Aces Crush Storm 102-77 Part 2

Additional thoughts, discussion, and interviews from Seattle's loss to Las Vegas

The Las Vegas Aces won their 17th game in a row as they dismantled the Seattle Storm 102-77. A’ja Wilson looked like the league’s MVP. Jackie Young and Jewell Loyd were deadly from beyond the arc. And the Las Vegas Aces handed the Seattle Storm another playoff loss, Seattle’s 6th postseason loss to the Aces since 2022. If you missed it, you can read the full game recap at the link below.

In Part 2, I wrote about Dominique Malonga’s first playoff game and what that experience means moving forward. I broke down the other three playoff games that took place on Sunday. And I also wrote and questioned why the Storm were so unprepared for their matchup against Las Vegas. I’ve included the post-game press conference video and audio interviews.

Dom’s Playoff Experience

One of the lone bright spots from this game was the fact that rookie Dominique Malonga contributed with a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds. It was by no means a dominant performance by the 19-year-old. She struggled… a lot. Malonga missed several close shots around the rim that she normally makes. Was it nerves from it being her first playoff game? Is her left wrist still bothering her to the point where it affects her shot? It’s her off-hand, but players still use that hand as part of their shooting motion. Or was it just because she was often going up against A’ja Wilson, a former Defensive Player of the Year, and one of the most physical forces the WNBA has ever seen?

Honestly, it could be all of those things. Whatever it was, Dominique went 1-8 FG from the floor in the first half and looked a bit shaky. The positive is that she rebounded well, but literally and figuratively. She didn’t shy away from the moment or stop trying. Malonga scored 10 of her 12 points and pulled down six of her 11 rebounds in the 2nd half. Dom even went 2-2 FG on her three-point field goal attempts in this game. She was up there with Nneka Ogwumike and Gabby Williams as the team’s best player in her first-ever playoff game, at 19 years old.

This game sucked. The performance by the team was awful. Losing by 32 points is embarrassing, especially for a team that has four All-Stars on it. But if nothing else, it allowed Dominique Malonga to get playoff experience.

Breanna Stewart and Jewell Loyd lost their first-ever playoff game 94-85 to the Atlanta Dream in 2016, back when the first two rounds were still single-elimination games. They lost their second playoff game/series, 79-69, to the Phoenix Mercury in 2017. They played well in those games but got beaten by better teams. That experience helped them grow. In 2018, with more help, they went on to win their first WNBA Championship and the Storm’s third in franchise history.

We can also look at A’ja Wilson and the Aces. In 2020, the Aces were starting to put it together and reached the WNBA Finals. But they were embarrassed in a three-game sweep against the Seattle Storm. In 2021, they suffered even more heartbreak as Brittney Griner blocked Wilson’s shot in the final seconds, as the Phoenix Mercury upset the Aces in Game 5 of the Semi-Finals, costing A’ja and the Aces a trip back to the WNBA Finals.

Almost all the greats have to go through something like this. There is no denying that the Aces’ heartbreak in 2020 and 2021 were massive building blocks for A’ja Wilson and company as they would go on to win back-to-back WNBA Championships in 2022 and 2023.

The 2025 Seattle Storm might not be a championship-quality team, but this experience will only help Dominique Malonga further in her career as she continues to grow.

Other Playoff Results

The Minnesota Lynx crushed the Valkyries 101-72

The Seattle Storm wasn’t the only team to lose big on Sunday. The expansion franchise, Golden State Valkyries, lost by 29 points to the #1 seed Minnesota Lynx. However, unlike Seattle, Golden State actually led by double-digits early on. GSV led 28-21 after one, but was outscored by 36 points over the next three quarters.

Napheesa Collier led the way with 20 points on 7-11 FG. Kayla McBride added 17 points and 3-5 FG from 3-PT range. Natisha Hiedeman added 18 points off the bench. Jessica Shepard contributed with 12 points, eight rebounds, and four assists in just 17 minutes as a reserve.

The Valkyries also had five players score in double figures, but no one had more than 14 points. Veronica Burton led with 14 points and a game-high seven assists, but struggled from the floor, converting just 3-13 FG.

Minnesota will look to sweep Golden State on Wednesday, September 17th at 7:00 PM.

Sweet Dreams as Atlanta rolls over Indiana 80-68

In one of the more competitive games, the Atlanta Dream outlasted the Indiana Fever 80-68. Indiana battled hard, holding a 21-18 lead after the first quarter. And they trailed by just five points on the road (58-53) as the two teams entered the 4th quarter. In the end, they didn’t have enough firepower to keep up with Atlanta.

Rhyne Howard and Allisha Gray combined for 40 points (each had 20). Naz Hillmon continued her excellent play, scoring 16 points on 5-7 FG and pulling down a team-high nine rebounds.

Kelsey Mitchell scored a game-high 27 points on 8-18 FG and knocked down 8-9 FT from the foul line, but she didn’t get enough help. Odyssey Sims, with 10 points, was the only other player to reach double-digit scoring. Aliyah Boston and Natasha Howard combined for just 13 points total. Boston did grab a game-high 12 rebounds, but the Fever need a lot more from her if they have any chance of upsetting the Dream in the first round of the playoffs. Indiana made just 2-15 FG from beyond the arc in the losing effort.

Atlanta can become the first team to move to the second round of the playoffs as they travel to Indiana to face the Fever on Tuesday, September 16th at 4:30 PM.

Liberty outlast Mercury 76-69 in OT

Not surprisingly, the most competitive game on Sunday was the 4/5 matchup between the Phoenix Mercury and the New York Liberty. It wasn’t the prettiest game of the day as both teams struggled to score. It was the lowest-scoring game of the four contests. But it was definitely the tightest. The Liberty led 44-43 at the midway point.

Phoenix led 57-55 as the two teams entered the final frame. The Mercury’s defense limited New York to just 10 points in the 4th quarter. Unfortunately for PHX, their offense was abysmal over the game’s final 10 minutes of regulation. They managed just eight points on 3-16 FG shooting (19%).

With the game tied 65-65, the Mercury had one final chance to win the game late. Alyssa Thomas drove down the left side, spun back around to her right, and put up a layup past Breanna Stewart’s outstretched arms. The ball rolled around the rim and out as the two teams headed to OT.

Natasha Cloud hit a three-pointer to open up the overtime scoring. In fact, New York scored the first eight points of the extra period. Phoenix’s poor shooting in the 4th quarter (19%) was matched by their poor shooting in the OT period (22% on 2-9 FG). A dagger three-pointer by Leonie Fiebich would seal the deal.

Cloud led the Liberty with 23 points, six rebounds, and five assists. Breanna Stewart added 18 points and six rebounds. Sabrina Ionescu provided 16 points and a team-high seven assists. Alyssa Thomas had a near triple-double with 14 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists. Satou Sabally struggled with her shot, making just 2-17 FG attempts.

New York was the only “underdog” team to pick up a road victory. They’ll have a chance to close out the series on Wednesday back home in Brooklyn. That might be easier said than done, as Breanna Stewart suffered a knee injury late into the extra overtime period. She landed awkwardly on her left knee after going up for a layup near the rim through contact. Stewie is expected to have an MRI and additional medical scanning done on Monday.

Unprepared?

If the Seattle Storm were going to have any chance to win this series, they needed to have a strong showing in Game 1. They likely needed to steal Game 1, because it’s unrealistic they would defeat A’ja Wilson and the Las Vegas Aces in a winner-take-all Game 3.

They nearly took Game 1 of the 2024 WNBA Playoff matchup against Las Vegas before they choked away the 4th quarter. Seattle needed a strong fight like they had last year, but it was nothing like that. Not only did they not win the game, but they never threatened Las Vegas with that possibility.

In theory, Seattle had some things going in their favor entering this game. They were more well-rested. They clinched their playoff spot and finished up their last regular-season game on Tuesday, September 9th. Meanwhile, the Aces had to play on Thursday, and they were forced to play all their starters because they were still battling with Atlanta for the #2 overall seed. Because the Storm wrapped up their season earlier, they also had more time to watch film, scout the competition, and come up with a solid game plan to defeat Las Vegas.

It was disappointing to hear both Nneka Ogwumike and Gabby Williams mention in the post-game press conference that the Aces were ready for this game, and they weren’t.

Ogwumike stated, “I mean, I think that they were ready. I felt like they were more ready than we were when we started the game. I guess the way that it felt like, you know, we had an idea of what we wanted to do, but they did what they wanted to do to start the game off. We were a bit more reactive and not proactive. And even in moments when we had to kind of make decisions, at least in the beginning, we weren't responsive. We were a little bit more reactive. And so you can't do that against a team like this.”

Gabby Williams was later asked if the Aces did anything differently on offense to space the floor more against Seattle’s defense.

Once again, Gabby spoke about not being ready.

“I personally don't think so. I think it was their defense that was a bit different. Like Nneka said, defensively, we were just late on everything. We just weren't ready. I don't think they did anything offensively different. I think, obviously, when you look at the free throws, they were getting the foul count. A lot of it was just because we were out of position, because we were reacting late to something, so we just have to be ready on our toes. We have the scout. We have everything that we need to (win). We just have to be ready.”

Of course, the question is, why weren’t they ready? Why weren’t they better prepared? And why did they play so poorly?

You can look at it a couple of different ways. It’s possible the coaching staff didn’t do a good enough job of preparing the players for this playoff series. One team looked sharp and the other didn’t. But Williams even said, they have the scout. She acknowledged that they knew what they needed to do, but they just weren’t able to. Is it simply the fact that the Aces have significantly better players? Maybe.

Why didn’t Nneka and Skylar have the team prepared? There is blame to go around. Is it 100% Coach Quinn’s fault? Or do the players need to take responsibility for such a lackluster and unprepared effort?

Post-Game Press Conference

If you prefer the audio versions, you can listen to them below.

Player Interviews

Coach’s Quotes

Notes:
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Photo Credits: Seattle Storm/WNBA Photography

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