Instant Takeaways: Magbegor’s Return Spoiled By Physical Mercury

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The Seattle Storm huddle up during their 90-67 loss to the Phoenix Mercury on Thursday, July 2, at the Mortgage Matchup Center. Credit: Courtesy of Seattle Storm [/caption]

Ezi Magbegor’s first game of the season was spoiled by the Phoenix Mercury in a 90-67 loss for the Seattle Storm on Thursday, July 2, at the Mortgage Matchup Center.

Seattle (5-16) had its two-game win streak snapped after not playing for five days. Magbegor came off the bench in her first game action in nearly five months. Phoenix (8-13) earned a clean sweep of the season series against the Storm and won its third-straight game.

Nothing went right for the Storm right out of the gate. They couldn’t outmuscle a physical Mercury team once again, and they were dominated in almost every phase of the game as Kahleah Copper went off for 30 points and seven rebounds.

Here’s what we learned from Seattle’s ninth-straight road loss.

Magbegor, Horston return; Storm crumble

Magbegor checked into the game midway through the first quarter — coming off the bench in her first game action since February, when she was playing for the Hive in Unrivaled.

The Storm fell behind early, and their 11-point deficit after the opening quarter was its largest of the game to that point. Valeriane Ayayi and Copper led the charge early for the Mercury, and Phoenix outpaced the Storm in free-throw attempts almost immediately. That was a trend Seattle had reversed in its previous two wins after struggling to play without fouling all season.

Natisha Hiedeman scored nine of Seattle’s 20 first-quarter points, helping Seattle shoot 53.3% from the field. That didn’t matter, however, when the Mercury had nine more free-throw attempts.

Phoenix’s lead peaked at 21 points in the second quarter. It wasn’t hard to figure out why, either, as the Mercury dominated the Storm on the offensive boards and in the turnover battle. That led to far more opportunities for Phoenix, spurred by being much more physical than Seattle.

The Mercury had nine more offensive rebounds, 10 more shot attempts, 11 more free-throw attempts and five fewer turnovers than the Storm in the opening half. Copper single-handedly matched the Storm’s scoring output (16 points) in the second quarter, and she had 23 points at halftime.

Dominique Malonga has struggled against the Mercury, and she was held in check once again in the first half. Malonga had just three points on 1 of 5 shooting in the first 20 minutes. Hiedeman was the Storm’s top scorer with 11 points.

Phoenix took a 19-point lead into the second half. 

A brief resurgence

It looked like the Mercury were simply going to run away with it in the second half, ballooning their lead to 26 points in the third quarter. But the Storm used a 16-5 run at the end of the period to trim their deficit to 15 heading into the fourth.

The Mercury took their foot off the gas pedal, and Copper didn’t score at all in the third quarter. That opened the door for the Storm, who, above all else, have been as resilient and unwilling to give up as any team in the WNBA this season.

Give this Storm team an inch, and they’ll stretch it a mile. The main factor is always whether Seattle has enough time to make up the difference.

Copper woke up again. She scored seven points in the fourth quarter to help push the Mercury’s lead back out after the Storm’s resurgence. 

Seattle scored just two points over the final seven minutes of the game, finishing with a game-low nine points in the final period. Even if Copper hadn’t started contributing again, the Mercury’s defense did enough to send the Storm home with their 16th loss of the season.

Hiedeman and Awa Fam led the Storm with 13 points each.

Don’t panic (or change) the lineup

The Storm had immense success over their previous three games with a starting lineup that included — and heavily leaned on — Hiedeman, Malonga, Fam, Jade Melbourne and Flau’jae Johnson. And it wasn’t a fluke: They beat the top two teams in the Eastern Conference.

Phoenix, while not a top-end team, has now beaten Seattle three times, by margins of 23, 20, and 4 points. The Mercury have the Storm’s number, especially since their post players neutralize Malonga and force them into uncomfortable mid-range shot attempts.

Magbegor and Jordan Horston both came off the bench in their returns from injury. The former hadn’t played at all this season, while the latter had been out since June 12. Neither showed enough (outside of Magbegor’s 3-point shooting) to justify putting them back in the starting lineup anytime soon.

Horston played 21 minutes and totaled six points (2-6 FG), two rebounds and two assists. Magbegor played 17 minutes and had eight points (3-4 FG, 2-2 3PT), three assists and a steal.

Head coach Sonia Raman has to trust that the starting five that she’s compiled will perform better against other teams — even with their momentum snapped. 

Sure, Magbegor is the third-highest-paid player in the league, but that’s not a reason to force her back into the lineup. Fam has proven she is a more well-rounded player, even if she’s not the caliber of defender that Magbegor is. Keep Magbegor in a defensive specialist and rim protector role.

Sleeping on the road

The Storm are 1-9 on the road this season, and haven’t earned a victory as the visiting team since May 10 — their second game of the campaign. That has to change if Seattle has any hope of making a playoff push.

In their 10 road games this season, the Storm are scoring 75.6 points per game and giving up 89.5. That’s a huge difference compared to their home averages of 84.8 points scored per game and 83.5 allowed. 

It almost seems unbelievable considering Seattle is also 4-7 at Climate Pledge Arena. But their home losses have been much closer in most cases and their wins have all been by double digits. They also scored at least 99 points in three straight games at home last week, which has it slightly skewed.

Still, the Storm are scoring nearly 10 fewer points per game when they leave home. They need to identify the issue and make up that difference.

Up Next

The Storm return home for a game against the Portland Fire (8-12) at 6 p.m. on Saturday, July 4, at Climate Pledge Arena. Seattle lost the first matchup of the season, 94-89, on June 17.