Storm (9-20) vs. Tulsa Shock (15-14)

KeyArena | Seattle, Wash.

September 3, 2015 | 7 p.m. PT

 

 

Broadcast: Live Access, Justice

2015 vs. Tulsa: 1-2

Last meeting:  W 74-69 (June 30, 2015)

Leading scorer: Sue Bird 17

 

Five games to go. September is already here and there are only five games left on the Storm’s schedule. The final stretch begins on Thursday when it hosts Tulsa while looking to make it three straight wins.

PLAYER TO WATCH: Jewell Loyd

Each month of the season has seen the budding star get better and better. In the month of August, she eclipsed her July Rookie of the Month number by averaging 12.2 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.3 assists. She also shot 92.1 percent from the free throw line by going 35-for-38 in the month. With only a handful of games remaining, expect Loyd to make her final case for Rookie of the Year.

SCOUTING TULSA

After scuffling in the middle part of the season, Tulsa has righted the ship and has won five straight coming into the game on Thursday. The Shock clinched a playoff spot on Sunday behind 30 points from Odyssey Sims. Tulsa has battled injuries all year and could be without Riquna Williams, who left Sunday’s game with a calf injury. Over the last five games, the Shock has also averaged a league-best 37 rebounds with 11.2 offensive boards per game.

KEY TO THE GAME

Clearing the glass. The Storm got beat up on the glass early on against Washington last week but were able to recover and outrebounded the Mystics 30-28. Making Tulsa a one-possession team should help the Storm get out on the break and keep the Shock on its heels.

#LoydROY

Jewell Loyd is starting to show why she was taken first overall in April’s draft. She earned WNBA Rookie of the Month honors in July after averaging 10.5 points and shooting 94 percent from the line. She is the only rookie in the top five in points, rebounds, and assists and since the All-Star Break, Loyd is averaging 11.5 points (1st among rookies), 4.5 rebounds (2nd), 2.2 assists (5th), 28.8 minutes (1st), and is shooting 93 percent from the line (1st). Loyd has reached double figure scoring in seven of her last 10 games and is averaging 13.6 points over the last eight, including 18 points against San Antonio on Aug. 16. She has also been near automatic from the line and has made 59 of her last 62 attempts (95.1 percent).

LANG FILLING UP THE STAT SHEET

Crystal Langhorne has been one of the more efficient and effective players in the league this season. She leads the league with a 55.6 shooting percentage from the field and had a stretch of eight straight games in double figures, including a 29-point performance where she shot 12-for-13 from the field. Langorne picked up her first double-double of the season on Friday against San Antonio with 22 points and 10 rebounds and then followed it up with 15 points and four rebounds against Washington on Sunday. She is also one of only two players in the league to be averaging 10 points, five rebounds, one steal, and be shooting better than 50 percent from the field. The other is Nneka Ogwumike.

PLAYOFFS? YES, PLAYOFFS!

The Storm sits 2.5 games back of Los Angeles for the fourth and final spot in the West with five games to go and have two games against teams with records below .500. While it is a tall order, the possibility remains especially when you take into account the Storm own the tiebreaker with the Sparks, having swept the team from LA.

JEWELL LOYD > LAUREN JACKSON

Jewell Loyd did something on Sunday night that had never been done before in franchise history. Loyd’s two free throws late in the fourth quarter were her 13th and 14th attempts of the night, having made all of them. The rookie’s 14-for-14 performance bested the previous single game record, held by all-time great Lauren Jackson at 13-for-13, for the most free throws attempted without a miss.

BIRD FLYING UP THE CHARTS

It has been a season of milestones for one of the all-time greats. With her three pointer late in the fourth quarter on June 25, Sue Bird eclipsed Sheryl Swoopes for 13th on the WNBA’s all-time scoring list. On August 2 at Madison Square Garden, she surpassed the 5,000-point mark to become the only player in league history to record 5,000 points and 2,000 assists for a career and did it in front of her hometown crowd. She is at 5,080 points and passed Tangela Smith for 11th all-time after scoring 13 in the win over San Antonio on Aug. 16. Bird will have a long road to trek to potentially break into the top 10 with Katie Douglas sitting at 5,563.

CLARK LEADS THE LEAGUE

Alysha Clark has been one of the more effective offensive players in the league so far this season. At 54.4 percent from the field, she would place third in the league in shooting percentage but comes up just short for qualifying for the category. However, she is the best in the league in true shooting percentage, which takes into account field goals, three pointers, and free throws. Her .653 percentage is tops in the WNBA is and well clear of the next player, Kristi Toliver, at .614. Clark also comes in as fourth in the league in offensive rating (113.8) behind only Elena Delle Donne (124.9), Skylar Diggins (116.6), and Karima Christmas (116.3).

BIRD IN THE HAND, WORTH TWO IN THE BASKET

Sue Bird continues to be one of the better distributors in the league and dished out a season-high 13 assists, one off a career-high, on August 8 at San Antonio. She also collected 12 on July 18 against Atlanta. Bird is second in the league with 5.3 assists per game and is one of only two players to be averaging 10 points and five assists (Courtney Vandersloot).