The Seattle Storm hit the road for the first time in 18 days, opening up a five-game trip against the Atlanta Dream at 7 pm ET (4 pm PT) on Wednesday night at Gateway Center Arena in College Park, Georgia.
The Storm (7-2) is looking to start a new winning streak, suffering its first loss in its last six games on Sunday afternoon in Seattle. Despite playing its best defensive game of the season, the offense struggled in a 68-67 loss to Dallas. Despite the defeat, the Storm still lead the WNBA Western Conference standings and are just a half game back of Connecticut for the best record in the league.
The Dream (4-4) also enters the game coming off a loss, dropping a pair of games in Minnesota last week. Six of Atlanta’s eight games this season have been decided by nine points or less, with the Dream posting a 4-2 record in those games. Atlanta leads the Eastern Conference in scoring, averaging 84.0 ppg, though its opponents are averaging 86.0 ppg. But rebounding and defense has been the name of the game for the Dream, which leads the WNBA in offensive rebounding (11.25/game) and steals (10.13/game).
Jewell Loyd was named the WNBA’s Western Conference Player of the Week last week after averaging 22.7 ppg, 4.7 apg and 3.3 rpg in three games including buzzer-beater OT winner vs Dallas. Loyd scored a game-high 25 points vs Dallas on Friday, then followed that up with another 25 against the Wings on Sunday. In Friday’s game, Loyd added a season-best seven assists and connected on 8-of-11 from the field (72.7%) including 4-of-6 from three-point range. Her field goal percentage was the best by a guard with at least 11 attempts in a game this season and fifth-best overall.
Loyd, who is just 87 points away from 3,000 in her young career, is the only player in the WNBA’s top 10 in points (20.7 – 6th), assists (4.8 – 9th) and steals (1.6 – 10th). In addition, she is currently is averaging career highs in points (20.7), FG% (46.7%), 3P% (42.9%), assists (4.8), steals (1.6), and blocks (0.6). [h/t HerHoopStats]
As mentioned above, this is the first of a five-game road trip for the Storm, which plays five games in eight days: two in Atlanta, one in Connecticut and two in Indiana. This is the first of two five-game trips for Seattle this year with the other coming to open the second-half of the season. According to HerHoopStats, the Storm is one of two teams to have a pair of five-game trips this season (Chicago) while the Sparks have the longest trip with six-straight road games in late August.
Fans can catch the game in the Seattle area on JOEtv (KZJO Ch. 22, cable 110) or nationally on WNBA League Pass.
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