Instant Takeaways: Storm Buck Road Woes With Decisive Win vs. Sparks
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Seattle Storm rookie Flau’jae Johnson reacts during the team’s 82-64 victory over the Los Angeles Sparks on Monday, July 6, at Crypto.com Arena. Credit: Courtesy of Seattle Storm [/caption]
Flau’jae Johnson erupted early and finished with 23 points to help fuel the Seattle Storm to an 82-64 victory over the Los Angeles Sparks on Monday, July 6, at Crypto.com Arena.
The Storm (6-17) earned their best road victory of the season and have now won three of their last five games. After two straight losses that looked like they were trending back in the wrong direction, Seattle reversed the trend once again against a Kelsey Plum-less Sparks squad.
Los Angeles (8-11) dropped its third straight and fifth of its last six games as the Sparks have struggled mightily without Plum. They now have lost their last three games by an average margin of 23.3 points.
Still, it was a step back in the right direction. Here’s what we learned from a blowout Storm victory on Monday.
Rookie leads the way
Johnson clearly wasn’t happy with her one-point performance against the Portland Fire on Saturday. The rookie No. 8 overall pick scored all of the Storm’s first 13 points and helped them take a seven-point first-quarter advantage.
It wasn’t forced, either. Johnson drilled 4 of 5 shots to open the game, which included sinking each of her three 3-point shot attempts.
Triples were the real difference in favor of the Storm in a first half where both teams’ shooting percentages were almost identical. Seattle attempted and made five more 3-pointers than the Sparks, and that helped them maintain a strong advantage.
Katie Lou Samuelson was the surprise in that area, making two threes in just four minutes of play in the first two quarters. Awa Fam and Jade Melbourne also got on the board in that category.
Dominique Malonga missed her first four shots, finishing the first half with just two points, but the rest of the lineup stepped up. That was an aspect that had been missing for the Storm — a team that is reliant on Malonga as the No. 1 scoring option.
Dearica Hamby did all she could to keep the Sparks in the game. Hamby totaled 14 points in the opening half, including a stretch at the end of the second quarter where she scored nine of the Sparks’ 11 points in a four-minute span.
The Storm have been bullied this season against physical teams. Los Angeles isn’t one of those groups, and that helped free up Seattle for a good start on offense.
Cruising to a victory
Johnson and Natisha Hiedeman kept their foot on the gas pedal for the Storm to open the second half. Seattle outscored the Sparks 20-8 in the third quarter, building up a 23-point lead as a result.
The Sparks just didn’t have the firepower to keep up. Los Angeles has been significantly worse with Plum on the sideline, and that made the Sparks one of the few teams the Storm could outgun.
Samuelson could be argued as the second-best player on the court for the Storm, however, and she was certainly the most efficient. At one point, the veteran had nine points on 3 of 4 shooting from 3-point range in just five minutes. That was a major boost off the bench for the Storm.
But the Storm’s defense and head coach Sonia Raman’s adjustments must also be praised. Hamby had just one point in the third quarter, allowing Seattle to keep extending its lead. The Storm also scored 25 points on 19 Sparks turnovers, and that was more a product of good Seattle defense than sloppy play by Los Angeles.
Hiedeman finished with 15 points, while Melbourne totaled 11. Hamby led the Sparks with 17 points, followed by Nneka Ogwumike with 14.
Bucking the road trend
Entering this game, the Storm were 1-9 on the road this season. They were, on average, being outscored by nearly 14 points (75.6 points per game versus 89.5 allowed) when not at Climate Pledge Arena.
Seattle must’ve heard the criticisms about their road struggles, because this was the complete opposite of what we’re accustomed to seeing.
The Storm shot above (43%) their road field goal percentage average (40.4%) by nearly three points and held the Sparks (34%) well below their allowed average (43.9%). That’s a major credit to the overall defensive effort and finding ways to shut down Hamby and Ogwumike.
Plum’s absence makes this win a major asterisk, but it’s still much better than the previous trend we’ve seen across half a season.
Malonga, Fam quiet offensively
Malonga finished with just two points (1-10 FG) but added a team-high nine rebounds, two assists, one steal and a block — easily her worst offensive game of the 2026 season. Coupled with five turnovers, Malonga had an off night overall.
Fam was a bit more productive (seven points), but she hit just 3 of 9 shots and was 1-for-7 from 3-point range. The rookie No. 3 pick was solid defensively, totaling five rebounds, two assists, four steals and a block.
Luckily, others stepped up in this game, including the Storm bench that has been quiet as of late. Raman played the entire 12-player lineup, but that was mostly due to having a convincing win already locked down.
Up next
The Storm are just one game into a long five-game road trip. They will face the Atlanta Dream (12-9) at 5 p.m. on Thursday, July 9 for their next game.
Seattle beat the Dream 105-90 in the last matchup on June 27.
