Minnesota Lynx vs. Seattle Storm Prediction, Preview and Odds - 5/28/21
There’s a Western Conference clash on the WNBA parquet up in the Pacific Northwest. The Minnesota Lynx are on the road as they make the trip to face the defending champion Seattle Storm Friday night. Minnesota was beaten 90-78 at home by Seattle last Thursday in their most recent contest. Seattle edged previously unbeaten Connecticut 90-87 in overtime at home Tuesday night. With the victory in the first meeting between the teams, the Storm extended their win streak in the series to 10. Can the Lynx pick up their first win of the season or will the Storm continue their recent mastery in the series here?
Minnesota Lynx Seeking First Win of Season
Minnesota dropped to 0-3 on the season as they were outgunned at home by Seattle. Things fell apart in the second half for the Lynx, who now head on the road in a hostile environment as they try to earn their first win of the season here. Minnesota led by 10 after the opening quarter and extended their edge to as many as 19 in the second quarter: they led by 15 at the half. Things went south in the second half though the Lynx still led by 10 after three quarters and by eight with 4:44 to play before it completely unraveled. Minnesota was outscored 23-3 the rest of the way to turn what seemed to be a win into a loss. The Lynx shot 44.1% from the field, including five of 17 from three-point range, and turned the ball over 17 times in the contest. Crystal Dangerfield led Minnesota with 22 points plus six assists in the loss.
On the season, the Lynx are 11th in the league in scoring offense with an average of 76 points per game. Minnesota is 10th in rebounding as they collect 34.3 boards a night while the team is eighth in assists by dishing 18.7 dimes a night. The Lynx are ninth in the league in scoring defense as they give up an average of 84.3 points per contest this season. Sylvia Fowles leads the team with 19 points plus 10.3 rebounds per contest. Kayla McBride (13 points), Crystal Dangerfield (13 points, 5.3 assists) and Aerial Powers (11 points, five rebounds, 4.3 assists) are solid secondary scoring options. Damiris Dantas, Jessica Shepard, Bridget Carleton, Rachael Banham, Natalie Achonwa and Linnae Harper are looked at to be contributors for coach Cheryl Reeve. Minnesota stands eighth in the league in field goal percentage as they shoot 40.7% from the field as a team this year. The Lynx are last in the league in three-pointers per game (4.3) and last in three-point shooting as they hit only 23.2% of their attempts from beyond the arc. Minnesota is 10th in the league in free-throw shooting as they hit 74.5% of their attempts at the charity stripe. Powers (hamstring), Rennia Davis (foot) and Layshia Clarendon, who was recently signed after being waived by New York, are out here. Napheesa Collier, who has missed the first three games in quarantine after returning from her season in France, is expected to make her season debut here.
Seattle Storm Looking to Down Lynx Again
Seattle edged Connecticut in overtime at home in their last game Tuesday night to earn their third straight win. The Storm look to beat the Lynx for the second time this season and earn their fourth straight win overall here. Against Connecticut, Seattle was up four after the first quarter, by six at the half and by four after three quarters before winding up in overtime. In the extra session, the Storm opened things with an 8-0 run in the first minute and held the Sun off the rest of the way. Seattle was scoreless over the final 2:37 but still managed to come up with a victory. The Storm shot 40.3% from the field, including 13 of 28 from three-point range, and forced 16 turnovers in the contest. Sue Bird led Seattle with 21 points in the victory.
The Storm comes into this contest first in the league in scoring offense with an average of 91.4 points per game. Seattle is fourth in rebounding (38 boards per contest) and is first in the league in assists by dishing out 22 dimes per night this year. The Storm is 11th in scoring defense as they allow 88.2 points a game so far this year. Breanna Stewart leads the team with 24 points and 10.8 rebounds per contest. Jewell Loyd (21.2 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.8 assists) and Sue Bird (11.8 points, 5.6 assists) are solid secondary options. Coach Dan Hughes has a solid group to work with as his team can get production from Katie Lou Samuelson, Jordin Canada (eight points), Candice Dupree, Ezi Magbegor, Stephanie Talbot, Kennedy Burke, Epiphanny Prince, Mikiah Herbert Harrington and Kiana Williams. The Storm is fourth in the league in field goal percentage as they convert 45.1% of their shots from the floor this year. Seattle is second in the league in three-point field goals made per game (10.2) and is third in three-point percentage as they knock down 39.2% percent from beyond the arc. The Storm are average at the line, ranking fifth in the league by converting 78.8% of their chances. Samuelson is out for the time being as she is part of Team USA’s three-on-three team, which is in qualifying for the Summer Olympics. She’ll be back in early June.
Pick: Seattle Storm -5.5
Minnesota is rested and they should have Collier back in the mix after missing the first three games. That should work in favor of the Lynx going forward, though admittedly it might not pay a ton of dividends right away here. Losing Powers was a big blow for the Lynx and Clarendon won’t be ready to go in this one, taking a capable replacement out of the mix. Seattle is led by their trio of veteran stars in Bird, Stewart and Loyd, which is more than enough to shoulder more than their share of the load. The Storm just dropped the previously unbeaten Sun in their last game. Seeing how they rallied to down the Lynx on the road last week after trailing by 19, you have to think that they aren’t intimidated here. Take Seattle at home.
Total: Over 166
Minnesota comes in having seen the over hit in two of their three games this season. That includes their first meeting with Seattle last week. The return of Collier should be a boost for the Lynx’s offensive attack, which has lagged a bit without her presence. Meanwhile, we’ve seen the Storm go over the mark in all five of their contests this season. Some of that is attributed to the fact that the team leads the league in scoring offense but the fact remains that they are a dismal 11th in scoring defense. Nine of the last 10 meetings between these teams have gone over the mark with the lone exception falling just two points short. This one winds up over the total.
