The San Antonio Silver Stars vs. Seattle Storm game in the WNBA will tip off late on Tuesday night as they are the lone late game on the schedule. For all of your wagering odds in the WNBA check out online sportsbook Skybook.
After coming up just short against the Western Conference’s top team, the San Antonio Silver Stars may not find things much easier versus the reigning WNBA champions.
The Silver Stars already have one loss during the Seattle Storm’s five-game home winning streak, which San Antonio will try to end Tuesday night.
San Antonio had a 12-point halftime lead Sunday, but couldn’t hold on against West-leading Minnesota. Lindsay Whalen hit a go-ahead jumper over Jayne Appel with 1.5 seconds left, giving the Lynx a 70-69 win.
It was a tough loss for second-place San Antonio (11-6) to take, but the Silver Stars hope to quickly put it behind them.
“This game doesn’t make or break us. There’s still a lot of basketball left to be played,” said guard Jia Perkins. “We still have the whole second half. … We have a chance to redeem ourselves.”
They could start by beating Seattle (10-8), which has won three of four after capping a three-game road stretch with Saturday’s 89-72 victory at Tulsa.
“We’re really glad to get the win. Any road win, especially against a Western Conference team is big, but coming off (Friday’s 92-67 loss at Minnesota) was important for us to go 2-1 on this road trip,” said Sue Bird, who scored a season-high 29 points in the victory.
“For me to be able to help my team I have to be aggressive, and if that means when I’m open to take the shots, that’s what I have to do,” Bird said. “By being aggressive, getting some shots to fall in the first half, I was able to be aggressive and find my teammates. They did an awesome job of knocking down shots.”
Bird was very aggressive, getting to the free-throw line a season-high 10 times - and making all of them.
“I’m not one to get to the free-throw line, so you just want to knock them down,” Bird said.
Seattle has played six of its last seven games on the road, and it should be happy to have eight of its 12 August contests at KeyArena.
The Storm are 6-1 at home, with the most recent game there a 73-55 victory over the Silver Stars on July 21. Bird was held to two points, but guard Tanisha Wright scored 17 to help defeat San Antonio.
The Silver Stars, still tied for the league’s best at 6-2 on the road, shot 27.7 percent from the field that night, their worst performance of the season.
“This is one of the most physical teams in the league, if not the most physical, and we just didn’t handle it very well,” San Antonio’s Becky Hammon said. “It was one of those nights where everything went wrong. They came out with a purpose and really focused and put it on us.”
The Silver Stars won the teams’ first matchup 69-66 at home July 14, but were led by 23 points from Danielle Adams, who is now out with a strained right foot.
Seattle is riding a hot streak so it will be exciting to see if the Silver Stars can slow them down.