After a successful all-star weekend for the Seattle Storm, they meet the Phoenix Mercury kicking off the second half of the WNBA season. It is the second meeting of the year between the two squads.
The Storm and Mercury met in the season opener for both teams at KeyArena in June. The Storm won that game 78-71, but since then, the two teams have gone in different directions. The Storm have struggled through the first half to an 8-7 record, good enough for just fourth place in the Western Conference. The Mercury meanwhile, after losing their first three games, have won 10 of the last 12 games to finish the first half just a ½ game behind the Western Conference leading Minnesota Lynx.
The Mercury held the top spot in the West briefly last week, before falling in a shootout to the Lynx. With a win and a Minnesota loss tonight, the Mercury will find themselves back a top the West.
The Mercury struggled last year against the Storm, losing all seven meetings. But that was against the Seattle team that went 28-6 in the regular season and swept through the WNBA playoffs. It was also the Storm team that had Lauren Jackson. Jackson is out as she continues to recover from hip surgery.
Though the Storm have struggled recently, they have reason to be optimistic. Seattle looked like it had returned to last season’s form with a convincing 73-55 victory over the San Antonio Silver Stars in the final game before the all-star break.
Tonight’s game could be a battle of wills. Seattle is one of the top defensive teams in the WNBA, while the Mercury are the most explosive offensive team. Phoenix averages a league-best 92.7 points per game, while the Storm average just 71.3, good enough for 11th.
But the Storm have proven against teams like Minnesota, San Antonio and Indiana that they dictate the pace of the game.
All of those victories came at home, today the Storm take another shot at figuring out how to do it away from KeyArena.
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