The Seattle Storm are lucky to only be down 12 points to the Atlanta Dream at the end of the first half today.
And they're only that close because of a 3-pointer by Katie Smith with 2.2 seconds left that allowed them to head to the locker room only down 34-22 at halftime in Atlanta.
Once again, turnovers were the biggest culprit for the Storm as they gave the ball away 10 times in the first quarter and continued to look out of sync in the second quarter to finish with 16 in the first half, which was a rate of just above one in every three possessions. Yes, the Dream played great defense, but lackadaisical Storm passing has certainly contributed to that number.
But the turnovers that marred their first half performance actually managed to overshadow other aspects of a poor first half showing: they did not get an offensive rebound in the first 20 minutes, which is somewhat surprising given that they only shot 33.3 percent in the first half.
Meanwhile, Dream forward Angel McCoughtry was difficult to stop as usual, scoring a game-high nine points while Armintie Price kept the pressure on the Storm's defense by scoring off the drive before being helped to the locker room with an apparent left ankle injury. Point guard Lindsey Harding isn't shooting well, but has directed the offense efficiently with five assists and two turnovers.
Smith's six points and team-high four rebounds off the bench was probably the bright spot of the game, as an encouraging sign of her continuing to find her shooting rhythm and give the Storm some much-needed bench scoring. Camille Little led the Storm with seven points