SEATTLE — Two days after taking down the defending champion Aces in Las Vegas, the Liberty laid an egg in Seattle.
They were down two starters, with Satou Sabally in concussion protocol and Breanna Stewart out for rest. But there was hardly any reason that the Liberty couldn’t handle the rebuilding Storm.
Instead, Seattle took control early and never allowed the Liberty back in en route to winning 99-88.
The Liberty got within four points of the Storm in the second half, but that was it.
The loss — the Liberty’s third in four games — should serve as a wake-up call. How can a team as stacked as the Liberty beat a team like the Aces so mightily yet lose to bottom-tier teams like the Fire, Mystics, Sparks and now the Storm?
To put it simply, the Liberty appear to have a problem with playing down to their opponents.
“We have to come out with a certain level of intensity, no matter who we’re playing,” said Jonquel Jones, who led the Liberty with 26 points and eight rebounds. “[We have to have] a certain level of attention to detail to the scouting report and the ways that the coaching staff has prepared us to be successful. I don’t think we had that night. So we have to look in the mirror individually and find ways to be better defensively first and foremost.”
Thursday’s game was littered with mistakes on both ends of the floor. Miscommunication led to easy layups for the Storm. Turnovers or poor shot selection allowed Seattle to get out in transition. Missed box-outs led to Storm rebounds.
The Liberty were caught flat-footed to start. The Storm jumped out to a 23-15 lead in the first seven minutes.
“They came out playing better than us,” Leonie Fiebich said. “They did play it harder, they played with more intensity, with more effort.”
The Liberty’s 16 turnovers turned into 15 points for Seattle, which scored 21 of its points on fast-break opportunities.
The Storm are one of the worst rebounding teams in the league. And yet, they outrebounded the Liberty 39-28.
“I don’t know how many o-boards they had because we missed boxouts,” Fiebich said. “Those are just unacceptable things that can happen, little things that affect the game in a big way.”
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The Storm entered Thursday averaging a league-low 78.8 points. Thursday’s 99 points were the most they’ve scored in regulation this season.
All five of the Storm starters finished in double-digit scoring, including rookie Flau’jae Johnson, who recorded a career- and game-high 28 points. Second-year center Dominique Malonga had 20 points and 10 rebounds.
“We just wanted to win,” Johnson said. “We were really tired of losing. … And instead of putting our head down, we’re like we’re right there.”
