By Bel Garcia
Las Vegas, NV - After Seattle had taken game one on the road, they go home with a tied series after a game two loss to the Las Vegas Aces. The semifinals are heating up, as no team has a lead on the series currently after the Aces beat the Storm in their home arena, 78-73. Gabby Williams was out once again due to the concussion she suffered in the previous series against the Washington Mystics. Williams joined the team in Las Vegas and was seen in practice, but she was not ready to suit up. She was also not on the bench for Seattle. Stephanie Talbot took the starting position in place of Gabby, and made some key plays for her team, including a steal with only seconds left to cut the Aces lead to two, but Seattle fell just short.
“We’re going to continue to learn from this game, we’re going home, and looking forward to playing in front of our fans” – Breanna Stewart on the loss.
The Seattle Storm and Las Vegas Aces tip off to begin game two (Photo by Mathew Bermudez)
Breanna Stewart and Tina Charles were aggressive for Seattle every single minute they were on the court, in fact they were the only Storm players to score in double-figures. Stewart had a total of 32 points and Charles followed with 17 of her own. They also had the difficult defensive assignment to contain A’ja Wilson, as the defense was able to do in game one. Las Vegas switched things up and played small ball, helping give Chelsea Gray and Kelsey Plum opportunities to attack the rim. Having a game stolen at home, the Aces were determined to change the momentum of this one by attacking on offense at every chance. Wilson, Plum, and Gray were all successful in that making Seattle pay every time they tried to crowd A’ja, they combined for 70 of the Aces 78 points.
Breanna Stewart and A’ja Wilson battled all game along, but Wilson would get the upper hand and the victory (Photo by Mathew Bermudez)
Chelsea Gray had a presence on the court that reminded me a lot of Gabby Williams. She had active hands and helped in disrupting the Storm offense by causing either turnovers, rushed shots, and deflections. This was still only the second time this season that someone was able to hold Las Vegas to under 80 points for a couple of games. This loss came down to the Storm offense not doing enough to support the performances of Stewart and Charles. It was a quiet night for Jewell Loyd, who only scored eight points and never got comfortable on offense. She has been and will continue to be a key contributor in the Storm playoff run.
“A’ja and Stewie cancel each other out, at the end of the day it’s about who steps up around them” – Coach Hammon on the difference in the game.
The Storm will need to get more production out of players such as Jewell Loyd if they want to advance to the Finals (Photo by Mathew Bermudez)
Another issue the Storm ran into was uncontrollable by them; the lack of foul calls they received when they attacked the board. The Aces game plan was to attack, and it worked for them. If Las Vegas didn’t get the made basket, they got to the charity stripe. In the second quarter, Las Vegas got to the free throw line twelve times, while Seattle didn’t at all. It’s the semifinals and the playoff energy was felt through the arena. This was a physical game, one that could have been handled more evenly. In total, the Aces had 23 free throw attempts compared to the eleven taken by the Storm. Coach Quinn was asked about small ball being disruptive to their style of play; the small ball lineup didn’t work for her team but she didn’t think it was disruptive to their game. “Small ball wasn’t super impactful; we just weren’t getting fouls.”
The best of five series now switches back to Seattle for games three and four (Photo by Mathew Bermudez)
Game three and a now secured game four will both take place in Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena. The Storm will have some time to regroup and make adjustments for Sunday’s noon game on ABC.
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