The Lynx take on the Storm on Tuesday night for the second time in the past week. They beat the Storm 72-61 last Wednesday at Target Center. Getting to play the same team twice in a week is nice in some ways because it gives the opportunity to scout the opponent very thoroughly and somewhat mimics the types of adjustments that need to be made in a playoff series. That’s good practice. However, it’s important to remember that any advantages go both ways and this time the Lynx are playing on the road.

It’s hard to put a finger on this year’s Storm squad. In their season opener, they held the Phoenix Mercury to just 68 points and got a big win, but their next game was the loss to the Lynx. They followed that up with a huge victory in Atlanta but got beat the next night in Chicago.

The Storm are clearly trying to figure out their identity after losing Breanna Stewart and Sue Bird to injury, but they’re a dangerous team that’s capable of playing at a high level on any given night. They’re also going to be hungry to defend their homecourt after an uneven road trip that included a defeat at the hands of Minnesota. The Lynx will need to be at their best on Tuesday. 

What: Lynx at Storm
When:  9 p.m.
Where: Angel of the Winds Arena
Watch: Twitter

Lock It Down

The Lynx took care of the Storm last week by holding them to 36.4 percent shooting from the field. The Lynx have yet to allow an opponent to shoot over 40 percent from the field—that’s why they’re 3-0 right now. What’s especially encouraging is that they were able to play great defense on the road in their game on Saturday against Dallas. They held the Wings to 37.5 percent shooting from the field and forced 12 turnovers.

Defense is a great thing to build your team around in general, but it’s especially important on the road. Locking an opponent up takes the crowd out of the game and stops momentum from building. Additionally, because it’s harder to score on the road, it can be easier to play in lower-scoring games. We saw that on Saturday and Minnesota will need to replicate that performance in order to move to 4-0.

A big part of that effort is going to be Damiris Dantas’ work on Natasha Howard. Though Howard went for 18 points last Wednesday, Dantas did a great job making Howard work. She needs to do that again tonight. 

Getting Syl Going

Sylvia Fowles finally had one of her trademark high-efficiency games in Dallas and Minnesota could certainly use another one in Seattle.

The Storm did a good job sending double and triple teams at Fowles and cutting off her passing lanes when the two teams met in Minnesota. While Fowles grabbed 13 rebounds, she was limited to seven points and zero assists on the offensive end.

It’s clear that the Lynx made getting the ball inside to Fowles a point of emphasis on Saturday against the Wings, and Fowles responded with 19 points on 69.2 percent shooting from the field. Though the Storm have better interior defense than the Wings, Fowles should still be able to be productive if the Lynx get her in rhythm.

Injury Report:

Lynx: Seimone Augustus (knee) is out.
Storm: Sue Bird (knee) and Breanna Stewart (achilles) are out.

Probably Starters: 

Lynx: PG—Robinson, SG—Sims, SF—Collier, PF—Dantas, C—Fowles
Storm: PG—Canada, SG—Loyd, SF—Mosqueda-Lewis, PF—Howard, C—Langhorne