Storm @ Mercury 5/25

Ah. That feels much better. With Janell Burse's return to the starting lineup the Seattle Storm returned to form with a 94-81 victory over the Phoenix Mercury. The Storm simply dominated the Mercury on the inside with solid post play from their triumverate of Lauren Jackson (career high 35 points, 9 rebounds), Janell Burse (14 points, 6 rebounds) and Wendy Palmer (10 points, 7 rebounds). The Storm rediscovered their individual and team defense, though Sue Bird did not have another record steals night, she played solid defense throughout the evening. Betty Lennox was the only other player in double figures for the Storm with ten points. The inside was working so well they seldom needed to shoot.

The Mercury continue to struggle with "Paul Ball" as their pressure defense was not at all effective against Sue Bird, and the post dominance of the Storm kept them mostly off the boards preventing a fast break momentum. Diana Taurasi and rookie Cappie Pondexter were fabulous offensively putting up 28 and 21 points respectively. Guard Tamicha Jackson was filling in for the injured Kelly Miller and was the only other player in double figures. The Mercury bigs were shut down other than a handful of outside jumpers.

Seattle needs to keep up this momentum as they head into Arco Arena next to face the defending champion Sacramento Monarchs.

BY THE NUMBERS

Storm
Possesions: 79.97
Offensive Rating: 115.58

Player Ratings
Palmer
Floor %: 62% Stop%: 47% Offensive Rating: 130.74 Net Points: 4.84 Plus/Minus: +18
Gortman
Floor %: 54% Stop%: 45% Offensive Rating: 141.87 Net Points: 2.74 Plus/Minus: +12
Burse
Floor %: 53% Stop%: 33% Offensive Rating: 102.14 Net Points: 5.69 Plus/Minus: +10
Bird
Floor %: 54% Stop %: 28% Offensive Rating: 119.52 Net Points: 4.42 Plus/Minus: +9
Castro Marques
Floor %: 23% Stop%: 32% Offensive Rating: 41.73 Net Points: -0.71 Plus/Minus: +7
Wright
Floor %: 40% Stop%: 40% Offensive Rating: 79.56 Net Points: 1.16 Plus/Minus: +5
Jackson
Floor %: 66% Stop%: 36% Offensive Rating: 139.14 Net Points: 18.03 Plus/Minus: +4
Turner
Floor %: 69% Stop%: 39% Offensive Rating: 139.53 Net Points: 3.94 Plus/Minus: +4
Lennox
Floor %: 58% Stop %: 40% Offensive Rating: 129.63 Net Points: 1.89 Plus/Minus: +2
Chones
Floor %: 0% Stop %: 24% Offensive Rating: 0 Net Points: 0 Plus/Minus: -2
Johnson
Floor %: 0% Stop %: 45% Offensive Rating: 0 Net Points: 0 Plus/Minus: -4

Most Effective Lineups
Bird-Gortman-Castro-Palmer-Burse: +5
Bird-Lennox-Gortman-Jackson-Palmer: +4
Wright-Gortman-Turner-Palmer-Burse: +4

Least Effective Lineups
Bird-Lennox-Wright-Jackson-Burse: -3
Wright-Gortman-Turner-Chones-Johnson: -2
Gortman-Lennox-Turner-Jackson-Palmer: -2
Bird-Wright-Turner-Johnson-Burse: -2