By Christan Braswell, edited by Charles Hamaker

Los Angeles, CA - The post-Olympic break hasn’t been kind to the Seattle Storm. After carrying a 17-8 record (winning eight of ten going into the Olympic break) before the month-long pause, they’ve lost six of their last ten games while failing to win two straight since mid-July.

With five games remaining in the regular season, playoff seeding and matchups are important, but Storm coach Noelle Quinn and her group are focused on what they can control. The controllables include stamping their mark on their approach before all is said and done.

That’s exactly what the Storm did in their best win of the second half over the Phoenix Mercury. A 40-24 paint points advantage and 32-21 in bench points alongside 26 assists to six turnovers were crucial elements to a cohesive team win. Performances like these won’t always be as perfect, but the Storm has the talent and discipline to continue similarly as they have all season.

Some teams need to get right at this point of the season. In Seattle’s case, they must stay right and the opportunity presents itself with a matchup against the Los Angeles Sparks (7-29) tonight, but it won’t be an easy out. Despite having the worst record in the league and riding a five-game losing streak at a 13.2-point average, the Sparks won’t just give in because their season ends next week.

Sparks All-Star Dearica Hamby is averaging 17.2 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 3.5 assists this season. While her productivity has taken a dip since the break, after a rough two-game set against the Connecticut Sun where she averaged 11 points and couldn’t find her rhythm against a stout Sun defense, she will be looking to get back on track tonight.

In post-Olympic play, Sparks rookie forward Rickea Jackson is sixth in points amongst forwards (16.4) on a 54 percent effective field-goal clip. After a rough start to the season, Jackson is thriving in all facets of her game, especially in closing minutes as her experience and comfortability grow.

For the Storm, it’s important to continue the efforts shown in the Mercury win throughout the rest of the regular season.

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Cover photo by Rio Giancarlo. Check out Circling Seattle Sports’ previous articles with photos by Rio Giancarlo, and his portfolio here.

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