The Mystics fought hard, but they were simply out matched by the Seattle Storm. And now their season has come to a close.
Sadly the Washington Mystics’ season has come to a close with a 97-84 loss to the Seattle Storm in Game 2 of their first round playoff series.
Seattle started this game out looking like the higher seeded team, taking a commanding 15-7 lead to start the game, giving the Mystics a proverbial punch to the mouth. The Storm did a good job sharing the ball, which included an unlikely 5 assists from their star forward Breanna Stewart in the 1st quarter.
On the Mystics’ side, poor shooting put the team in an early hole. At the end of the 1st quarter the Mystics would shooting 33 percent (5-of-15 from the field). In the 2nd quarter the team seemed to right the ship with much better defense and some timely baskets from Natasha Cloud and reserve guard Shatori Walker-Kimbrough.
Elena Delle Donne was frequently double teamed by the Storm and the Mystics struggled to make the Storm pay. EDD, at times, tried to force the action with contested shots, which she is adept at, but it just was not falling in for her today. Seattle was able to hold EDD scoreless in the 3rd, which was when the Storm made their move to take permanent control of the game. Total for the game, EDD shot 5 for 14 from the field with only 12 points.
On the other side of the ball, the Mystics struggled to get stops. Seattle’s starters all were in double figures by the end of the 3rd quarter. Mystics were often lost on screens, gave too much space to the Storm’s shooters, in particular Sue Bird and Jewell Loyd. And Washington lost the Storm’s players on cuts to the basket. Seattle was able to put together 27 assists for the game, 10 of which came from Bird.
A tough way to end the season, but the Storm showed their championship pedigree as the winners of two of the last four WNBA championships and came up big when they needed to close out the Mystics.
Though the Mystics’ season is over, Mike Thibault will be an assistant coach for the USA Basketball women’s national team in the World Cup this fall. Ariel Atkins and Delle Donnne should also have a great chance of making the final roster. It is disappointing that the Mystics didn’t get to host a playoff game, but they had their moments this season and they could have a good chance to build on that for 2023.