Another quiet second half dooms Storm in frustrating loss to Fever
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – In another physical, challenging battle, the Seattle Storm fell to the Indiana Fever in a frustrating defeat. Seattle held strong throughout the first half, holding a lead over Indiana until a minute and a half were left in the third quarter. After that, things turned for the worse for the Storm, as the Fever went on a 17-point run that ran late into the fourth quarter. Seattle, like their loss to Connecticut just a few days ago, hit a speed bump offensively that ultimately hindered their ability to win this ballgame. The growing pains are showing for this young Storm squad, and as head coach Noelle Quinn has said, growth isn’t linear. Today was a prime example of how the team will face regression, and how they ultimately respond to it will be critical.
Opening tipoff between the Indiana Fever and the Seattle Storm for their June 22nd, 2023 matchup inside of Climate Pledge Arena (Photo by Mathew Bermudez)
Starting five get the show started
Through the first half, the Storm were able to avoid a poor start that they’d seen in a run of their past few games, trading baskets with a young and talented Fever team that somewhat mirrors this Seattle squad in ways. It was a balanced effort on both sides, as both starting fives seemed to trade baskets and each team got solid contributions up and down. Seattle seemed to have the offensive creativity flowing early, as Kia Nurse was very active, Ezi Magbegor continued to show strong paint presence, Ivana Dojkic flashed speed at the point guard position that earned her the starting job, Mercedes Russell was showing strength inside and Jewell Loyd was playing like herself. All seemed to be flowing well for Seattle, except perhaps some more stops defensively.
Seattle Storm center Ezi Magbegor was letting the three pointers fly early in the first half (Photo by Mathew Bermudez)
Storm dissipates for big lull in second half
Seattle’s issue in their past two games, coincidentally against two teams that have more size than the Storm, has been a lull in offensive production in the second half. While Seattle was able to make a strong effort against the Sun to comeback, today’s deficit against the Fever put them in too much of a hole to try and crawl out of in the time left remaining in the game. After a Kia Nurse three-pointer with 4:11 to play in the third, Seattle had seemed to swing the momentum pendulum in their favor as they regained the lead for the first time in the middle of the second quarter. The offensive production had continued to spread across the starting five to that point, and it seemed like the Storm were finding the second gear that they needed to help them get over the hump.
“Couldn’t hit a shot. 21 missed shots, we can’t win games shooting 30% from the floor. I thought our defensive activity was fine. We were creating and generating turnovers and we’re taking contested shots and couldn’t hit a shot. ”
“It was nothing that Indiana did. I think it’s just us. I think offensively, we can’t go through lapses, where we’re not scoring for six or seven minutes. In this league, we just can’t afford to do that. I don’t know what it is, I think we just need to be better. It has happened in previous games. We just can’t let it keep happening, find ways to score, get stops, be more aggressive, get to the free throw line.”
Through the rest of the third quarter, that four minutes and eleven seconds after Seattle had gained a lead, the Storm missed all seven of the shots that they took and turned the ball over three times. As we entered the fourth quarter, Storm fans got on their feet to cheer their team on as the final ten minutes began, standing up until Seattle scored a basket. They would all take a seat due to the fact that the Storm didn’t get their first bucket until Jordan Horston’s cutting layup with three minutes and 48 seconds left to play in the game, when Indian already had built a 14-point lead. In that span of time, from when Seattle took the lead until their next score, ten minutes and 23 seconds had passed, which is simply inexcusable. The Storm had gone 0-22 from the field in that span, showcasing immense growing pains.
“We’re not moving the ball. We are not moving the ball, not screening, not diving. We’re not doing anything that brought us success and what a good offense should look like, or our offense should look like.”
“We are talking about that, obviously, because we don’t want that to happen, to repeat the same mistakes. Sometimes, it’s just felt like when we get in this zone, we have struggled to get back. We need to now watch and analyze. We should start from the defense because our power is when we do good on defense, and we can bring energy to our offense... I need to be even more focused, more energy, and more decisions, like we need to make good decisions. We’re not making good shots, and then we go down mentally. But I think we can, it’s more mental, so we can improve on that.”
Seattle Storm forward Kia Nurse drives against the Fever in the second half (Photo by Mathew Bermudez)
Growing pains become clearer
It’s been stated time and time again that this is a young team, in terms of age and general chemistry, and that isn’t inherently a bad thing. What is bad, though, is when the young team that is trying to grow and progress forward, takes a step back and regresses in some way shape or form, failing to learn from prior mistakes in order to move forward towards the ultimate goal of winning. That’s what happened tonight, as Seattle failed numerous times to stop the bleeding of their opponents run in the second half and ultimately compounded mistakes with more mistakes as the game ran along. Getting over that hump that they face in the second half when trailing and needing to break the offensive lull has been an issue that the Storm are still grappling with. Until more of the scoring is able to be picked up by others that aren’t Jewell Loyd, Ezi Magbegor, or Ivana Dojkic on a more consistent basis, it’s hard to see Seattle getting over that hump anytime soon.
“I think so. I mean, there is a point in the game where we got over a hump, got up at 59-58 and then from there, not good things happened. The rebounding was an issue, the things that brought us success we were not doing, and that is a sign of what this season is kind of for us. It’s just recalibrating, and yes on the growth chart, it does happen to go up and back and down and around for this group. We can’t do it. Just don’t have the luxury of making the same mistakes and this was the first time Yeah, I did feel like that.”
“Question of the night, question of the night. There’s no magical play that I can draw up. At the end of the day, we had open looks. We’ve got to make our layups; we’ve got to knock down shots. We had 74 shots; we didn’t turn the ball over today. I’m not sure how else I can emphasize when they’re smalls get the ball into the paint and do it. I’m not sure how I can continue to emphasize to get into a ball screen... I’m not sure, it’s a matter of listening, doing it, and executing.”
Seattle Storm forward Jordan Horston goes up for a shot while Indiana Fever forward Aliyah Boston attempts to block it (Photo by Mathew Bermudez)
Physicality factor
As mentioned with the past two games against these talented front courts, the Storm were in a physical battle tonight against the Fever, whether that be in the paint or in terms of the fouls that were being called. Many drives to the basket weren’t called in this game, as the Storm were hacked and whacked throughout the course of the game. The officiating crew of Randy Richardson, Jeffrey Smith, and Kevin Fahy seemed to be letting things play out with their whistles in their pocket, which the young Storm team struggled without somewhat on top of their shooting issues. With the sort of offensive presence that the Fever were able to create in the paint, like seemingly every team has against Seattle, Indiana was also able to open up their shoot from beyond the arch to build their lead that ultimately proved too large for the Storm.
Bench bust?
In a somewhat interesting and perhaps a little bizarre note, the Storm only used three of the players off their bench. By the time that this game had concluded, three players were left on the Storm bench that did not see any action as decided by head coach Noelle Quinn. It would’ve been four, had Arella Guirantes not been out with a non-Covid illness, but to that point; three of the four potentially (if you include Guirantes) available bench players for Seattle just haven’t been seeing any sort of consistent team for the Storm. While it’s understandable perhaps that Jade Melbourne continues to learn on the bench, getting her into the game when the team was in the long scoring lull may have helped provide some fresher legs for Seattle. While Fankam Mendjiadeu and Turner are limited offensively, it’s still somewhat mind boggling that those two in particular have seen rare minutes for a stretch of time here. Perhaps coach Quinn has found her solidified rotation, but considering the struggles on offense tonight, getting some other players involved may have been useful.
Quick notes
Jewell Loyd scored a team-high 19 points with 13 of those coming in the first quarter. Loyd, who leads the league in scoring averaging 25.5 ppg, has now scored 281 total points through the first 11 games, the second-most through a player’s first 11 games of a season in WNBA history.
Ezi Magbegor scored 18 points, marking her fourth-consecutive game in double figures, adding six rebounds, an assist, and a steal.
Ivana Dojkić tallied 11 points marking her fifth time scoring in double-figures over her last six games. Dojkić tacked on a team-high six assists and contributed five rebounds along with a pair of steals.
Mercedes Russell led the Storm in rebounds pulling eight along four points, two assists and one block.
Indiana’s NaLyssa Smith recorded a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds, and was one of four Fever players in double figures, including Kelsey Mitchell (25), Erica Wheeler (10), and Emma Cannon (10).
Indiana’s Aliyah Boston contributed nine points, 11 rebounds, five assists and a pair of blocks, just her third game of the season scoring in single-figures.
Former team USA teammates Aliyah Boston and Jordan Horston got a picture together postgame (Photo by Mathew Bermudez)
What’s next?
With two losses in their current homestand through as many games, the Storm aim to close out this current slate on a positive note when they play the finale of this three-game slate at Climate Pledge Arena. That game is on Saturday, June 24th, with a tipoff time of 6PM PST as the Phoenix Mercury come to town for the first time since their preseason battle back in May. After these past two games against the Sun and Fever that have featured prominent front courts, the Storm will battle yet another as Brittney Griner makes her first return to Seattle since the offseason that saw her cruel and evil detainment in Russia gain worldwide attention. That game will be broadcast on Twitter, FOX 13+, and Amazon Prime Video.