The Weekly Roundup: A Front-Court Battle for the Ages and a Clash of the Titans in the Desert
Examining the week’s two instant classics
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The announcement of the U.S. national basketball roster for the Olympics dominated women’s hoops headlines this week. The inevitable debate over roster choices and snubs ensued, most notably the question of whether or not 2016 league MVP Nneka Oguwmike should have made the team (a topic thoroughly analyzed by Richard Cohen in WNBA Dissected and Megan Gauer and Calvin Wetzel on Her Hoop Stats’ Unplugged podcast). While fascinated by these discussions, I prefer to revel in the amazing play this week by the members of Team USA. There’s no better place to start than this weekend’s two overtime thrillers.
Game of the Week #1: Front-court brilliance leads Minnesota past Las Vegas in OT classic
In an era defined by the ubiquity of the three-point shot and a move toward positionless basketball, it’s easy to forget how entertaining a great frontcourt battle can be. Sylvia Fowles, Napheesa Collier, A’ja Wilson, and Liz Cambage made fans remember when Minnesota hosted Las Vegas Friday night.
Las Vegas had no answer defensively for Fowles and Collier. The duo combined for 53 points, 24 rebounds, 12 assists, six steals, and six blocked shots. Collier (23 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists) was two assists shy of a triple-double. Fowles put up a massive five-category Pareto game (i.e., one where no player has ever recorded a better combination of the statistics in question) of 30 points, 14 rebounds, four assists, four steals, and four blocks.
Wilson dropped 28 points, grabbed 14 boards (seven on the offensive end), and added four steals. Just five players in league history have recorded a better combination of these statistics. Cambage contributed a monster game of her own: 18 points and 20 rebounds (six offensive). Incredibly, these phenomenal performances weren't enough.
Buoyed by a 25-15 third quarter and stingy second-half defense, the Minnesota Lynx survived scoreless droughts in the last 3:11 of regulation and 1:24 of overtime to win 90-89 and snap the Aces’ five-game winning streak. The Lynx converted seven third-quarter turnovers committed by Las Vegas into ten points, transforming a 48-44 halftime deficit into a 69-63 advantage heading into the fourth quarter. It was an uncharacteristically sloppy stretch given that Las Vegas has turned the ball over on just 13.1% of its possessions this season, best in the WNBA.
“It was just careless play,” Aces coach Bill Laimbeer stated in his postgame press conference. “It wasn’t anything that they were doing; it was just us not making the connection and making bad decisions and making bad passes.”
Trailing 82-73 with 3:11 to play, Las Vegas rattled off nine straight points, culminating in A’ja Wilson’s clutch free throws with 2.0 seconds remaining in regulation to send the game into overtime. Down 90-89 with less than 30 seconds left in overtime, Chelsea Gray missed Wilson on a pick-and-roll, giving Minnesota the ball and the lead with 27.5 seconds. Despite only a 3.5-second differential between the game and shot clock, Laimbeer opted not to foul. Lynx guard Layshia Clarendon expertly ran the shot clock down and launched a high-arcing three that took 2.4 seconds to hit a rebounder’s hands. Unfortunately for Las Vegas, that rebounder was Sylvia Fowles, who knocked the ball out to the perimeter as time expired.
Clarendon (20 points, seven assists) provided a critical third scoring option for the Lynx. They elevated their game in the extra frame, knocking down a pair of pull-up jumpers and dropping a dime to Fowles on a beautiful pick-and-roll for the Lynx’s final bucket.
This game had it all: a down-to-the-wire finish, star players producing at an elite level, and even some chippiness from both the players and coaches. Liz Cambage jumped into Jessica Shepard’s face after a foul midway through the fourth quarter. Kayla McBride mocked Cambage’s embellishment of a foul during overtime. Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve lamented the perceived multitude of whistles Las Vegas received down the stretch, “They seemed to be able to get every whistle. They just have a knack about them. Maybe it’s their coach, I don’t know.” The only thing this game didn’t have was three-point shooting - the teams combined for just 26 attempts from behind the arc and scored 10% of their points from distance, both of which are the second-lowest in the W this season.
Minnesota (7-7) next sees action Wednesday night at Phoenix. Las Vegas (11-4) knocked off Seattle 95-92 Sunday afternoon, an overtime classic that is the co-game of the week.
Game of the Week #2: Gray’s heroics too much for Seattle
Chelsea Gray committed six turnovers in Las Vegas’ loss at Minnesota Friday night, including a critical miscue in the last 30 seconds of overtime. Discussing her postgame conversation with Aces coach Bill Laimbeer, Gray stated, “He challenged me to be better, not just vocally but leading by example as well. You saw the indecisiveness in Minnesota, and that doesn’t make us better at all. So, he challenged me to be better this next game.”
The Las Vegas point guard rose to that challenge Sunday afternoon against Seattle. In front of a national TV audience and 3,766 screaming fans at Michelob ULTRA Arena, Chelsea Gray knocked down a game-winning pull-up jumper with 10.6 seconds remaining in overtime. Sunday’s 95-92 victory gives Las Vegas a 2-1 edge in the regular-season series with Seattle, a fact that could impact playoff seeding tiebreakers. Gray finished with 21 points, seven assists, and just two turnovers; 15 of her 21 points came during the fourth quarter and overtime. Per the website inpredictable.com, it was the twelfth-most clutch performance in WNBA history based on win probability added (a metric that measures how a player’s statistical contributions impact a team’s chances of winning).
Several factors pointed to the Storm leaving Las Vegas in sole possession of first place. While neither team ever had a double-digit lead, Seattle controlled much of Sunday’s contest. The Storm held the lead from the 2:54 mark in the first quarter until Kelsey Plum’s three with 5:47 remaining in the fourth quarter, a span of 27:07. Breanna Stewart (35 points, 11 rebounds, three blocks, three assists, and two steals) seemed unstoppable, recording a stat line bettered by just one player in league history (Candace Parker). Mercedes Russell (12 points, 11 boards) posted a double-double and outplayed Aces star center Liz Cambage. Seattle’s defense held reigning MVP A’ja Wilson (22 points, 11 rebounds) to just 7-of-24 shooting from the field. To be sure, Seattle’s 13 first-half turnovers, which Las Vegas converted into 15 points, were costly. Yet, it still felt like this was Seattle’s game to lose.
Then, Chelsea Gray caught fire. What ensued was one of the most entertaining finishes in recent memory. The fourth quarter alone featured five lead changes and two ties, as the W’s top two teams exchanged buckets down the stretch. The lethal pick-and-roll combination of Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart produced a Stewart fadeaway jumper with the score knotted at 84 and under five seconds in regulation. The shot just missed its mark, and Seattle failed to convert on two additional opportunities, giving everyone five minutes of free basketball. Down 90-88 with under 30 seconds left in overtime, Chelsea Gray drove the length of the court and converted an and-1 giving Las Vegas a one-point edge. After two Breanna Stewart free throws, Gray dribbled off a high post screen, crossed over Stewie, and drained the game-winning 15-footer with 10.6 seconds on the clock.
Indicative of the trust Bill Laimbeer has in his point guard, the Aces coach deferred to Gray on what play to call in their final possession. “Well, Bill just asked me ‘where do you want the ball? What kind of play do you want to run coming down the stretch?’” Gray recalled. “And I just said ‘mid-pick-and-roll.’ It allows for reads. It allows for spacing on the floor.”
Sadly, this marked the end of the regular season series between these two powerhouses, though they do seem destined to meet in the playoffs. The Storm (12-4) next see action Friday night when they travel to Atlanta. The Aces take the hardwood Wednesday when they travel to Los Angeles.
Three Stars of the Week
Despite the ongoing debate regarding Team USA’s roster, most basketball fans understand that talent-wise the national team has an embarrassment of riches. The outstanding single-game performances featured in this week’s Three Stars underscore that point. Let’s first take a look at a few honorable mentions, games that would have earned a spot on the Three Stars list almost any other week.
Honorable Mention:
Liz Cambage - Cambage recorded 18 points and 20 rebounds (six offensive) matched up against Sylvia Fowles: a three-time Defensive Player of the Year, number three this season in defensive win shares, and the W’s fifth-ranked player in defensive rebounding rate.
Arike Ogunbowale - The Dallas guard’s 12 points and three steals in the first quarter helped Dallas jump out to a 22-9 advantage against Washington on Friday. Her 11 fourth-quarter points enabled the Wings to put the game away for good. The 2020 All-WNBA First Team member became the first player since 2016 to record a 30-point, five-steal game.
Napheesa Collier - Collier (23 points, 10 boards, eight assists) was just two assists shy of a triple-double in the Lynx’s overtime win against Las Vegas.
Sami Whitcomb - The Liberty shooting guard dropped a career-high 30 points, including a blistering 7-12 from behind the arc, leading New York to a blowout win at Atlanta.
A’ja Wilson - It wasn’t her most efficient outing of the season (9-24 FG), but the 2020 MVP still managed a double-double versus Minnesota Friday night. Wilson drained two clutch free throws at the end of regulation to send the game into overtime and grabbed seven offensive rebounds, one shy of the league’s highest total this season.
Third Star: Breanna Stewart - 35 points, 11 rebounds, 3 blocks, 3 assists on 6/27 at Las Vegas
With apologies to the cast of The Sound of Music (and Richard Cohen), how do you solve a problem like Breanna? Las Vegas struggled to answer that question Sunday afternoon as Stewie went off for her league-tying eighth double-double this season and tallied the season’s second-highest single-game point total (Stewart herself has the league’s high game with 36 points). Her shot chart from Sunday demonstrates the multitude of ways Breanna Stewart can wreak havoc on opposing teams. Pick-and-rolls with Sue Bird, an unguardable mid-range fadeaway jumper, knocking down triples, and running the fast break all contributed to the sea of made shots shown below.
Second Star: Sylvia Fowles - 30 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals, 4 blocks on 6/25 vs. Las Vegas | 26 points, 19 rebounds, 5 blocks on 6/23 at Atlanta
Before Minnesota’s game at Atlanta Wednesday night, Cheryl Reeve told Sylvia Fowles that the team needed elite rebounding. Fowles hadn’t exactly been slacking off on the glass (averaging 8.8 rebounds per game entering Wednesday’s contest); however, the Lynx center still responded to the challenge by pulling down a combined 33 boards in a pair of wins against Atlanta and Las Vegas.
With Minnesota trailing 42-24 midway through the second quarter at Atlanta, Fowles dropped 10 points in just over three minutes, helping the Lynx engineer a 16-2 run and keeping the deficit manageable. Her 26-point, 19-rebound, and five-block stat line has been exceeded just once in WNBA history.
No player in league history has filled a stat sheet like Sylvia Fowles Friday night versus Las Vegas. It’s not just the unprecedented nature of her performance, it’s that it came against the cream of the WNBA crop. Her 30 points and four assists came against the league’s number-two team in defensive rating. She managed four steals and four blocks playing the W’s number-one team in offensive rating and turnover rate.
First Star: Tina Charles - 34 points, 16 rebounds, 5 assists on 6/22 at Seattle
While Sylvia Fowles had two top-notch performances this week, Tina Charles earns the First Star this week for leading a depleted, 13.5-point-underdog Mystics roster to a critical win at first-place Seattle. Here’s what the Washington center accomplished in Tuesday night’s victory:
She became the first player in league history to post consecutive 30-point/15-rebound games.
The 2012 MVP recorded the fifth 30-point, 15-rebound, and 5-assist game in WNBA history.
She broke the franchise single-season record for 30-point games with six. It took her 12 games.
Remember how Tina Charles became the first player in WNBA history to post a 30-point, 15-rebound, 3-steal, and 3-assist stat line last week? She was one steal away from duplicating the feat.
In the words of Billy Joel, what else do I have to say?
WNBA schedule this week (All times Eastern)
Here is a full listing of this week’s games, start times, and where you can catch the action.
Adam’s Power Rankings
Check out the Her Hoop Stats Twitter page (@herhoopstats) today for our latest power rankings! Based on the criterion of who would win if teams played today on a neutral court, here is my contribution to those rankings:
Her Hoop Stats content in case you missed it
Should Nneka Ogwumike have been named to the USA Basketball Olympic roster? Megan Gauer and Calvin Wetzel explored both sides of this contentious issue in the latest episode of Unplugged.
Aneela Khan interviewed Las Vegas Aces president Nikki Fargas about the franchise’s efforts to honor their alumnae during the WNBA’s 25th anniversary season.
In WNBA Dissected, Richard Cohen analyzed the Indiana Fever’s struggles; provided his thoughts on Nneka Ogwumike’s omission from the USA Basketball Olympic squad; and put out a call for transparency in the WNBA’s end-of-season award voting.
Calvin Wetzel nailed yet another back-to-back under in Thursday night’s Sky vs. Liberty match-up. Check out the Wetz Betz where Calvin explained the rationale for this pick and also follow along throughout the season as he tracks how his picks perform. Thus far, Calvin’s bets are 25-18-3 for a return on investment of 11.68%.
While Te’a Cooper is known for her defensive prowess, it was her offensive production that turned heads in Los Angeles’ win Thursday night against Washington. Gabe Ibrahim broke down her career-high 26 point-effort in the WNBA Minute.
Other recommended content
Katie Barnes chronicled Layshia Clarendon’s journey toward embracing their identity and how her passion for justice led her to become a powerful advocate for the voiceless. Check out the full article as well as ESPN’s video of the story.
For Global Sport Matters, Britni de la Cretaz wrote about the pressure faced by collegiate athletes to adhere to white, heteronormative standards of appearance and behavior.
The U.S. women’s national soccer and basketball teams recently announced their Olympic rosters. For The Athletic, Meg Linehan and Chantel Jennings compared and contrasted the teams’ selection processes and controversial picks.
For The Next, Jacqueline LeBlanc wrote about Morgan Tuck’s new role as director of franchise development for the Connecticut Sun.
Women’s professional basketball trivia questions of the week
I will post the answer to last week’s question on Twitter @herhoopstats. This week, your objective again is to determine the sum of the following items. Have fun and good luck!
In an active streak, the number of consecutive Olympic gold medals won by the U.S. women’s national basketball team
The number of triple-doubles in WNBA playoff history
The number of WNBA titles won by the league’s westernmost franchise
The number of WNBA titles won by the league’s easternmost franchise
The record number of All-WNBA First Teams to which Diana Taurasi has been named
Thanks for reading the Her Hoop Stats Newsletter. If you like our work, be sure to check out our stats site, our podcast, and our social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Tina Charles for MVP!
I love how the WNBA still has dominant Big's. Hoops is better with skilled Bigs, IMHO, that is