Instant Takeaways: Storm Drop Sixth Straight vs. Lynx Ahead of All-Star Break
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Seattle Storm forward Awa Fam (11) looks to pass inside in their 86-76 loss to the Minnesota Lynx on Wednesday, July 22, at Climate Pledge Arena. Credit: Courtesy of Seattle Storm [/caption]
It was much closer than the final score suggests, but the Seattle Storm’s chronic shortcomings and late-game mistakes led to an 86-76 loss to the Minnesota Lynx on Wednesday, July 22, at Climate Pledge Arena.
Seattle (6-23) dropped its sixth straight game and eighth of its last nine. It also marked the second straight home loss to the Lynx in just three days following a three-point loss to Minnesota on July 20.
Minnesota (22-6) won its seventh in a row, leaning on the trio of Napheesa Collier (24 points), Kayla McBride (20) and Olivia Miles (13). Dominique Malonga led the Storm with 21 points on 9 of 13 shooting and added nine rebounds, two assists, one steal and four blocks.
The Storm are now 2.5 games back from the Connecticut Sun (7-19) in the race to not finish last in the WNBA standings, and the upcoming schedule isn’t friendly to that agenda.
Here’s what we learned from another close-game loss for the Storm.
A better start than Monday
Natisha Hiedeman and Malonga led the way for the Storm early, combining for 16 points in the first quarter. McBride was the main threat to Seattle on defense, as she piled up 11 first-quarter points for the Lynx.
But the Storm led after 10 minutes — an improvement from the four-point deficit they faced against Minnesota just two days earlier at the same point in the game.
Minnesota clawed back in the second quarter in what was a much faster-paced period. The Lynx took a slim two-point lead with under two minutes remaining to halftime, but the Storm had an answer. Malonga scored six more points in the period and added six rebounds and two blocks.
The Storm’s lone All-Star locked up Collier and multiple possessions defensively, showing off how much she’s improved on that end of the floor in just two seasons. Malonga, Hiedeman and Fam combined for 32 points in the first two quarters.
From a team perspective, the most notable difference was on the glass. The Storm outrebounded the Lynx by eight in the first half, as they surprisingly looked like the more physical team. The home crowd has helped with that at times this season.
Seattle took a 45-44 lead into halftime.
All too familiar of a trend
It was all Minnesota to begin the second half. The Lynx started the third quarter with a 14-4 run, getting six quick points from Collier.
The Storm started committing easily avoidable mistakes, turning the ball over four times in just the first 4.5 minutes of the third. Flau’jae Johnson had a stretch of three straight giveaways that helped fuel that run for the Lynx.
Johnson piled up five turnovers in just 15 minutes of play and finished the game with six. The gap on the boards began to narrow. Seattle couldn’t pick up any momentum.
Minnesota’s Big 3 of Collier, McBride and Miles found their rhythm right as the Storm were falling out of theirs, and that’s how a one-point lead quickly devolved into a nine-point deficit.
Malonga upped her aggressiveness in the fourth quarter, and she scored six points in the period. That helped the Storm cut the Lynx’s lead in half with three minutes remaining to once again make it a game.
Johnson also made up for her third-quarter mistakes. She scored nine fourth-quarter points, including a stretch of five straight points to make it a one-point game with just over a minute remaining in the game.
But it’s been the same result in every close game this season: The Storm watch their opponent make their key late-game plays, while Seattle comes up empty. Minnesota scored nine straight points to close out the game.
Standout numbers
Seattle is now 0-13 this season when shooting under 42% from the field as a team (41% vs. Lynx). The Storm are also 1-10 when they turn it over 16 or more times (18 vs. Lynx).
Five 3-pointers were also far from enough. The Storm are at their best when they can play a full-court offense that is balanced between fast-break points and triples. Seattle is 2-18 when they don’t make at least 10 threes, but are 4-5 when making at least 10.
The more surprising metric that didn’t match season trends was rebounds. Seattle entered the game 3-3 when grabbing at least 38 boards. They had 41 against the Lynx, which was their second-most in a loss this season.
With 15 games remaining in the season, the Storm have to reverse some of these recent trends if they want to finish 2026 on a high note. For now, it’s still just watching the same shortcomings we’ve seen all year.
Up next
All-Star weekend is upcoming, with Malonga being the Storm’s lone representative in the game. Hiedeman will also be a participant in the 3-point contest.
The 3-point contest will be at 5 p.m. PST on Friday, July 24, followed by the All-Star game at 5:30 p.m. PST on Saturday, July 25.
Seattle’s next game as a team won’t be until 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 28, when they host the Indiana Fever (16-10). The Storm are 0-2 against the Fever this season, coming up short 110-107 in the last meeting on July 17.
