Seattle, WA – After a brutal blowout to start the season and three tightly contest losses, the Seattle Storm have won their first game of 2023 with a 66-63 comeback victory against the Los Angeles Sparks. The game forecast seemed dark and difficult early on, as Los Angeles was able to hold a 21-point lead at one point, before the Storm were able to channel their energy into impact with strong defensive and crafty baskets. Seattle shooting guard Jewell Loyd continues her hit streak to begin the season, pouring in 25 points while tallying her 4,000th-career point, all in a Storm uniform. The puzzle pieces continue to come together for Seattle, whose rookies were impressive in this contest while veterans Loyd and Ezi Magbegor had strong efforts to propel the team forward.
“That was a great effort from our group super excited for this group to see the fruits of their labor. Being rewarded by a win, and it’s not just the win, but the how. This is a good step for us and we will continue to learn, grow and get better but I’m super happy for this group, how we fought and how we stick stay together, never wavered through our effort tonight,” Noelle Quinn, Seattle Storm head coach, on her overall thoughts of the win.
Seattle had been able to start every game of their young season so far with a quick burst of energy that either got them ahead of their opponent or keep them around, but the Storm were instantly pushed aside by the Sparks in this contest. Los Angeles was getting whatever they wanted out on the perimeter, and while Seattle tried to focus on that to get things turned around, the Sparks found their way inside for some easy points in the paint. It was the perfect sort of recipe for how to start the ballgame, Los Angeles had things clicking on all cylinders, and it was looking really ugly for a Seattle team that was still searching for its first victory on the season. Poor shooting on the offensive end for the Storm wasn’t matching what the Sparks were able to do, and it appeared to be gloomy for Seattle.
“More energy on the defensive end. We talked about our pickup points, starting with Jordin and Azura, just being engaged. We talked about our physicality and not allowing Nneka just to get to her sweet spots, just playing with more energy. There were some defensive breakdowns because of communication and coverages, that was another thing just being ultra aware of what’s happening on the floor. Trying to play out of our defense with some transition and it wasn’t going to be a homerun play. It was possession by possession, just continue to chip away. Some good things happened before the half ended and it gave us some momentum to go into the second half,” Noelle Quinn, Seattle Storm head coach, on how the team got back into the game.
After that brutal first quarter, the Storm were able to remain level-headed and get into their defensive switches to frustrate a Sparks team that had taken great care of the ball to begin the year. Despite Los Angeles leading the WNBA in fewest turnovers, Seattle found a way to frustrate the Sparks and help ignite their own offensive attack with pace and defensive presence. Through their switching and their activity on defense, Seattle frustrated Los Angeles’ offensive approach and forced plenty of turnovers, turning defense into offense. Considering that the Storm have the most fast break points per game, that sort of defensive persistence played right into their favor to help Seattle claw right back into this game.
The Storm will take a few days off/train ahead of their next battle, the first of two in as many games against the Washington Mystics. The two battles over the course of this weekend will include festivities for the legendary Sue Bird, who is having her jersey retired and put amongst the Climate Pledge Arena rafters on the Sunday, May 11th battle against the Washington Mystics. It’s sure to be a busy weekend for Seattle, who aims to build off this win, and it continues with that next game on May 9th against the Mystics with a 7PM PST tip off.
