Seattle, WA- With three minutes left in regulation, the Seattle Storm blew a three point lead, which led the Phoenix Mercury to a 75 to 71 victory. Turnovers and not executing was what caused the Storm to lose. They were content to shoot outside shots instead of driving aggressively to either get a bucket, a foul, or an “And 1″ late in the game.
Jewell Lloyd kept the Storm in the game and caught fire in the first half. She finished the game up with 29 points but was not satisfied with her performance. “I’d rather have two points and get a win,” she said. “I’m just trying to bring some energy, try to get things going. If I get that steal there from Griner, she (Mitchell) doesn’t hit that three. So I’m kind of focused on that more than my scoring.”
Despite Lloyd catching fire, the Storm was halted by Brittany Grainer and Mercury’s defense. They crowded Sue Bird and forced the ball out of her hands and doubled Breanna Stewart which frustrated her. Stewart did not have a great game like she normally does in crucial games. She finished the game with 13 points.
Grainer and Taurasi put on a scoring and defensive clinic. Gainer finished the game up 29 points, while Taurasi scored 18, but they put enough pressure on Sue Bird and stopped her from becoming the newest player to eclipse the assist record. Bird had 10 points with only 3 assists. “It’s a career record, not a one-night record,” she said. “Sure, it would have been great to get it. People came here to see it happen, and it would have been nice to have it happen on my home floor, but what can I do? This is how the schedule came down.”
After the loss to Phoenix, the Strom is hanging on to the eighth and final seed. They have two games left to decide if they will make the playoffs or not.
