Horston’s recent success and Russell’s somewhat struggle in play lately, it makes a ton of sense that head coach Noelle Quinn and the staff made the decision to swap them.
“We have to find ways to find multiple scorers... if we can have some balance, that is super helpful. ”
With the insertion of Horston into the starting lineup, the question arises: when may we see another change amongst the starters, particularly at the point guard position? Yvonne Turner only played eight minutes in this game, failing to take a shot and only recording one stat, a rebound. Ivana Dojkic and Jade Melbourne, both considered rookies (Dojkic has played professional ball overseas while Melbourne did in Australia) have outplayed Turner as the season has gone on. Turner’s offensive abilities are limited, and while her defensive play is strong, that alone shouldn’t keep her in the team's starting lineup. While Melbourne is young and has had her learning moments, her continued growth will be big for the growth of the franchise and she’s already displayed solid play this year. Dojkic has brought instant spark and energy into the game when in, and began the second half with the starters today.
“I think Ivie (Ivana Dojkic) did a great job. I think she was aggressive after she got us into our stuff... Jade was a little flustered today, but you know, she’s been great thus far with her understanding... I learned a lot from today. From an evaluation standpoint, but also about our team. We can’t dig ourselves a hole and we know we’re capable now of coming into games when we have that sort of start.”
Quick notes
There were 13,213 in attendance today for the Washington Mystics vs Seattle Storm game and Sue Bird’s jersey retirement ceremony
Ezi Magbegor, along with her 13 points and seven rebounds, had four blocked shots.
That was her fifth-straight game with three or more blocks, the first Seattle player ever to do that. Lauren Jackson had four games of three-plus blocks on five occasions.
After trailing by as many as 28 in the first half and down 21 going into the fourth quarter, Seattle used a huge run to cut the deficit to three at 68-65 on three Ivana Dojkić free throws with 2:48 left. However, that would be as close as the Storm could get as Washington was able to hold on for a 71-65.
The game featured a pair of huge runs by each team. The Mystics broke the game open with a 20-0 run over a 7:44 stretch in the first half and led by as many as 28 at 42-14 with 3:50 left before halftime. Seattle cut that deficit to three at 68-65 by starting the fourth quarter on a 20-2 run including scoring the first 17 points of the period.
Washington, which entered the game ranked 11th in the league making just 6.7 three-pointers per game, connected on eight in the first half alone and finished with a season-best 11. The Storm struggled from beyond the arc, hitting just five from distance on 22 attempts.
Jewell Loyd scored a team-high 16 points after missing Friday’s game due to a minor foot injury, adding five assists and five rebounds. Loyd started the game slow, scoring just three points in the first half, but rallied in the second half with 13 points including nine in the third quarter.
Ivana Dojkić came off the bench to record a career-high 12 points, scoring in double-figures for the first time in her young WNBA career. Dojkić was perfect from the floor, going 3-for-3 from the floor and 5-for-5 from the free throw line, adding four assists and two steals.
Fellow rookie Jordan Horston made her first WNBA start, scoring 10 points and adding five rebounds, two blocks, and one assist. Horston has now scored in double-figures in three-straight games for Seattle.
The Mystics were without leading scorer Elena Delle Donne for the first time this season (neck tightness).
What’s next?
Following these past two games against the Mystics at home and their third straight contest at Climate Pledge Arena in general, the Storm will head out on the road for their next three games. The first of those three is on Tuesday, June 13th in Phoenix against the Mercury with a tipoff time of 7PM PST. It’ll be a battle of the struggling sides, as the Mercury aren’t much better than the Storm with an abysmal 1-5 record on the season. One of the sides will pick up their second win of the year, when those two teams battle it out on the CBS Sports Network inside of the Footprint Center.