Connecticut Sun vs. Seattle Storm Prediction, Preview and Odds - 5/25/21
There's a top-flight matchup on the hardwood in an interconference tilt in WNBA action in the Pacific Northwest. The Connecticut Sun are on the road as they make the trip to face the defending champion Seattle Storm Tuesday night. Connecticut earned a 72-65 road victory over Las Vegas Sunday night in their most recent game. Seattle outgunned Dallas 100-97 in overtime on the road Saturday night in their last game. The Storm took both meetings between the teams in the bubble last season, including a 95-72 win as the road team in the most recent matchup back on August 16, 2020.
Sun Seeking to Remain Last Unbeaten Team in WNBA
Connecticut remained unbeaten as they took down Las Vegas on the road Sunday night to run their record to 5-0 on the season. The Sun now faces the defending champs as they try to extend their record to 6-0 on the season. Against Las Vegas, Connecticut relied on their defense to come up with a victory. The Sun jumped to an 11-2 lead early and led by 10 after the opening quarter only to get outscored 25-9 in the second to trail by six at the half. Connecticut trailed by six with 6:14 to play in the third quarter before going on a 17-0 run over the next three-and-a-half minutes to take a 50-39 edge. The Sun didn’t let the Aces draw closer than two the rest of the way as they refused to let Las Vegas get back to even. Connecticut shot 33.8% from the field, including seven of 26 from three-point range, but dominated the glass by a 44-26 margin to earn the win. DeWanna Bonner led the Sun with 22 points and seven rebounds in the victory.
The Sun is fifth in the league in scoring offense as they put up an average of 81.6 points per game so far this season. Connecticut is second in the league in rebounding (41.2 boards a night) while they stand sixth by dishing out 19.8 assists a game on the year. The Sun have been good defensively as they are first in scoring defense by allowing an average of 68.8 points per game. DeWanna Bonner leads the Sun with 19.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists a game. Jonquel Jones (18.4 points, 10.8 rebounds), Natisha Hiedeman (12.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists) and Brionna Jones (12 points, 5.8 rebounds) each average in double figures. Jasmine Thomas (10 points), Briann January, Beatrice Mompreier, Stephanie Jones, DiJonai Carrington and Kaila Charles are important pieces for coach Curt Miller. Connecticut is fifth in the league in field goal percentage as they shoot 43.7% as a team. The Sun is tied for third in three-pointers per game (nine) and second in three-point percentage (39.8%) on the year. Connecticut has sputtered at the charity stripe as they convert on 75% of their attempts, which is 8th in the league. January suffered an ankle injury on May 19 against Indiana and missed the last two games: she’s questionable for this contest.
Seattle Storm Looking to Earn Home Victory
Seattle earned their second straight win on the road as they outlasted the Wings in overtime Saturday night. The Storm now tries to make it three straight wins as they return home for this contest. In their clash with Dallas, Seattle jumped to a 9-2 lead out of the gate but the teams went back and forth the rest of the way. The Storm led by four after the opening quarter, trailed by one at the half, led by five after three quarters and were up seven with 4:57 to play in regulation only to wind up in overtime. Seattle trailed by one with under a minute to play in overtime but scored the game’s final four points to earn the victory. The Storm shot 43.8% from the field, including seven of 25 from three-point range, but cashed in 23 of their 27 free throw attempts while forcing 17 Dallas turnovers. Breanna Stewart led Seattle with 36 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks in the win.
The Storm comes into this contest second in the league in scoring offense with an average of 91.8 points per game. Seattle is fifth in rebounding (38 boards per contest) and is first in the league in assists by dishing out 22.3 dimes per night this year. The Storm is 11th in scoring defense as they allow 88.5 points a game so far this year. Breanna Stewart leads the team with 25.8 points and 10.5 rebounds per contest. Jewell Loyd (21.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists) and Sue Bird (9.5 points, 6.5 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 (10 points), Candice Dupree, Ezi Magbegor, Stephanie Talbot, Kennedy Burke, Epiphanny Prince, Mikiah Herbert Harrington and Kiana Williams. The Storm is third in the league in field goal percentage as they convert 46.2% of their shots from the floor this year. Seattle is second in the league in three-point field goals made per game (9.5) and is fourth in three-point percentage as they knock down 37.3% percent from beyond the arc. The Storm are average at the line, ranking sixth in the league by converting 79.7% 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 -3.5
Connecticut has been terrific in the early going, dispatching the Mercury twice along with the Aces, Fever and Dream once each. With that said, it’s been a lot of travel for the Suns, who played in Phoenix Friday, Las Vegas Sunday and now Seattle. Meanwhile, the Storm has been off since their road win Saturday over Dallas and they have a deep rotation to work with as well. Seattle is the defending champ for a reason and to quote Ric Flair “To be the man, you have to beat the man.” In this case, the women to beat are the Storm. Stewart, Loyd and Bird lead the way for Seattle at home as they claw out a victory and outduel the Sun, ending their perfect run.
Total: Over 163.5
This is definitely a distinct clash of styles between these teams. Connecticut leads the league in scoring defense on the year and stands second in field goal percentage defense (38.8%) and three-point field goal percentage defense (26.6%) on the season. The Sun have seen four of their five games this season fall under the total and eight of their last 10 games dating back to last season. Seattle is a high-octane team with plenty of offensive weaponry though their defense has been suspect this season. The Storm have gone over the total in all four of their games this season and the over has hit in eight of the last 10 meetings. Seeing how the last four meetings between the teams have ended up over the mark, look for this one to find a way to get over as the Storm forces Connecticut to play their style.
