Storm's Road Win at Chicago Part 2

Additional thoughts, discussion, and interviews from Seattle's win in Chicago.

The Seattle Storm (18-18) got back on the right track by defeating the Chicago Sky on the road. The final score made the game look a lot closer than it actually was. Seattle was in control throughout most of the game, holding double-digit leads in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quarters. If you missed it earlier, you can read the full game recap here.

In Part 2, I wrote about the fine balance between winning games and resting their starters, how facing Chicago came at the right time, and how the game gave us a look into the future of Storm basketball. I’ve also included the post-game press conference in audio and video formats, and transcribed some of the top quotes from those interviews.

Balance Between Wins and Rest

The Seattle Storm are desperate. They can’t afford to lose many more games and still hope to make the playoffs. That desperation should be at an all-time high because so much is on the line. Coaches’ jobs are on the line. A lottery draft pick (via Los Angeles) is on the line. And a playoff spot is on the line.

They realistically have to go either 5-3 or 6-2 (or better) over their final eight games to make the playoffs. That won’t be easy because they still have to play at Indiana, at Minnesota, and at home against Los Angeles, New York, and Golden State. They could easily lose at least three of those games. They’ve lost multiple times to all of those teams except for New York, who, when healthy, have the most talented roster in the WNBA.

There is zero room for error against the dregs of the league at this point. They can’t lose to Chicago or Dallas. Tuesday’s game against the Sky was essentially a must-win. And because of that, I don’t blame Coach Noelle Quinn for doing what she thought was necessary to secure the victory in Chicago. However, there is a fine line between wins and rest.

I thought the third quarter was a perfect example of some of the complaints Quinn receives for playing her starters too much, to the point that they wear down. All five starters played eight of the 10 minutes of the third period. But it wasn’t just eight minutes total. Gabby Williams, Ezi Magbegor, and Brittney Sykes played eight consecutive minutes. Nneka played six minutes before being subbed out for a brief rest. Skylar played nearly seven minutes and was tugging at her jersey multiple times before Quinn got her a sub.

Now it wasn’t just that all the starters played eight minutes in the quarter. In general, 8 x 4 = 32, and 32 MPG is pretty typical for a lot of WNBA starters. It was the fact that the Storm were leading the game by double-digits the entire quarter, and Quinn was still riding her starters into the ground. Seattle led by 12-18 points the entire quarter. Most of the period, they were up by 15 or more. If that’s not when you’re supposed to get your subs in, when are you going to put them in?

Lexie Brown, Zia Cooke, and Mackenzie Holmes were all DNP - Coach’s Decision. At least one of those players could have played for 2-3 minutes while the Storm led by 18 points. And if there was concern about giving up the lead while some of the starters rested, then they could have easily staggered the lineup. Pull Nneka and Skylar out after 3-4 minutes. And play with a lineup with Wheeler, Sykes, Williams, Magbegor, and Malonga. Sub Gabby out for Tiffany Mitchell for a few minutes, etc. Trust the bench and give them confidence.

As it turned out. It’s possible the starters were exhausted in the 4th quarter. That’s when Seattle’s defense fell apart. Chicago scored 38 points on 67% (14-21 FG) shooting over the final 10 minutes.

Gabby Williams played a game-high 35 minutes. She went 0-4 FG in the 4th quarter and had two turnovers. I’m sure she was worn out, and that factored into her late-game struggles.

Seattle has had a lot of struggles with late-game execution during their long losing streak. They are fortunate that they had built a large lead against Chicago and that their offense was still rolling in the final period. Otherwise, we could be talking about another disastrous loss.

I get winning at all costs, but Coach Quinn needs to find the balance between having a lead early on and resting her players enough so that they’re able to close out these games properly.

Get Right Game

It’s unfortunate that the Storm only play the Chicago Sky three times this season instead of four times like the majority of the other WNBA teams in the league. Seattle desperately needed a get-right game after losing seven out of their last eight matchups. And the Chicago Sky were the perfect remedy for Seattle’s recent ails.

The Sky have, simply put, been horrible this year. They are the biggest disappointment of the 2025 WNBA season. At least in terms of team performances. I legitimately thought the Chicago Sky could realistically make the playoffs this season as the 7th or 8th seed. I believe in my pre-season rankings, I picked them to finish 8th. I liked the additions of Courtney Vandersloot and Rebecca Allen. And while I wasn’t a fan of trading the 3rd overall pick for Ariel Atkins, I don’t think Atkins is a bum. Adding those three players to go with Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso looked on paper like they could be a solid team.

The problem is that Courtney Vandersloot tore her ACL very early into the season. Rebecca Allen hasn’t been terrible, but I thought she would produce more. Atkins has missed seven games due to injury, and Angel Reese has missed 10. The Sky’s record is 8-26. They have no shot at making the playoffs and will be officially eliminated within the next couple of days. Worse yet, like Seattle, they don’t own their 2026 first-round pick. That pick goes to the Minnesota Lynx and is a guaranteed lottery pick for Minnesota. The Lynx currently have the best odds to win the WNBA Championship and the second-best odds to win the #1 overall pick. How about that?

For the Storm, they needed to play Chicago. A team where they can take advantage of. A team where Seattle can build their confidence. It wasn’t quite the same as their 38-point blowout victory over Chicago back on July 24th, but it was still a get-right game for a team that desperately needed one.

If we can just ignore the fact that the Storm lost seven of their last eight games entering Tuesday’s game at Chicago, we can focus on the idea that Seattle has won two out of their last three games. If they can pick up a win against Dallas on Friday, they’ll have won three out of their last four. And that is the type of momentum I was talking to Coach Quinn about the other day. All of those losses are in the past now.

There are multiple winnable games on this road trip. Just look at the Las Vegas Aces. At one point earlier this year, it looked like they could miss the playoffs. They’ve now won eight in a row, and they are competing for home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. The Storm have the talent on their roster; they can win all five of their remaining games in August.

Glimpses into the Future

I thought Tuesday night’s game was great as a glimpse of the Storm’s future in their frontcourt. When I spoke with Coach Quinn early in the season, I talked to her about the idea of Ezi Magbegor and Dominique Malonga playing together. I likened it to the matchup problems that the New York Liberty create with Breanna Stewart (6’4”) and Jonquel Jones (6’6”). Obviously, there is a long way to go before they can match the two MVPs from New York, but the overall premise is there.

Against Chicago, Ezi and Dom were on the court together for seven minutes. They had the best defensive rating (69.2) of any Storm duo that played five minutes or more together. Unfortunately, their offensive rating was below that, but defensively, they gave the Sky problems.

Even when they weren’t on the court together, we saw both Malonga and Magbegor make several impressive defensive plays in this game. They combined for seven blocked shots, and almost all of them were highlight-worthy. That included a big rejection by Malonga against the 6’7” Kamilla Cardoso. And this monster block by Ezi on Angel Reese.

In total, Ezi and Dom combined for 26 points, 15 rebounds, and seven blocks. They made 11-18 FG (61%). And they did a great job of battling against Chicago’s post players, Cardoso, Reese, and Elizabeth Williams.

I spoke with Coach Quinn after the game about their strong showing.

Quinn said, “I thought Ezi did a great job against Chicago, last game that we played her activity with her rebounding. Kamilla is very physical, as is Reese, as is Williams. And I think she's taking on the challenge to defend them, be physical, use her agility and athleticism to not just sit behind them, pressure them where need be, and then attack them offensively when she can. And Dom, this is a physical game for her and physical matchups for her. I thought she really utilized her athleticism well, too. Run the floor hard to set screens and really dive in space, and rebound it really well, too. It's those physical post players, it's blocking them out and go getting balls. And for us to be plus two on the board, I think that was super positive for us because we're not, we're not just relying on our bigs to get it. Our guards had to get a few too, but those two in particular with the matchups that they had to face today. I thought they showed very good resiliency and physicality and all those things that it takes to defend high-level post players like them.”

The media also asked Skylar Diggins about Dominique Malonga’s game and her growth throughout this season.

Diggins added, “(Dom was) big for us tonight, obviously, off the bench, what she does, her efficiency, and what she does in the paint for us as far as blocking shots now, but also altering shots. She had three blocks tonight, just huge paint presence for us. That's extremely important. Her role is extremely important when she comes in the game. You know, her and I are in a lot of action together. She knows her strengths. And what I see is her being more physical in the paint. Her taking her time, understanding that it's nothing that they can do with her when she decides. And, you know, every night she breaks records. She's the youngest player in WNBA history to score 100 field goals at under 20 years old. And that's the thing about it is she's literally just scratching the surface. And I tell her all the time, she's going to be a star for the next 20 years in this league. And she doesn't have a ceiling. And I'm not just saying this because I'm here. I look her in the eyes. You know if these cameras weren't around, I said the same shit. But I just love her approach, her attitude, her stick-to-itiveness this year. And she's playing behind two all-stars, and she's an all-star in her own right and in her role for us. And so we need what she brings to the table for us, and just to see her continued growth as this year went. Because in the W, you've got to learn on the job. It's not like you get a lot of time before to practice. You don't get a lot of preseason games. And so just how she's approached this has really been the work that she put in outside the games and every single day. So, yeah, I love playing with her. And I'm glad to see her, you know, thrive, you know, in her time here with the storm. But as the season continues to go, she shows why she's so special.”

I also got to ask Dom about her experience playing against Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso.

Malonga answered, “I mean, they're an amazing post player, and many teams have a great post player in this league. I just need to be ready any time because I know that it's going to be a physical fight all night long, and today we knew that they were amazing offensive rebounds, so we need to do a great job on that part. I think we did it well. I mean, yeah, when I step on a game like this, I just focus about defending first, protecting the paint. And I think that's what I did today. And they're great players, very physical, and it's always good to play against players like this.”

And while a lot of the focus is on Malonga, I still don’t think we’ve seen Ezi’s ceiling. She has had to prioritize her defense on this team and throughout her WNBA career. She has consistently played with elite post players, including Breanna Stewart, Natasha Howard, Tina Charles, and now Nneka Ogwumike. There is a lot of uncertainty entering next season with the CBA changes, Free Agency being crazier than ever, and for the Storm… if they’re going to try to build upon the current roster, or blow it all up to rebuild with youth.

No Matter what they decide, Ezi Magbegor and Dominique Malonga need to be a big part of the franchise’s future plans.

Post-Game Press Conference

If you prefer to listen to the audio version, they are below.

Player Interviews

Coach’s Quotes

Notes:
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Photo Credits: Seattle Storm/WNBA Photography

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