The Storm Is Coming To Run A Sun-Day

Storm vs. Sun, 1:00 ET

I'm kind of glad to see August come to an end and enter the September month here. I struggled in a few different sports last month at different times. Nothing was overly terrible - well, maybe the WNBA because I only had a handful of plays and I think they went 1-4. Still, this year on the hardwood has been great with us cashing significantly more picks than we are losing. I'm going to try and kick it off here with a play on the game between the Storm and the Sun.

The Storm have been a very talented team this season with Jewel Loyd, a scoring guard, leading the way. It isn't just her contributions that have pushed the Seattle Storm to a 19-12 record though. Skylar Diggins-Smith has also been a great addition to the team, orchestrating the offense and helping them find some fluidity. Currently, their team averages 83.5 points per game on 43% shooting, both very good numbers. A reason for concern here is that since the return from the All-Star/Olympic break, the Storm are just 2-4. If you want to be a bit optimistic about a couple of those losses, I can't blame you. They did lose two of them by just two points. This is the second time they will face the Sun on the year, and the team was able to take the first game in Seattle 72-61. Now they have to play Connecticut in back-to-back games. This is the Storm's first road game after three straight on their home turf, and they do need to travel completely across the country. Their body clocks will be saying that this game is starting at about 9 AM, so I'd expect potentially to have a sluggish start. 

The Sun are one of the best teams in the WNBA and continue to look like a legitimate title contender. However, there are a few reasons to stop scheduling the parade. The Liberty are the better team and the Sun would certainly have to take them down in order to get to the championship. New York has shown consistently this season that it can handle whatever the Sun team throws at them. And, more recently, as in yesterday, one of their best players, Alyssa Thomas, was injured during the game and didn't return. While their coach said that she could've come back if they really needed here, the team also realized that they had a game today. I highly doubt she will play in this one. They don't exactly need her for a seeding situation, and this is a back-to-back for the Sun. The team could potentially be fine without her. Dewanna Bonner has played well all season, and Marina Mabrey looks invigorated after coming over from the Chicago Sky. In fact, Mabrey has led the team in scoring in three of the past four games, including yesterday's win. Dijonai Carrington has been a bit inconsistent at times this season, and had her worst game of the year against the Storm. I would expect that she has a better game than two points on 1-of-7 shooting like she did in the first game.

I just mentioned this is a back-to-back for the Sun and almost no professional basketball team looks forward to these situations. They had a back-to-back against the Dream after visiting the Mystics earlier in the season and lost that game by four points in a very similar situation, but the team was at full strength. They also are likely to miss Thomas. The Storm match up fairly well with the team, and I think should take this one. Give me the Storm here to get the win. If you want to take the points, I don't blame you. 

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