2021 WNBA Playoffs: Seattle Storm vs. Phoenix Mercury second-round preview, how to watch

The Phoenix Mercury survived a major scare of the 8th-placed New York Liberty on Thursday evening and advanced into the second round. It doesn’t get any easier for them at this point as they are now traveling to the Pacific Northwest to face a match with the Seattle Storm. This game will also be a singles elimination game and is scheduled for Sunday afternoon.

After a 10-game winning streak from their Olympic break, the Mercury lost their last three games of the season to miss a place in the top four. One of the most decisive defeats in this period came against the storm, and now they will seek revenge. But even without Breanna Stewart, the defending champion will not go down without a fight.

Before Sunday, take a closer look at this matchup:

(4) Seattle Storm vs. (5) Phoenix Mercury

• Date: Sunday, September 26th | Time: 3 p.m. ET
• Location: Angel of the Winds Arena – Everett, Washington
• TV: ESPN 2 | Live broadcast: Observe ESPN

Player to watch

Storm: Jewel Loyd

There really is only one answer here and that is Loyd. She’s one of their most important players under normal circumstances, but without Stewart, she’ll have an even bigger role to play. Simply put, the Storm won’t win this game if Loyd doesn’t play well. She will take a lot of points to earn, just like she did against the Mercury at the end of the regular season when she lost 37.

Mercury: Brittney Griner

Just like in the first round, Griner is the player who has to watch out for Mercury here. Not only is she key to her success on both ends of the floor, but the way the storm defends her will dictate how Mercury must play. The Liberty forced the ball out of her hands, causing other players to kick and hit open strokes. If the storm does the same, can people like Sophie Cunningham deliver again? And if the Storm plays more straightforward, can Griner set up her usual highscore game?

Three keys that decide the game

Notable injuries

Both teams are grappling with injuries to key players going into this game. Reigning finalist Breanna Stewart has not played since September 7th due to a foot injury, while Diana Taurasi has been sidelined since September 6th with an ankle problem.

Taurasi, who was eliminated in the Mercury’s first-round win over Liberty, appears to be the more likely of the two. She was initially classified as questionable, suggesting she isn’t far from returning. A few days off might just be the extra rest she needs. As we saw Thursday night, the Mercury desperately missed her presence when she’s not in the square. Their shooting and playmaking give them so much more options and take away a lot of the pressure and attention from Griner. In addition, their leadership cannot be replicated.

Stewart is officially out. When she went down a few weeks ago, the team just said it was a foot injury and it’s still not clear what she’s dealing with. Whatever it is, it hasn’t healed enough for her to play. To date, she hasn’t even practiced with the team. As one of the best players in the league, key to Storm’s success on both ends of the floor, this is a massive loss.

How does the Storm defend Griner?

Griner entered the league as a defensive force, but at this point in her career she is a more effective offensive player. Not just because of her ability to land in the basket, which helped her finish second in the league, but because her size forces teams to adjust their game plan to counter her.

As we saw in the first round, the Liberty decided they would do anything to get the ball out of their hands. There were multiple defenders shadowing her at all times, and when she got the ball there were times when she was triple. For most of the game, this strategy worked. Griner was limited to just eight shots and the Mercury supporting cast couldn’t get a shot. That eventually changed, as we know, and the Mercury won in large part thanks to Sophie Cunningham, who had the best game of her career.

Now the question arises, how is the storm trying to defend Griner? Will they copy Liberty’s strategy and force Cunningham, Shey Peddy and Kia Nurse to shoot? When Taurasi is out, that seems like the smart move. At the same time, the Storm in Mercedes Russell and Ezi Magbegor has more opportunities to throw at Griner. Maybe they’ll split the difference and won’t get as aggressive trying to make Griner happen.

It will be interesting to see what the storm is doing and how Mercury reacts.

Can the storm find enough attack without Stewart?

Breanna Stewart won’t be playing on Sunday so the main question for the storm is whether or not they can find enough attack in their absence. She’s also an important part of their defense, of course, but you won’t miss her that much.

After all of their departures this off-season, the Storm remained an elite offensive team, largely because of Stewart’s scoring and versatility. Even in a slightly worse year for her in terms of efficiency, she still got 20.3 points and 2.7 assists per game, and the Storm’s offensive rating was a staggering 15.9 points per 100 possession better with her on the ground (107.3) as if they were sitting (91.4). Throughout the season, that’s the difference between the best offensive team in the league with Stewart and the worst in the league without her.

So how do you find enough goals to win the playoffs without your best player? First and foremost, they need a strong performance from Jewell Loyd. She finished second on the team this season with 17.9 points per game and is able to take on games alone – as we saw just a week ago when she scored 37 points against the Mercury in the regular season final .

It goes without saying that the storm also needs someone from the supporting cast to rise, be it Mercedes Russell, Katie Lou Samuelson or Epiphanny Prince. Finally the storm has to hit 3s. They were the top shooting team in the league that season at 37.9 percent, and that’s a big part of their offensive. It won’t be quite that easy without Stewart’s death and the attention it attracts, but you will have to shoot from the outside to keep up with the Mercury.

forecast

It’s hard to name, but without Stewart, we’ll take the Mercury. They didn’t look good against the Liberty, but they’ll find it a lot easier to find consistent attacks, and that should be the difference.