The Seattle Storm aren’t going to make the WNBA playoffs this year and might end up with the worst record in the league. They enter Monday night’s game against the visiting Minnesota Lynx as 10 1/2-point underdogs.
But Seattle’s painful rebuild gained a fan Friday night. Even after a 45-point, 10-assist performance that was the first in WNBA history during Indiana’s 110-107 nail-biter over the Storm, Caitlin Clark was full of praise.
“They really have a good young core,” she said. “They’re going to be a team to watch in the next couple of years.”
That core — Dominique Malonga, Awa Fam and Flau’jae Johnson — all showed off in the high-scoring loss. Malonga fired in a team-high 28 points on 13-of-22 shooting and grabbed 14 rebounds, while Fam and Johnson each added 16 points. Fam hauled in nine boards and Johnson dished out six assists.
The next step for Seattle (6-21) is learning how to close out close games like Friday night. It is 0-10 in games decided by five points or less.
“It’s a marathon,” Malonga said. “I’m proud of what we did but we need to put 100% energy into these close games.”
While the Storm strive for consistency over the season’s second half, Minnesota (20-6) hopes to fine-tune some things. It’s coming off a 101-93 home win Saturday night against Portland, getting 24 points from Kayla McBride, her sixth straight game of at least 20.
But Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve was unhappy with her team’s defense. Although they’ve won five straight games, they’ve yielded at least 80 points in seven consecutive contests. Portland sank 48.1% from the field and hit 13 of 30 3-point attempts.
“We have to start making some progress there and some recognition,” Reeve said. “I’m not sure that it’s sinking in, so I don’t know what lies ahead for us defensively.”
Minnesota won the teams’ first meeting 88-68 on June 6 in Minneapolis. Monday night’s contest is the first of a two-game series, as the squads will face off again on Wednesday in the last game before All-Star weekend.
–Field Level Media
