Getting back to “us”: Storm contain Mercury in 97-74 all-around blowout victory
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – Following back-to-back frustrating losses at home, the Seattle Storm turned in a complete team effort to defeat the struggling Phoenix Mercury by a score of 97-74. After taking a three-point lead on a Moriah Jefferson bucket with five and a half minutes left in the first quarter, Phoenix never had the advantage throughout the rest of the game as the Storm were able to play smart, focused basketball to pick up their fourth win on the season. Despite exciting and versatile rookie Jordan Horston missing this game with a shoulder injury, the Storm were able to get contributions from every single player available.
“It’s awesome. We wanted her home, she’s home and the W has done a great job of making sure that she’s with her family and friends. BG has been family to me, she’s done a lot for me and she’s a big sis. She knows that, and she’s family, so I’m glad she’s here.”
Playing the paint to their advantage
The first quarter of this contest was a unique one, not in the fact that the Storm lead after those first ten minutes, but because Seattle hit the same number of shots as Phoenix and were generally horrible from the field. How could the Storm build a lead and look strong in the first quarter despite a poor shooting frame? Getting to the free throw line and establishing a paint presence early against a Mercury team that has one of the league's best bigs in Brittney Griner. None of the eight Seattle players that saw action in those first ten minutes made more than one shot, but four of them sunk both free throws that they saw. Another key factor that helped down the road was that with that foul trouble that Phoenix got into, three of the four Mercury players off the bench that checked in during quarter one picked up at least a foul. All in all, the Storm set themselves up for further success throughout the game.
“Defensively, we were in our coverages, we were locked in on that side, which allowed us to get some breakaway layups, transition shots, which we’re really good at, as well as on the offensive side, we moved the ball really well tonight. We were able to penetrate and fabricate, and people knocked down shots, so it kind of opened a lot of things up for a lot of our shooters.”
Tightening up previous weak spots
While not necessarily a perfect product by any means, the Storm have been close in all but two of their losses and generally haven’t looked like a bad team this season despite the massive overturn. The Storm have struggled in closing out games and generally in the paint, whether that be the rebounds department, second chance points, or points in the paint, but that wouldn’t be the story today. After a first quarter that set them up for furthered success, the Sounders were able to build off a big second quarter that saw them score 30 points and turn things around from the field as they shot 50% from beyond the arch and in general. The better strokes and taking care of the ball were a quality recipe for Seattle, who took a fifteen-point lead into half and never looked back.
“The biggest thing that stood out, was just our ball movement. I just remember getting stops, our pace was up, but just the ball wasn’t sticking, we found open teammates, and we knocked down open shots.”
Although in a small sort of way Phoenix found a bit of an answer for Seattle in the third quarter when they were all level at 23 points scored through that third frame, the Storm were able to correct another area of issue that they’ve had in the vast majority of their losses. Seattle was able to overcome the second half lull’s that they had suffered in their past two games, and they closed out the Mercury as they outscored Phoenix by eight in the final ten minutes. Ironically, it was another issue that the Storm had this season that they again improved upon in the fourth quarter to ultimately pull away: their nine second chance points compared to the two from the Mercury. Getting those extended possessions is big for any team, but especially when you’re looking to close out your opponent. Killing more clock is a big help, but scoring a bucket in addition? Massive.
“We were just moving the ball. We were able to penetrate, drive, and kick, which we’re really good at. When you have spacers and shooters, everyone’s really versatile on this team. You kind of pick your poison. Our focus coming in was get to the third side, move the ball, penetrate and play fast. And those are our keys, we executed on that tonight.”
Complete team effort
You could pick numerous players on this Storm roster for your player of the game of performance of the night. Seattle had arguably it’s most complete victory of the season, with every player that hit the floor in positive plus/minus while all but two of the eleven players that checked in were able to get their name on the scoreboard. Every single player that was available logged a notable statistic, and this win came without talented rookie forward Jordan Horston, who was a late scratch after being listed as questionable with a shoulder injury. Across many different facets, Seattle played their most well-rounded game on the season and it makes you wonder what’s possible with this group of veterans and young players when they click on all cylinders. The fact that the Mercury are a horrible team plays into it also, but the Storm put together an excellent show.
“I think here they call it next woman up mentality. I think Vonnie (Yvonne Turner) has been having that, the last couple of times she hasn’t played. I’ve experienced that, I’ve been in that position. When you get the opportunity, you go out, you give everything you got. I think she did that tonight. She’s a huge spark for us. She’s fast as hell. I just saw it tonight for myself when I was just like, yeah, like, we need that. We need everybody you know, so I think it was good contribution from everybody.”
“A huge contribution. Especially Joyner coming in with her activity level. Her stretching the floor, hitting a couple of threes and her rebounding. It really helped give us a boost. Sami coming in hitting those threes. I thought Vonnie (Yvonne Turner) also had a very good again, just her minutes were really good, poise and gave us some pace, a good defensive effort. Those three in particular, that came in and did exactly what we needed them to do. We had some efficiency on the floor, hit some shots, got some stops, and it was good to see us get back to us. ”
You can look up and down the rotation of Seattle that played more than ten minutes, and none of them really had a “bad” game. The fact that Kia Nuse shot 30% from the field and had four fouls may be one if you ultimately forced me to pick, but her four assists and one steal help fix that a bit. Magbegor and Loyd were excellent again, while other starters Ivana Dojkic and Mercedes Russell had solid nights in single digits scoring. From the bench, Joyner Holmes’ night is what truly sticks out, but we’ll go more in depth on that. Yvonne Turner got minutes for the first time in a few games, adding six points while assisting on three buckets and nabbing two steals. Sami Whitcomb, Seattle’s three-point shooter from the bench, poured in 14 with three rebounds and two assists. Arella Guirantes, Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu, and Jade Melbourne all closed the game out with the four minutes and four seconds of basically garbage time, but getting the minutes when you haven’t in weeks past could be big for confidence.
“They put in a lot of work. We don’t see them as the other group at all, we’re all in this together. We understand the capabilities of everyone, every single person on this team. When they start making shots and they do things, that’s not unnatural. We see it all the time. For us, it’s making sure that everyone stays confident on this team. And not just the starters, not just the coaches; it’s everyone needs to stay locked in. When everyone’s locked in like that, good things are going well.”
Making herself at ho(l)m(es)
Seattle forward Joyner Holmes, in her second stint with the team, has been relatively fine throughout her first – appearances with the team coming into tonight’s game. Holmes was able to have her “breakout game” of the season as a member of the Storm, as she tallied a stat line of 12 points, six rebounds, two assists, 1 steal, and three blocks in her 26 minutes played off Seattle’s bench. Holmes’ size and potential to space the floor could be a major factor to getting her more minutes for the Storm going forward. Seattle has leaned on Magbegor and Russell in terms of the bigs that they deploy, especially with the teams they’ve played this year with talented front courts, and the potential displayed by Holmes could be a big help. The ability to spread the floor for a Storm team that’s failed to get consistent scoring over the entire course of the year, could be a big boost off the bench.
“Mental toughness, and she is that. She is very tough-minded and her approach to her work, obviously coming in and not having a lot of practice time, but being in a position to play and give some contribution, it takes a mentally tough person to sit, watch and know what we need. When you step on the floor, provide that, and she’s super athletic, she’s able to defend multiple positions, she’s active, got some blocks today, she’s able to rebound and at that position to be able to play like a guard, as you can see, she can handle and she can pass. I think it’s a clear advantage. She’s just dog mentality. She’s a tough-minded person. She embodies that.”
“She’s playing her game, she’s doing what she does, and that’s what we need her to do.”
“I think just coming off the bench, you kind of got a feel for the game like, okay, we need to rebalance. We needed people to run in transition, play defense. And so, I just tried to give whatever I see that’s not being fully emphasized. I just want to go in there and do that. I think I did that tonight.”
“I think just the group, they make me feel so comfortable. I just think as far as our team in general, we’re just free. I’m not tense, it’s just free, thats the word I’ll put with it. It’s really freeing, and they have confidence in everybody. No shot is a bad shot, but I think we’re getting to that point and learning what shots we should take within the flow of our offense. I had fun tonight, I think that we all did.”
“For me, I just think I needed those two practices this week. That’s all I needed, for real. I was struggling because you don’t want to get thrown in the fire and you don’t know what to do. It’s just so free, I just needed those practices.”
Quick notes
Tonight’s attendance at Climate Pledge Arena was 9, 122.
The Storm forced 21 Phoenix turnovers and scored 25 points off their miscues, while turning the ball over just 11 times.
The Storm bench scored a season-high 36 points led by Sami Whitcomb (14) and Joyner Holmes (12). Seattle’s starters shot 22-of-44 from the field in the game while the bench connected on 10-of-24.
Holmes came off the bench to tally 12 points—just one shy of tying her career-high—six rebounds, two assists, and a career-high three blocks in 26 minutes. She entered the game with just eight career blocks before collected three in the game today. Holmes became just the fourth player in WNBA history with 12+ pts, 2+ 3pt FG, 3+ blk, 3+ reb, 2+ ast, and 1+ stl off the bench in a game. (Elena Baranova, 2003, Amber Harris, 2013, Elena Delle Donne, 2014)
Whitcomb had another solid game against the Mercury, hitting four three-pointers and a pair of free throws to account for her 14 points. Of her 20 made threes this season, 10 have come against Phoenix.
Jewell Loyd finished with a game-high 24 points, marking her eighth game with 20+ points in the season—tied for the most in the W this year. She added seven rebounds, four steals and three assists.
Ezi Magbegor tacked on 15 points and five rebounds, while picking up her 100th career assist with a dish to Loyd at the 2:40 mark in the third quarter.
Phoenix’s Brittney Griner, in her first game in Seattle since the 2021 playoffs, had 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting plus six rebounds in 20 minutes.
Phoenix’s Moriah Jefferson came off the bench to lead the Mercury with 15 points.
Phoenix’s Diana Taurasi, who went scoreless against Seattle when the teams played on June 13, added 13 points.
What’s next?
Following arguably their most complete win of the year, the Storm will head out on a one-game road trip following a three-game homestand. Seattle will essentially play a home and home set against the Minnesota Lynx, heading over to the land of 10,000 lakes for their next contest on Tuesday, June 27th with a tipoff time of 5PM PST against the Lynx. Following that battle in Minnesota, the teams will both head back to Seattle for the rematch on June 29th. Like today’s opponent, Phoenix, Minnesota has struggled this year with only four wins of their own. A win on the 27th would be the first time in 2023 that the Storm have had back-to-back wins.