Recapping the Storm’s win in Game 2 of the WNBA Finals.
Seattle Storm shows city still loves great basketball – Steve Kelley, Seattle Times
They awakened the echoes inside KeyArena. They made this new/old barn shake in a way it hasn’t since 2005.
It virtually was seismic.
These Storm players reminded the 13,898 inside the Key’s caldron just how important professional basketball is to this town.
Storm is one win from WNBA title – Jayda Evans, Seattle Times
Seattle used textbook defensive pressure late to prevent a talented Atlanta team from pulling off an upset, winning Game 2 of the best-of-five WNBA Finals 87-84. The Storm, bumped in the opening round of its previous five postseason appearances, is now just one victory from winning its second championship.
KeyArena fans love Castro Marques – to a point – Jayda Evans, Seattle Times
Castro Marques was a pool of tears in 2009 when she was presented with a bouquet of flowers, honored for being named to the Storm’s All Decade team.
“They love Izzy here,” said Atlanta coach Marynell Meadors before Game 2 of the WNBA Finals on Tuesday. “For a while she couldn’t play here because she was so emotional. When they gave her roses, I said, ‘She’s done!’ She’s got tears and I’m going, ‘Izzy, forget it.’ This year she’s matured into an Atlanta Dream player.”
Seattle beats Atlanta to take 2-0 lead in Finals – Tim Booth, Associated Press (seattlepi.com)
When it was over, the coach focused on the bottom line: The Storm are just one win away from their second WNBA title.
“It’s almost like everyone is disgusted with how we’ve played the last two games,” Agler said. “The point is, we’re up 2-0.”
No bad Dream; Storm nears another title – Mike Allende, The News Tribune
Seattle improved to 21-0 at home, but just as in Game 1 there was nothing easy about it. Atlanta’s defense pressured the Storm from the start, and the Dream crashed the glass hard, limiting Seattle’s second-chance points. But Storm coach Brian Agler said that people are too focused on what his team didn’t do, and not recognizing what it did do.
Storm wins another nailbiter – Aaron Lommers, Everett Herald
The Atlanta Dream aren’t making it easy on the Seattle Storm.
The KeyArena crowd isn’t making in easy on the Dream.
Lauren Jackson leads Storm to 2-0 start – Mechelle Voepel, ESPN.com
The Dream still ended up the worse for wear against the league MVP and her team, as the Storm held off Atlanta a second consecutive time. In Seattle’s 87-84 Game 2 victory, Jackson had 26 points and seven rebounds.
She earned 13 of her points at the foul line, as the Dream did what they could to hamper Jackson’s outside looks — she had one 3-pointer Tuesday compared to four on Sunday — and forced her to earn most of what she got by paying a physical price inside for it.
Can Dream get win and extend series? – Mechelle Voepel, ESPN.com
The Atlanta Dream players probably feel they’ve made two hefty payments on a mortgage, but neither one actually touched the principle. It was all interest. Now, they’ll have to come up with three even bigger sums.
The property they are hoping to get their hands on is the WNBA Finals trophy, but it looks closer to being in Seattle’s grasp. Still, the Storm don’t have it just yet. So there’s still time for the Dream to wrest it away.
Scrappy Storm on verge of WNBA title – Michelle Smith, Fanhouse.com
Seattle took a 2-0 lead in the series with Tuesday night’s 87-84 victory at Key Arena, seemingly poised to finish where it started this season — as the top team in the league.
But the Dream didn’t make it easy for the Storm. Late-game heroics by Sue Bird and Swin Cash secured wins for Seattle on the home court. Still, Atlanta has proven that it belongs in this series.
The problem for the Dream is this … Seattle doesn’t need it to be easy.
Storm Just Makes Plays to Win Game Two – Nate Parham, SBN Seattle
Nobody will tell you that the Seattle Storm’s 87-84 win over the Atlanta Dream in KeyArena tonight was an example of how beautiful basketball can be.
“Sometimes, especially in final games of any sort, championship games, it’s never going to be — you can’t expect it to be — pretty,” said Storm point guard Sue Bird, who finished with eight points and four assists. “You’re not going to go out there and win by 20 and everything’s going to be honky-dory; it’s just not going to happen. You gotta grind it out.”
Cash Helps Storm Collect 2-0 Finals Lead – Scott Stanchak, WNBA.com
McCoughtry, the league’s third-leading scorer in 2010, finished the game with 21 points, which is a fraction less than her average (21.1 ppg) for the regular season.
“She’s a high-volume shooter. She’s going to take a lot of shots regardless of who’s guarding her,” Cash said. “The thing is every shot that I’m in her space or (Tanisha Wright) is in her space we have a hand up, she’s taking a tough shot. If she makes a miraculous, turn-around 360 then hey, we can live with that.”
Dream Hoping Return Home Can Spark Turnaround – Frank Della Femina, WNBA.com
The hole is deep but not insurmountable. The Dream is still alive in Atlanta.
Tuesday’s 87-84 loss to the Storm at KeyArena in Seattle makes it a must-win situation for the remainder of the best-of-five series for the Atlanta Dream. After opening up the series on the road in front of the rabid Seattle fans, members of the Dream are looking forward to the opportunity to turn the tides on the Storm back home at Philips Arena in Atlanta.
A Night at the WNBA Finals – M. Haubs, The Painted Area
With the FIBA World Championship concluding on Sunday, I decided to keep the September basketball overload going by attending Game 2 of the WNBA Finals on Tuesday night. The Seattle Storm defeated the Atlanta Dream 87-84 in an electric atmosphere at KeyArena with 13,898 in attendance. Seattle took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series, and ran its overall season record to 34-6, including a perfect 21-0 at home.
NBA TV goes All Access on Game 2:
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