Short-handed Storm fall to Aces, will start postseason on the road

If the Storm match up with the Las Vegas Aces in the first round of the postseason — and that’s a very big if — coach Noelle Quinn doesn’t believe Tuesday’s 85-72 loss was a playoff preview.

“We’re not going to be the same team when we see them in the playoffs because we are without two of our starters,” Quinn said noting Seattle was without Jewell Loyd (right knee) and Ezi Magbegor (concussion), who each missed their second straight game.

And a point of clarity, while the Storm (24-15) are locked into the No. 5 seed, their first-round opponent — the No. 4 seed — is still undetermined.

Heading into Thursday’s regular-season finale, the Connecticut Sun (27-12) have a one-game lead over the Aces (26-13). If the teams finish tied, Las Vegas claims the No. 3 seed and Seattle plays Connecticut in the first round.

Thursday’s loss in front of 14,298 at Climate Pledge Arena snapped the Storm’s four-game losing streak and guarantees they’ll begin a best-of-three first-round series on the road.

Nneka Ogwumike led Seattle with 19 points, Skylar Diggins-Smith finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and three steals and Gabby Williams had 11 points, four rebounds, five assists and two steals.

The Storm trailed 29-16 late in the first quarter and fell behind 44-26 midway in the second quarter.

Seattle trimmed its deficit to 48-40 at halftime and Diggins-Smith drained a short jumper its first lead 65-64 with 8:26 left.

And that’s when the Storm completely fell apart while the Aces ran away with the win.

Las Vegas outscored Seattle 21-7 the rest of the way.

Aces forward A’ja Wilson, who has more points (1,021) and rebounds (451) in a season than anyone in WNBA history, had 21 points and seven rebounds.

Former Washington Husky star Kelsey Plum tallied 21 points and seven rebounds while Jackie Young had 16 points. Chelsea Gray chipped in 13 points and Tiffany Hayes added 10 off the bench for Las Vegas, which shot 53.3% from the field.