WNBA FINALS: STORM VS. ACES

October 4, 2020

Natasha Howard

Seattle Storm

Game 2: Postgame

Seattle Storm 104, Las Vegas Aces 91

Q. Does it feel like a win in the sense that A'ja only went to the line four times and you guys were able to keep them off the line in general?

NATASHA HOWARD: Yes, absolutely, we made sure that -- we know A'ja's really good at going to the free throw line, so we made sure that we were aggressive but in a smart way to make sure they wouldn't get to the line like they normally do like they went to the line in the regular season.

Kudos to everybody that played phenomenal defense, and also for not letting A'ja Wilson get to the free throw line like she normally does.

Q. In Game 1, you had six points and today, 21 on 9-of-10 shooting. What was working so well for you offensively tonight?

NATASHA HOWARD: I had to bounce back from the last game. But just playing my game and letting the game come to me and just being free out there. It's having fun. It's the Finals. You want to make sure you relax and you just having fun out there, you just having fun and just being you and knowing your role on the floor.

Q. What are your overall impressions of the team's performance in the first two games and what are your plans to finish off the Las Vegas Aces in Game 3 this Tuesday?

NATASHA HOWARD: Well, start off with our Captain, Sue Bird, just leading us and it goes from the starting five all the way down to the players on the bench as well.

Our team chemistry's been amazing since we've been in this bubble. A team that knows their roles and know each other and how they play and stuff like that. It's amazing, and everybody know what they are capable of doing on the floor. So just our team chemistry overall, we been playing with each other for three, four, five years and stuff, and some of us have been playing with each other for a year. So that team chemistry, since we been here so far, it's just an incredible feeling to have that great chemistry on and off the floor, too, as well.

Q. What is the feeling here being just one win away from the title? What's the attitude going into the next game?

NATASHA HOWARD: Going into the next game, we playing like we down 2-0 right now. So got to have that mindset, that hungry mindset, that we down 2-0, like I said. Just make sure we stay on our right path and everybody focus and everybody sharp with practice and stuff and make sure we know what we need to do on every person, if we switch up schemes and stuff like that. We got to make sure everybody is on the same page coming into Game 3 on Tuesday.

Q. Thanks for being here with us. I wanted to know if you could talk to us about your teammate AC and how you've observed her balancing guarding Angel, while also today finding a way to contribute offensively maybe amid a colder game in Game 1.

NATASHA HOWARD: Well, you know, like AC, she's a good player on both end of the floor. She didn't have a good game in the first game, but she bounced back. That's one thing with AC. She know how to bounce back. She know how to move on to the next possession or moving from the next subject or whatever. Having her play the game the way she did today is great. It's great the way she played today. We're happy that she was able to contribute on both ends of the floor for us and also guarding Angel. I really appreciate everything that AC does for us on both ends of the floor.

Q. As somebody who saw Sue and Stewie up close in 2018, and has seen them in 2020, if you go by their net rating as a duo, they are significantly better somehow in 2020 than they even were when you guys won the last championship. What do you account for that and what are they doing better than they were doing the year you guys last won at all?

NATASHA HOWARD: They doing a lot of things different than what they did last season. Breanna is still doing her thing, but she also doing a lot on the defensive end, too, as well. Like she's doing both things on both ends of the floor and not just on one side of the floor. That's one thing I've seen from Breanna this year is just the way she playing on both ends of the floor and she's not letting anybody stop her on the offensive floor. She's being aggressive and not settling and taking it to the hole.

With Sue Bird -- Sue Bird is Sue Bird. She's going to do her thing no matter what.