For the second straight game in the playoffs, the Storm had a one-point lead early in the fourth quarter and poised to upset the two-time defending champion Las Vegas Aces, which would have pushed the best-of-three first-round series to a winner-take-all game in Seattle.
On Sunday, they admittedly ran out of gas and didn’t much resistance in the final minutes of a Game 1 loss.
But on Tuesday, Seattle battled until the end before falling 83-76 in Game 2 in front of a sellout crowd of 10,370 at Michelob ULTRA Arena.
“It didn’t really feel like déjà vu,” forward Nneka Ogwumike said. “I think that that’s kind of been our identity this season. We find ourselves in those challenging pockets and we do what we can to gain some level of control or tempo of the game.
“How we finished the game tonight? We fought. We fought. No matter what, it’s going to be a learning experience.”
Once again, coach Noelle Quinn leaned heavily on her starters — Seattle employed a seven-player rotation — and the Storm stars were at times brilliant, but it wasn’t enough to topple their Western Conference nemesis.
Las Vegas is 17-4 against Seattle in the past four years.
“When you look at the composition of their team, not only have they been playing together a long time, they all have a lot of postseason experience,” Ogwumike said. “And when you get to the postseason, it’s just a different level.”
Gabby Williams did a little of everything while tallying a career playoff-high 20 points, five rebounds and three assists. Ogwumike recovered from a slow offensive start and finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and four steals.
Meanwhile, Skylar Diggins-Smith added 13 points and nine rebounds while Ezi Magbegor had 12 points and seven rebounds.
Still, it wasn’t enough as the Storm fell to 0-8 all-time in elimination games on the road.
“It takes everyone wanting to be on the court together,” Williams said. “We had some disconnect tonight. Not saying we didn’t want to be on the court together, but there were just somethings that we weren’t flowing on defense and offense we were just a little bit disconnected.
“Maybe it can be the fact that I only played 12 games with them. The fact that Ezi and Jewell [Loyd] were out and had to come back. There was just some disconnection that we had tonight. Vegas, you can feel it, they’re very attached and I think that’s what it takes to win on the road.”
The Storm were reintegrating Loyd, who played her second game after missing three due to a right knee injury.
The six-time WNBA All-Star guard averaged 19.3 points in seven previous playoff games against the Aces, including a 29-point outing in 2022 and 28-point performance in 2019 — her two highest playoff games.
However, Loyd connected on just 5 of 18 shots for 15 points in the playoffs, including nine on Tuesday.
“From what I know she was OK to go and had been feeling good,” Quinn said. “Obviously, she hadn’t played in a few games and some of that flow and rhythm that Jewell plays with, it wasn’t necessarily there.
“To play the defending champs, you have to be sharp and healthy and considering that injury came a week and half ago, there’s probably some residue from that.”
After missing all 12 of their field goals and tallying just two points in the fourth quarter during Sunday’s loss, the Storm fell behind 23-7 early in the first quarter.
The Aces built a double-digit lead while taking target practice behind arc. Former Washington Huskies star Kelsey Plum and Cheslea Gray connected on two three-pointers and A’ja Wilson drilled one from long range.
The Storm countered with Magbegor, who returned following a four-game layoff due to a concussion, and proved to be invaluable while scoring 10 points and accounting for half of their first-quarter scoring.
Seattle, which trailed 30-20, used a 22-10 run to chip away at their 16-point deficit and pull within 33-29 after a couple of Ogwumike free throws midway in the second quarter.
Minutes later, Loyd drained an open three-pointer and Magbegor sank a short jumper that cut Las Vegas’ lead to 39-38 with 2 1/2 minutes left in the first half.
However, the Aces closed the quarter with six straight points to go into the break ahead 45-38.
Plum, who had two points on Sunday, finished with a game-high 29 points, while Wilson had 24 and Gray 12.
Diggins-Smith tied it at 47-47 with a three-pointer from the top of the key at the 6:44 mark in the third quarter.
Seattle, which outscored Las Vegas 18-15 in the second quarter, outpaced the Aces 19-17 in the third to trail 62-57 at the start of the fourth.
The Storm took their only lead at 65-64 — the exact score heading into the fourth quarter Sunday — with 7:58 left, but fell behind on the next possession and never regained the lead.
Down 71-70, Aces guard Jackie Young hit a three-pointer that sent the crowd into a frenzy. Minutes later, Gray delivered the knockout blow with another one of her trademark step-back, midrange jumpers that put Las Vegas up 80-72 with 2:02 remaining.
On Sunday, the Aces outscored the Storm 14-2 in the fourth and this time they outscored Seattle 21-19.
No. 5 seed Las Vegas plays No. 1 New York in the WNBA semifinals, which is a rematch of last year’s Finals.
Sooner than they expected, the Storm begin offseason plans.
After stumbling to a next-to-last finish at 11-29 in 2023, Seattle became just the fifth WNBA team to make a 14-game improvement and finished fifth in the standings at 25-15 — the third most wins in franchise history.
Loyd, Diggins-Smith and Magbegor have guaranteed contracts next season while second-year forward Jordan Horston and rookie Nika Mühl are under binding, non-guaranteed contracts.
Ogwumike, Williams, Mercedes Russell, Sami Whitcomb, Victoria Vivians and Joyner Holmes are unrestricted free agents.
The Storm are expected to have $712,377 in salary cap space in the offseason.
Currently, Seattle has the No. 9, 21, 29 and 34 picks in next year’s WNBA draft, although the official draft order has not been determined and the Storm are likely to move down a spot once the expansion Golden State Valkyries are included.
“Going from 11 wins to 25 and the playoffs feels successful,” Quinn said. “I’m such a competitor though. I want more. I’m proud of our group and I’m proud of where we came from, from last season. It hasn’t been talked about a lot. … But I don’t need acknowledgment. I’m just doing my job.
“I’m on borrowed time, so I realize the importance of not wasting moments. I feel like in the big picture we had some success, but I think that this group could have done more and I feel responsible for that. So, we will continue to build.”
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