A Return to Postseason Vitality » Winsidr

It was in Chicago. The date was October 17, 2021: Game Four of the WNBA Finals. On that day, Skylar Diggins-Smith left the arena in disappointment after coming up short in the quest to win a championship. It was the last playoff game that she played in, but that changed this weekend. Now a member of the Seattle Storm, she returned to playoff basketball as her team competes against the Las Vegas Aces in the opening round.

Diggins-Smith is back in the postseason after a stint with the Phoenix Mercury that ultimately did not go as expected. During her time in Phoenix, she did reach the Finals in 2021, and had an MVP-caliber season in 2022 before stepping away at the end of the season. She gave birth to her second child, and missed the entirety of last season before becoming a free agent.

While she experienced positives in Phoenix, there were also difficulties. Her time with the Mercury was marred with animosity and contention.

This past offseason, Diggins-Smith made the decision to sign with the Storm. In addition to the team’s acquisition of Nneka Ogwumike, these were two of the biggest deals of the offseason. Two new veteran All-Stars were now in Seattle, joining a team led by Jewell Loyd.

In 2023, Loyd averaged a league-leading 24.7 points per game (PPG), along with 4.7 rebounds per game (RPG) and 3.4 assists per game (APG). Unfortunately for Seattle, her heroics did not translate to more wins.

It was a nightmare season for the Storm. It was the first season after the departures of Breanna Stewart and Sue Bird, and Loyd had to carry a heavy load to help the team win. Outside of Ezi Magbegor averaging 13.8 PPG, the scoring balance was not there, as no other Storm player averaged double-digit points. The Storm finished with an 11-29 record and missed the postseason for the first time since Loyd’s rookie season in 2015.

At the end of last season, Loyd signed an extension with the Storm. She was willing to stick around and help get the team back to the postseason; it was then the Storm organization’s job to ensure that happened.

The acquisitions of Diggins-Smith and Ogwumike, along with the return of Gabby Williams, made the operation much smoother for Seattle in 2024. Loyd (19.7 PPG), Ogwumike (16.7 PPG), Magbegor (11.7 PPG) and Williams (10.3 PPG in 12 games since joining the team post-Olympic break) helped provide better balanced scoring than what Seattle experienced last year.

Diggins-Smith put together another high-quality season, averaging 15.1 PPG, 6.4 APG, 2.6 RPG. It was her lowest points-per-game average since her 2016 season in Dallas, but the highest assists-per-game average of her career.

The Storm finished this season with a 25-15 record and are back in the postseason, not only for the first time since Stewart left, but also for the first time since the end of the Sue Bird era (a period that lasted two decades).

Seattle finished as the fifth seed, and began the postseason on the road against Las Vegas, and it is fitting that the Storm play the Aces. The Aces are the same team that eliminated them in their last postseason appearance in 2022. Two years ago, Las Vegas defeated Seattle 3-1 in the semifinals. Earlier that postseason, the Aces swept aside and eliminated Diggins-Smith’s Mercury team, while she was out.

At this moment, her team stands in the way of the Aces’ attempt to three-peat, and the Aces stand in her way of winning her first title.

Diggins-Smith’s last postseason appearance in 2021 was the only lengthy one of her WNBA career. She averaged 13.9 PPG, 6.1 APG, 3.6 RPG and shot 31.1 percent from three-point range during that postseason run with the Mercury. In the 2021 Finals, she had similar numbers with 12.8 PPG, 6.8 APG, 3.8 RPG and shot 30.0 percent from three-point range.

The Aces won three out of the four regular season meetings with the Storm this year, as well as taking Game One, 78-67. Seattle entered the fourth quarter with a one-point lead in Game One, but only managed to score two points in the final quarter. The team did not make a field goal in the quarter, and the two points came from two made free throws from Diggins-Smith.

If the Storm want to stay in the fight and increase their chances of winning the series, the backcourt of Diggins-Smith and Loyd must either match the production of the Aces’ guards or simply outplay them. Unfortunately for the Storm, their backcourt did not achieve that feat in Game One.

Jackie Young, Kelsey Plum, and Chelsea Gray are hard to stop when they get going on offense. In Game One, Plum struggled with only two points, but Young and Gray combined for 28 points. On Seattle’s side, Diggins-Smith and Loyd combined for 22 points.

A’ja Wilson is also playing in this series; she is the best player in basketball and just won her third MVP Award unanimously. Wilson’s points-per-game average this regular season (26.9 PPG) is almost as high as the combined points-per-game average between Ogwumike and Magbegor (28.4 PPG). So, the Storm need to score and keep up with a team that led the league with 86.4 PPG during the regular season. The Storm played without Magbegor in Game One due to concussion protocol, but she is slated to return for Game Two.

For the Storm to keep up with the Aces, they need to improve their three-point shooting. The Storm shot 28.8 percent from three-point range in the regular season, which was the worst in the league. Meanwhile, the Aces shot 35.5 percent from three-point range during the season. In fact, the Storm shot 24.2 percent from three-point range against the Aces this year, which was the worst out of all the other 11 teams.

Against the Aces, Diggins-Smith averaged 16.0 PPG, 7.5 APG, and 2.0 RPG, but shot only three-of-12 on three-pointers. She has to help take shooting pressure off of Loyd, who not only shot 27.4 percent from three-point range this season, but also returned from missing the final three games of the regular season with a knee issue.

The Storm did not find the magic shooting touch in Game One; the team went 4-of-16 from three-point range, while the Aces went 7-of-18.

Diggins-Smith tallied 16 points, eight assists and four rebounds in Game One. However, she was 5-of-15 from the field and missed all three of her three-point attempts. Loyd only played about 26 minutes and scored just six points on two-of-eight shooting from the field.

Diggins-Smith is really good at three-level scoring, driving to the basket, and facilitating for others. If she continues to do that, along with finding a way to elevate her three-point shooting and maintain her energetic disruptive activity on the defensive end, Seattle can remain alive in the series.

In her career, Diggins-Smith has received multiple All-WNBA team honors, All-Star selections, and an Olympic gold medal. The pairing between her and Seattle was a successful one; the team reached the postseason and has greatly benefited from her talent and veteran experience.

She helped revitalize the Storm and set the tone for what this group wants to accomplish going forward. She has an opportunity to win in Seattle, and the championship aspirations are as high as the rainbow arc of her shot. In her comeback season, Diggins-Smith reminded everyone of how great she is, and her efforts were rewarded with the Comeback Player of the Year award.

Diggins-Smith came close to winning a national championship in college, and she came close three years ago to winning a WNBA title. She is determined to finally be on top of the mountain and add another achievement to her illustrious career.

Stats as of September 24. Unless otherwise noted, stats courtesy of WNBA.com.