Statistical Summary Of How The Storm Turned It Around Against The Lynx

From SBN’s Swish Appeal:

While defensive energy — particularly rebounding energy — was certainly a major factor in turning the tide of the game, the biggest factor in shifting the tide of the game was that the Storm started hitting shots and the Lynx stopped. The Storm had an effective field goal percentage of 65.38% to the Lynx’s 26.67% in the third quarter, primarily on the strength of three point shots from Little, guard Svetlana Abrosimova, and center Lauren Jackson.

“I thought they hit some shots in the second half, for sure,” said Reeve. “First half we were pretty on it defensively, second half…we had some mistakes, but 68 points and 39%, I’m not disappointed in that. The story of the game plain and simple is 29%. Plain and simple.”

The 29% that Reeve referred to was Minnesota’s field goal percentage for the game, but entering the fourth quarter up by four points they only managed to shoot 17.6%. With the Storm starting to hit more of their shots in the third quarter and then cutting their turnover percentage from 31.25% in the third to 6.17% in the fourth, the Lynx found themselves inbounding the ball from underneath their own basket more often and it shut down the easiest of their scoring opportunities.

“Our transition kind of stopped,” said Whalen. “We started walking it up more and they started scoring more. So it’s just we had a lot of walk-ups, so we just had to I guess keep pushing the ball, keep pushing the tempo even when they were getting makes. So I think that that kinda slowed us down — that kept me out of the lane because they were able to set their defense and set everybody in the lane.”

Despite a significant rebounding 27-14 second half rebounding margin in favor of the Storm in the second half, a large reason for it was the shooting differentials. The Storm’s 70% defensive rebounding percentage in the fourth quarter was actually about league average.

“We missed a lot of shots, so they had a lot of opportunities to rebound,” said Whalen. “Defensive rebounding percentage means more than total rebounds. They have some great inside players and great rebounders. We worked as hard as we could.”

Read more on the game at Swish Appeal.

Storm Rebounding Helps Them Overcome Halftime Deficit

Both Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve and point guard Lindsay Whalen summed up the mood in the locker room after her team’s 68-64 loss to the Seattle Storm tonight as "disappointed".

“We’re pretty disappointed,” said Reeve. “We’ve played them four times now. Last time we were here, they made some big plays down the stretch, much like today. I’m disappointed that we didn’t have a better offensive showing.”

After the Lynx held the Storm without an offensive rebound in the second quarter and ahead 23-16 in the rebound column, fortunes reversed in the second half with the Storm winning 27-14 on the boards. Ultimately, the shift in rebounding begins to tell the story of why the Storm managed to remain undefeated at home and improve to 26-6 on the season in front of 7,394 fans at KeyArena.

“We missed a lot of shots, so they had a lot of opportunities to rebound,” said Whalen. “Defensive rebounding percentage means more than total rebounds. They have some great inside players and great rebounders. We worked as hard as we could.”

Entering the fourth quarter with their 11 point halftime deficit cut to four, the Lynx shot only made 3 of 17 shots for eight points in the final period. With more missed shots came more rebounds for the Storm and with more rebounds came more second chance points: the Storm beat the Lynx 7 to 0 in second chance points in the final period.

To Whalen’s point, the Storm’s defensive rebounding percentage in that final period was 70%, which is actually about league average for this season. It really was a matter of the Lynx missing so many shots moreso than outstanding rebounding on the Storm’s part.

“We had some mistakes, but 68 points and 39% (for the Storm); I’m not disappointed in that,” said Reeve. “They fouled 25 times, that were called. We shot 27 free throws. The story of the game is plain and simple: 29% (field goal %).”

It is not the easiest or the prettiest way for the Storm to win games, but it’s the way the best team in the WNBA has done it all season.

“It came to the point in the third quarter where we just had to let them play through it and see if we could get it going, and we did,” said Storm coach Brian Agler. “Svetlana (Abrosimova) was really a big spark for us there in the third, hitting some shots. I think everybody contributed in a fine way.”

As usual, Storm center Lauren Jackson made the gaudiest contribution with 24 points on 9-for-18 shooting — including 4-for-6 from the three point line — as well as a 7 rebounds and two steals. However, the most noticeable energy boost came from the Storm’s forwards.

Forward Swin Cash — who finished with 13 points and 7 rebounds — led the third period charge with nine points and four rebounds while going 5-for-5 from the free throw line. Forward Camille Little picked it up in the fourth quarter with five of her game-high 14 rebounds in the fourth as well as 12 points. That energy was pivotal, if not contagious.

“It’s major — I wouldn’t even just say me and Swin,” said Little. “It’s our entire team. Any given night, it could be anybody who brings intensity to our team. I think it’s something we all have to have within ourselves. Once we all get it and start clicking, I think defensively our intensity gets up, our offense comes easier to us and that’s how everything starts for us.”

As usual, the Storm’s defensive energy was partially what carried them to victory. Lynx point guard Lindsay Whalen was aggressive early with 9 of her 20 points coming in the first quarter. Whether it was scoring off drives past Storm point guard Sue Bird or setting up teammates with layups on the fast break, Whalen had an outstanding first half.

“We got our wheels rolling in our early offense, playing off our defense and getting clean rebounds and outlets; that’s when we’re really good,” said Reeve. "Whalen can get down the court in a hurry. I think Whalen and Bird enjoy playing against each other. It is a fun match up, and they each have confidence. "

Whalen finished with five rebounds and five assists as well, but had none of the former and only one of the latter in the second half. A lot of that was a matter of the Storm simply making shots in the second half: the Storm only shot 12-for-29, but also went to the free throw line 16 times, forcing the Lynx to walk the ball up the court more and take the Lynx out of their transition defense.

And unfortunately, Whalen’s perimeter teammates were not able to provide her with much back up.

Wing Seimone Augustus and Monica Wright combined to go 5-for-30 from the field, with the majority of Wright’s 14 points coming as a result of her 7-for-8 free throw shooting. It was a large part of that 29% that Reeve referred to. By the time crunch time came around, the Lynx were just searching for someone to get a shot and came up empty.

“We’re disappointed that we didn’t get the win,” said Whalen. " We knew it was going to come down to be a close game. They have a great team and a great crowd, and we knew it was going to come down to a couple of possessions at the end, and it did. They made a couple of big shots and it was enough to win. It’s a tough loss. We defended well enough to win, but we didn’t score enough points. Hats off to them."

For the Lynx who now stand at 12-20, it will be a difficult road forward if they hope to return to KeyArena to meet the Storm in the first round of the playoffs next week. They travel to Los Angeles on Friday to face the Sparks followed by a season finale against the 21-11 Eastern Conference-leading Indiana Fever in Indianapolis. As Reeve said prior to the game, tonight’s visit to KeyArena certainly wasn’t a “must-win” for the Lynx but it certainly would have made the road forward a lot easier.

Halftime At KeyArena: Lynx 39, Storm 28

The Lynx are clearly hungry for a playoff berth and came out with an intensity that the Storm took awhile to match.

Lynx point guard Lindsay Whalen has been absolutely dominant thus far with 13 points on 6-for-10 shooting on a combination of drives and pull up jumpers in addition to four assists and two steals at halftime.

For the Storm, Svetlana Abrosimova and Lauren Jackson turned it on in the second quarter with six points apiece, including 2-for-2 3-point shooting for Jackson.

To follow along with the game, check out the game thread at SBN’s Swish Appeal.

Storm Return Home From East Coast Road Trip

Although the Seattle Storm (25-6) have rested their starters on the road, we shouldn't necessarily expect the league's best team to set aside winning for rest at home two games away from being undefeated.

STORM: Insider Preview - Storm vs. Minnesota
After approaching last week's East Coast road trip with mixed goals - wanting to win, but also aggressively limiting the minutes played by starters - the Seattle Storm has returned home with increased clarity. Three games away from the start of the playoffs, the Storm has refocused on winning as the primary objective now that key players have gotten a chance to get some rest.

"We have to keep people rested, healthy and sharp," Storm Head Coach Brian Agler said after Sunday's loss at Washington, during which starters played heavy minutes but not quite as much as usual. "You have to have a feel for what your team needs and now we’re closing in on the stretch run so we have to get these people back ramped up going in the playoffs."

Another potential reason for the Storm to take tonight's game against the Minnesota Lynx (12-19) a bit more seriously than the games on their Eastern Conference road trip is that it could foreshadow a first round matchup. Although the Storm have already wrapped up the top seed in the playoffs and home court advantage throughout, the bottom half of the four team field in the Western Conference playoffs is not yet set.

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Out west, there's still some work to be done. Seattle is way in and Phoenix took its postseason position despite four straight losses. But there are two spots left and three teams -- Los Angeles, San Antonio and Minnesota knotted up at 12-19. Yes, 12-19. It's not pretty, but in the west, it's playoff-worthy.

Right now, it looks tough for the Lynx. Minnesota has Seattle, Los Angeles and Indiana in its closing stretch.

The Stars will finish with Washington, Indiana and Phoenix, while the Sparks end up with Phoenix, Minnesota and Seattle.

And the Lynx have played the Storm relatively well, grabbing a win in Minnesota on August 1.

Minnesota Lynx Playoff Scenarios | KSTP TV - Minneapolis and St. Paul
The Lynx matchup with potential first-round opponent Seattle tomorrow night at KeyArena. The Lynx have battled the Western Conference-leading Storm close this season, winning on Aug. 1 vs. Seattle (72-71) and dropping the other two contests by a combined five points (5/19 at Seattle, 76-79; 7/17 vs. Seattle, 72-74).

The key to Minnesota's victory against the Storm in their August 1 victory was forcing the Storm into turnovers, a common pattern in the Storm's losses this season. Although the Storm are still a difficult team to beat, the formula to success certainly seems to include turnovers...among other things.

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Seattle...However, if there is anything to be taken from this, it is the negative turnover differential. The common denominator in their losses is turnovers and if some playoff opponent can figure out a way to stop them from scoring (2nd highest points/possession in the league), keep them off the boards (best rebounding percentage in the league), stop center Lauren Jackson, and pressure them into turnovers, a playoff upset in KeyArena -- they have already secured home court advantage throughout the playoffs -- is really quite simple. Really. I promise.

So although this game doesn't necessarily mean anything in terms of wins and losses, it might mean quite a bit in terms of looking forward to that first round matchup.