Daily Briefing — May 30, 2022: Diana Taurasi, Sabrina Ionescu, Sylvia Fowles suffer painful losses

• Phoenix suffered its second-worst loss of the past decade to a team that missed the prior year’s playoffs
• New York entered halftime on pace for the second-biggest loss in league history
• Minnesota lost to Los Angeles

(Mercury and Liberty stats per Across The Timeline)

Now, credit to Atlanta, which has been playing above all reasonable expectation; and credit to Seattle, which secured the 12th-largest win in team history despite missing Sue Bird, two borderline-All-Defense-level centers, and Stephanie Talbot; also Los Angeles won a game in spite of their near-max center making headlines for a violent and incredibly racist outburst. (Late Sunday night, Cambage issued this statement.)

More importantly: what do you do if you’re Phoenix or New York or Minnesota? You’ve got just one player between them under 25 with All-WNBA upside (Sabrina Ionescu), a host of veterans at or near retirement (Sylvia Fowles, Diana Taurasi, Tina Charles, Sami Whitcomb), and some high-priced veterans who don’t fit together too well (Natasha Howard and Stefanie Dolson, Kayla McBride and Aerial Powers, Diamond DeShields and the other high-usage Mercury). All three of these teams came into the season with championship or deep-playoff aspirations. Right now, it’s hard to see how any of them get there within the near future (barring a major roster change).

With that in mind, let’s review the state of the league, three weeks in:

Playoff picture

Lottery

(Sorted from best odds to worst)

1. New York
2. Minnesota
3. Phoenix
4. Indiana

W Roundup

Indiana: Added former Seattle defensive coordinator Gary Kloppenberg. “Klop” is well-known for bringing his father’s famed “SOS” defense to the Storm, a system the Fever might just have the personnel to pull off.

Watch List, Monday, May 30

None

Sunday, May 29 recap

Atlanta beat Phoenix, 81-54. The Dream won the second quarter 23-8. Atlanta shot 22.1 percentage points better from the field and 21.7% percentage points better from three; the Mercury had 15 more free throws; the Dream won the rebounding battle by 18; Phoenix had nine assists, tied for fewest in a game this year, per Across The Timeline; Atlanta committed 23 turnovers.

Off-ball guard Kristy Wallace led the Dream with 17 points on 7-for-15 from the field (1-4 3pt.), three rebounds, and two assists against three turnovers; combo guard Erica Wheeler had 16 points on 7-for-11 shooting (2-3 3pt.), three rebounds, and three assists against three turnovers; big Cheyenne Parker recorded a double-double with 12 points on 6-for-10 FG and 10 rebounds, plus two assists and two steals against three turnovers; backup point guard Aari McDonald notched 10 points on 4-for-9 from the field and 2-for-6 from three, eight rebounds, five assists, and two steals against five turnovers.

Phoenix was led by wing Diamond DeShields’ 23 points on 8-for-27 from the field (1-2 3pt.) and 6-for-9 from the line, five rebounds, and five steals against three turnovers; the Mercury’s second-leading scorer was combo guard Skylar Diggins-Smith… who scored seven points. Yikes.

Seattle beat New York, 92-61. The Storm led 49-23 at the half, on pace for the second-largest win in WNBA history; Seattle had separate 17-3, 16-0, and 14-0 runs. The Storm shot 49.3% from the field, 54.2% from three, and 7-for-7 from the line — just the third 45/50/100 game in team history and the second against the Liberty in as many years, per Across The Timeline — while holding New York to 33.8% overall and 25.9% from deep; the Liberty assisted on 20 of their 22 buckets; Seattle notched 13 steals.

Combo guard Jewell Loyd led the Storm with 22 points on 8-for-15 from the field and 4-for-7 from three, three rebounds, and six assists in 28 minutes; big wing Breanna Stewart had 14 points on 6-for-11 shooting (2-3 3pt.), eight rebounds, five assists, six steals, and two blocks in 23 minutes — just the fourth 14/8/5/6/2 game in league history, and the first in fewer than 35 minutes, per Sports Reference; big Jantel Lavender recorded a double-double in 27 minutes, with 12 points on 6-for-8 FG and 10 rebounds, plus two assists against two turnovers; wing Kaela Davis, signed yesterday, scored 11 points on 4-for-7 shooting (2-3 3pt.), plus two rebounds and two steals against four fouls in 18 minutes; combo guard Briann January notched 12 points on 4-for-6 from the field (2-3 3pt.), three rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Every active Seattle player scored — except for combo guard Epiphanny Prince, who entered Sunday as the third-most efficient scorer in the league.

New York was led by backup center Han Xu’s 13 points on 5-for-13 FG (0-1 3pt.), eight rebounds, and two turnovers; big Natasha Howard had 10 points on 4-for-7 shooting (1-2 3pt.), four rebounds, three assists, and two steals against four turnovers.

Los Angeles beat Minnesota, 85-83. The Sparks won the first quarter 24-11. Los Angeles shot 9.5 percentage points better from the field and 12.2 percentage points better three; the Lynx took 16 more free-throws; the teams combined for 46 fouls.

The Sparks were led by point guard Chennedy Carter’s 20 points on 8-for-15 shooting (0-2 3pt.), six rebounds, and four assists; big Nneka Ogwumike had 16 points on 6-for-10 FG (0-1 3pt.), five rebounds, and two assists against three turnovers and four fouls in 31 minutes. Only eight Sparks were active — point guard Jordin Canada and off-ball guard Rae Burrell due to injury, while combo forward Jasmine Walker and Amy Atwell were healthy scratches.

Off-ball guard Kayla McBride led Minnesota with 19 points on 5-for-13 from the field, 1-for-5 from three, and 8-for-8 from the line and three steals against two turnovers; center Sylvia Fowles fouled-out in 31 minutes, finishing with 15 points on 4-for-8 FG (7-13 FT), seven rebounds, and two steals against three turnovers; off-ball guard Aerial Powers came off the bench for the first time this season, and scored 15 points on 3-for-8 shooting (9-10 FT), plus three assists against two turnovers.