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This was quite an odd 1st H in Atlanta as they jumped out to a double digit lead early & the Storm starters played very sloppy for the first 5 minutes. After that display, Agler sent all 5 to the bench & the only starter to come back at any point in the 1st H was Tanisha Wright. Even after picking up her 3rd foul, he still did not go to the rest of his starters.
Meanwhile Atlanta failed to capitalize on the talent differential & ended up coughing up the lead & are down at HT. I know Agler wants to rest his players but no way did he decide in advance to only play them 5 minutes. When he is absolutely disgusted with their play, he will pull maneuvers like this. While they have the Western Conference taken care of, they still have overall home court to play for technically.
I expect the starting 5 to get some playing time here as they are the most prideful bunch in the league & they should take out their frustration on Atlanta & win this game outright by 8-12. If by some chance the starters don't play again, I still feel confident as the 2nd unit has some chemistry & scoring punch with a former league starter in Abrosimova & Wright.
Same ammo with Agler as he is resting his starters & has also sat LJ out for the game. The starters will see a little time in the 2nd H & the line is short enough to take a chance they make a push & the bench can hold on.
The lead was more of the Sun going off from beyond the arc versus the bench having problems scoring. This should be a 6-10 point loss at the most. I give them about a 35% chance of winning outright. It would be higher if they needed the game or gave a 100% care about it but I know they don't need it.
Quite honestly the Storm looked out of sorts in the 1st H & that has a lot to do with the lack of playing recently for the starters. They made a mini run but gave away some chances late. The Lynx are not doing themselves any favors as they should be up 20+ now if Augustus would not have her head up her ass. Speaking of head up the ass, Bird is not playing like herself. I look for this to change in the 2nd H as the Storm will not lose this game & in all honesty should cover this game very easily.
The Storm need to clean up their rebounding effort & quit with the unforced turnovers & this game should be a completely different story in the 2nd H.
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