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SEATTLE – The Washington Mystics surprisingly withstood the first appearance of the WNBA finals in franchise history on Friday night, beating Seattle Storm at the top end of the first period and never threatening the frenetic KeyArena.
The margin of defeat was by far the most unbalanced for Washington in the playoffs, which will resume Sunday afternoon, the Mystics seeking to save a division in the playoffs before returning to East Wednesday.
The Mystics' previous two playoff defeats were combined by eight points.
"Essentially, we launched our butt in every phase of the game," said coach Mike Thibault.
Poor shooting and defensive failures conspired to inflict Washington's third loss to the Storm in four games. All these defeats took place on the road, where the Mystics had been admirable during the latter part of the season.
Not on this night, though. In front of an announced crowd of 11,486 spectators, the Mystics went from 3 to 21 points (14%) against three points, made 13 turnovers and were overwhelmed by the quick 18-0 save points and points in the painting 50-32.
[Mystics, Storm tangle with focus squarely on pair of power forwards]
They also shot 55% in Seattle, which took third place behind Breanna Stewart, the league's MVP. She had 11 of her 22 points in the quarter, repeatedly getting clean looks in the painted area, to put Seattle at a 77-53 lead.
His team-mate Jewell Loyd finished with 23 points in the rout, which allowed Mystics star striker Elena Delle Donne to join the bench early in the fourth quarter.
"We never want to allow them to hit us in the mouth first, but they did," said Natasha Cloud, the guard of Mystics. "This crowd they have here is phenomenal and they feed on their energy. So, once out of reach, they just put the foot on gasoline. "
Playing again with a brace to protect her sore knee, Delle Donne collected 10 points in 4-in-11 with seven rebounds, ending a five-game series with a double-double.
[All aboard the Washington Mystics bandwagon]
Rookie forward Ariel Atkins led Washington with 23 points, his second straight game with at least 20 points.
Sanders is one of the strongest defenders of the WNBA as well as an effective shooter of the foul line. She did not score and had three rebounds in her second game this season in Seattle.
Sanders missed the first game of the regular season at KeyArena while recovering from anemia. Delle Donne with a recurrence of Lyme Disease and Cloud, who had a kidney problem, was also absent from this 81-77 loss.
With Delle Donne healing a left knee bruise this time around, the Mystics support cast remained mostly dormant. It was these players who pushed Washington to his first finals in 21 years with a win of match 5 in Atlanta in the semifinal on Tuesday night.
Washington did not have much time to celebrate this triumph. Rather than returning home Wednesday, the Mystics went directly from Atlanta to Seattle to spend an extra day adjusting to the schedule and practice in the area.
Delle Donne continued to receive almost 24-hour treatment on her knee, which injured her in the second game of the semifinal at McCamish Hall. Delle Donne, who had initially feared being lost for the season with torn ligaments, missed Match 3 before coming back to help Washington get out of a 2-on-1 deficit.
[Sue Bird is the Benjamin Button of the WNBA]
Seattle oversaw an injury to a featured player after playmaker Sue Bird (seven assists) broke her nose in the fourth game of the Storm semifinal series against the Phoenix Mercury. She did not reinstate this match because her nose continued to bleed despite the best efforts of the sports training staff.
Bird was allowed to play in the fifth match after the broken fifth nose of his decorated career. Wearing a protective mask, the WNBA double champion scored 14 points in the fourth quarter, allowing the storm to retire, 94-84, at home.
Another turbulent crowd nearly filled KeyArena on Friday to see the Storm harness that energy in the first quarter to take a 22-11 lead thanks to a 10-2 run helped by Washington's sloppy possessions.
Bird made the leap with a stolen and undisputed lay-up, leading to a timeout of Thibault with 2:04 to go, which clearly displeased the Mystics' five turnovers in the first quarter, after which they were led 24-13.
A more leisurely ball safety contributed to Washington's 48-32 deficit at half-time, which took shape when Loyd scored 10 consecutive points, reserving the race to three points. With an average of 15.5 points in the regular season, Loyd had scored in doubles in just one of his last three games.
Serious problems also hit the Mystics in the first half, with Atkins and Kristi Toliver making up for each, sending them to the bench for long periods. This tandem accumulated 39 points in the fifth match of the semi-finals.
"One of those days we shot well and Washington did not play," said storm coach Dan Hughes. "They'll be here, but every time you're at home, it's something you want to have. So obviously happy to go out the door here in game 1. "
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