Heartbreak in Atlanta, Storm Fall 83-81

A poor 2nd half doomed Seattle.

(College Park, Georgia) - That’s a tough way to start the second half of the WNBA season. Things looked great for about the first 25 minutes as the Storm led by double-digits midway through the third quarter. But as we know, the WNBA is far too talented to relax or take any time off. You have to be at your absolute best 100% of the game. The Atlanta Dream (8-17) outscored the Storm 54-40 in the second half to upset Seattle 83-81.

It wasn’t all bad news. Skylar Diggins-Smith scored a season-high 29 points on 11-21 FG shooting. SDS also led the Storm with five assists. She was fantastic. Diggins-Smith scored 17 points in the first half as the Storm led throughout. She did her best to keep Seattle in the game scoring eight points in the final quarter but it wasn’t quite enough.

Jewell Loyd added 21 points and five rebounds. She scored 15 of her 21 points in the 2nd half including 11 in the fourth period. Nneka Ogwumike was in foul trouble early but finished with 16 points on 7-10 FG shooting and six rebounds. Seattle did not do a good job of finding Ogwumike during crunch time. She played the entire fourth quarter and didn’t have a single shot attempt. The Storm led by five entering the final period and were outscored by seven points.

No other player scored more than six points for Seattle.

Coach Quinn talked about the game after it was over.

“The entire game… ebbs and flows. We allowed 50-plus points in the second half and we're on the road playing against a team who is very hungry. We can't allow ourselves to not be locked in on the defensive side of the basketball. Gritty game from Atlanta. For us, I thought we were a little bit off-kilter with certain points of the game. But overall, very good effort from Atlanta. Not a great effort from us. Still a winnable game.” Quinn said.

I asked both Quinn and Jewell Loyd what stood out to them about the second half, beyond the obvious offensive explosion from Rhyne Howard.

“To me, it kind of just put their heads down and attacked in some matchups. Not great execution from us on the offensive end when they were making their run. But really, individually, I think just kind of taking it to us, getting to the rim and being very aggressive.” Quinn stated.

“I said in the timeout, I think they raised their level and we kind of stayed at ours for a little bit but I think that's the sport of basketball. People go on runs, you know, we're right in this game it's one possession and obviously it's not just that wins the game or loses the game. For us it's making sure that we're able to look at this and see what we could do to improve on a couple of plays, a couple of possessions, and then use that to be better for the next game,” Jewell added.

As it was a close game, Seattle did outperform Atlanta in some areas. They had a slight edge with both points in the paint (44-40) and fast break points (10-7). Neither bench was very good at all but Seattle’s outscored Atlanta’s reserves 7-2. The biggest reason Seattle led throughout the majority of the game is that they forced Atlanta into 20 turnovers and scored 28 points off of those mistakes. The majority of those came in the first half as Seattle went up by double digits.

Atlanta Dream

For as great of a game as Skylar had, Rhyne Howard was even better for Atlanta. Howard finished with a game-high 30 points, which was also a season-high for her. Howard made 10-16 FG and had eight rebounds, two steals, and two blocks. Rhyne took over the game in the second half scoring 19 of her 30 points over the final 20 minutes of the game. She is the reason they won the game. But that doesn’t mean she didn’t have help.

The Dream got strong contributions from several players. Four of the five starters scored in double figures. Allisha Gray finished with 19 points. Tina Charles added 16 points, including the game-winner, and seven rebounds. Jordin Canada finished with 10 points, a game-high eight assists, and three steals. She was also very clutch scoring all 10 of her points in the 4th quarter. Even Naz Hillmon, the only starter for Atlanta not to score double-figures still had a large impact. She finished with six points and a game-high 13 rebounds as Atlanta out-rebounded Seattle 37-27.

Atlanta also outshot Seattle 48% (30-63 FG) to 46% (32-70 FG). They were also better beyond the arc, knocking down 35% (6-17 FG) compared to 27% (6-22 FG). The Dream also got to the free throw line a lot more (23 attempts compared to Seattle’s 12). They were a plus-6 points from the charity stripe.

Game Breakdown

Nneka Ogwumike knocked down a three-pointer on Seattle’s first possession. Skylar Diggins-Smith got the rim for two. Unfortunately, Nneka Ogwumike picked up two personal fouls less than 60 seconds into the game and immediately had to sit on the bench.

Diggins-Smith did a good job of keeping Seattle on top early. She was very aggressive to the rim either scoring off the dribble or drawing a foul. Skylar scored 10 straight points to put the Storm up 13-6 early.

Allisha Gray countered with a corner three. Tina Charles then made multiple baskets to cut Seattle’s lead down to just one. After a couple of stops by both teams, Jordan Horston led a pass up the court to Joyner Holmes for the open layup. Rhyne Howard scored multiple baskets in a row. The last one came after Jordin Canada knocked the ball away from Loyd which led to a transition layup for Howard. This put the Atlanta Dream up 18-17. Coach Quinn called a timeout to regroup.

Sami Whitcomb checked in and knocked in a three-ball to put Seattle up two. Sami then found Loyd in the corner for Jewell’s first basket. Seattle led 22-18 at the end of the first quarter.

Ezi Magbegor blew an open layup to begin the second period. Tina Charles was fouled on the other end and split the pair of free throws. Loyd then hit a midrange jumper in the paint. Jewell then made one of the most unreal plays I’ve ever seen. She caught a pass in mid-air from Mercedes Russell and went under the rim, pumped, and reversed the ball in.

Jordan Horston knocked in a turnaround jumper in the paint to put the Storm up 11. However, Atlanta immediately responded with five quick points. A triple from Howard and a drive to the rim from Cheyenne Parker-Tyus. Skylar and Nneka each scored to put the Storm up 36-26.

A lot of chaos happened towards the end of the first half. Ezi Magbegor scored a basket right before the shot-clock buzzer but the refs waved it off. It sounded like Noelle Quinn was going to review it but then she didn’t. The replay clearly showed Ezi got the shot off before the orange light. On another play, Skylar Diggins-Smith made a shot and was fouled. She made the free throw for an AND1 three-points. The scoreboard gave Seattle just two points. Then Allisha Gray was fouled well inside the three-point line to end the first half and the refs gave her three free throws. She missed two out of the three shots to end the half.

During the break, some things were corrected. They credited Magbegor with that two-point shot that did go in right before the shot clock buzzer. They also gave Diggins-Smith all three points for her AND1 instead of just the two points they initially did. That meant Seattle led 41-29 at the end of the first half. It initially showed as 38-29. Skylar Diggins-Smith led all scorers with 17 points.

Diggins-Smith picked up where she left off in the first half. She was able to draw a foul and made both free throws. Tina Charles answered with an outside shot. And then Rhyne Howard scored driving to the rim. Seattle turned it over and Allisha Gray finished at the rim for a quick 6-0 run by Atlanta.

Nneka Ogwumike responded with a nice hook in the paint. Jewell Loyd then dribbled through the defense and made another jumper. Howard countered with back-to-back triples to cut Seattle’s 12-point lead down to just six at 47-41. Seattle was forced to call a timeout.

Ogwumike scored again. But then Seattle lost Howard again off some screens and Rhyne made her third three-pointer in a row. The scoring kept coming. Ogwumike knocked in a three-ball. Loyd was able to drive into the lane for two. Charles made a short jumper in the paint for Atlanta. Then the Dream forced a turnover and Naz Hillmon scored easily at the rim.

Whitcomb checked in and was able to quickly score on a baseline drive. Howard responded immediately on the other end. Ezi hit a jumper on the other end. Then Hillmon got another offensive rebound putback layup for two. Allisha Gray scored down the baseline. And Rhyne Howard was able to draw a foul and split the two free throws.

The Storm led by 14 early in the third and that lead was erased. Most came from Rhyne Howard who scored 14 points in the third period by herself. Atlanta outscored Seattle 26-19 in the quarter. Seattle led 60-55 entering the final frame.

Another turnover led to a transition take foul. And then Jordin Canada made a difficult AND1 drive where she flipped the ball in. That cut Seattle’s lead down to just one point at 60-59.

Jewell Loyd made a three-pointer. But Rhyne Howard made another off the backboard while she was completely off balance. Howard then made two free throws. Then Seattle turned it over again. Canada got a steal in the open court and split the pair of free throws. Atlanta led 65-63. Ezi Magbegor tied it back up by cutting to the basket from the opposite baseline.

Canada knocked in a jumper and then Naz Hillmon easily laid it up past Victoria Vivians. That put the Dream up four. Loyd made a pair of free throws but then the Dream scored another four points to go up by six.

Diggins-Smith did what she could to keep Seattle in the game. She scored on a layup and then picked Gray’s pocket immediately and raced down the court for another layup. That cut Seattle’s deficit down to just two points with 1:47 left in the game.

Jordin Canada and Jewell Loyd swapped a pair of free throws over the next couple of possessions. More free throws took place in each end with Gray and Loyd making more. Skylar got another layup to cut Atlanta’s lead down to one with 16 seconds left in the game. Seattle was forced to foul and Canada calmly made both free throws. Diggins-Smith missed a three-point attempt but Loyd was able to recover the miss and dribbled back out to the three-point line. She turned around and heaved up a prayer that went in.

Loyd tied the game with less than five seconds to play. Atlanta still had a timeout and advanced the ball to their front court. They got the ball into Tina Charles. Nneka tried to deflect the pass but wasn’t successful. That allowed Charles to spin around and have an open look at the rim just a couple of feet from the basket. It bounced around and rolled in with one second left. The Storm had no more timeouts and the game ended with the Dream overcoming a 14-point second-half deficit to upset the Seattle Storm with a final score of 83-81.

“I thought that our end-of-game execution up to that point was pretty sharp. I think that's something that we hadn't got a lot of reps with and hadn't really executed at a high level with. Jewell hits an amazing shot. And you want to hopefully, send the game into overtime with just one defensive possession. And, a punch into Tina, a highly contested shot. I thought Nneka played her butt off. Early foul trouble, but to be in a situation where we contest Tina close to the rim it took a bounce and it is tough but we put ourselves in this situation by not being sharp early on in the game so we can't pinpoint this one particular play. I thought that up until that point, I was pretty content with us fighting back at the end.” Coach Quinn said after the game.

Final Box Score

Additional Analysis

Looking Refreshed

The month off sure seemed to do great things for Skylar Diggins-Smith. Offensively, that’s the best she has looked all season. Earlier, I spoke with Coach Quinn and wrote an article with her responses on what the players were doing during the break. Skylar clearly took advantage of the time off. Both to rest her body but also to continue to put the work in at the gym. To familiarize even more with Seattle’s offensive system.

I spoke with Skylar after the game about her performance.

“I was just trying to be aggressive for the team. I was just trying to be aggressive and take my opportunities when I could. It was opening up for me, and the first team got me involved early, so I was just trying to stay steady with that duality of trying to be aggressive for my team and also distribute and make some plays happen.” Diggins-Smith said.

I also talked to Jewell about what she saw from her teammate.

“Without her, we're really not in this game. And we understood that. From the start, just aggressive on both ends of the floor got us going. That's what we need from her and that's what she's able to bring. And so having that and knowing that the game, especially when you're coming on the road, you want to punch first. I think she did that. We needed to meet her there. I think we were consistent at some points. But I think moving forward, we have to be all at the same level all the time. It was nice to see her hit that rhythm and flow.” Loyd answered.

Coach Quinn shared her thoughts as well.

“The work that she's put in the last few weeks, it's been major. She didn't take a lot of days off. She was in the gym very early and, just kind of getting herself in alignment, in her game, to the comfort level that she knows that she can get to. And I thought she was aggressive to start the game. I thought she got good looks, good reads and had a very good flow to her, to herself, and her game. And, the work definitely translated to this first game.” Coach told me.

If Skylar is even more assertive and able to knock down her jumper more often like she did Friday night, it’ll make the Storm a much tougher team to compete against the rest of the way.

Regrets

This is the type of game that could haunt the Storm come playoff time. They led by 12 points at the midway point and by as many as 14 points in the 2nd half before being outscored 54-40 over the final 20 minutes. The Atlanta Dream have a lot of talent on their roster and have had some key injuries this season, but they also entered Friday’s game 10 games below .500 at 7-17. That’s a team Seattle should beat. Even if they are on the road and even if the Dream were healthier than they were when these two teams met in July.

Minnesota and Connecticut both won their first games back after the Olympic break. They both gain a full game over the Storm. The Sun are now 2.5 games up on Seattle and Minnesota is one (Actually two due to the tiebreaker advantage).

Las Vegas hasn’t played yet since the WNBA resumed play this week. Now that Seattle lost, they fall below the Aces in the standings. That is critically important because as of right now the Aces would host the Storm in Las Vegas in the first round of the playoffs if the season ended today.

Fortunately, it does not. But there are just 14 games left before the playoffs begin. The Storm will make the playoffs this season but if they want a legitimate chance to win the WNBA Championship, they need to host some playoff games. Losing a double-digit lead in the 2nd half and losing a game to a lottery team may be a moment the team looks back on late in the season if they finish 5th or lower in the standings.

Up Next

The Seattle Storm (17-9) will travel to Indiana to face the Fever (12-15) for the final time this season. They play on Sunday at 12:30 PM PDT and it’ll be Nationally televised on ABC!

Notes:
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