With all the turnovers the Seattle Storm committed in the first half against the Los Angeles Sparks at Staples Center tonight, they're lucky to be within 10 points at halftime.
For the first time since Lauren Jackson's return from injury, turnovers killed the Seattle Storm as they committed more turnovers in the first half tonight than they did in the entire game against the Sparks on Sunday at KeyArena and find themselves down 32-24.
Unable to find any flow against an aggressive Sparks defense, the Storm did further damage to their chances by settling for quick jumpers when they weren't turning the ball over. The combination of their own miscues and the Sparks alternating between a man and zone defense led to 25 percent second quarter shooting for the Storm after playing close in the first quarter.
While the Storm struggled to get going offensively, the Sparks settled in at the 3-point line shooting 5-for-12. Leading the way was Sparks forward Candace Parker who was 2-for-2 from the 3-point line and picked up from where she left off in the fourth quarter on Sunday night in scoring a game-high 12 points and team-high four rebounds. Tina Thompson added six points and a game-high three steals, as she was among the most active on defense for the Sparks.
Sue Bird led the Storm with six points on 2-for-3 3-point shooting.
Although the Storm won the offensive rebounding battle in the first quarter, turnovers hurt them once again as they committed as many team turnovers in the first quarter (eight) as they did in the entire game on Sunday.