Flau’jae Johnson turned in the most efficient big scoring night by a rookie Seattle Storm history on Monday. Yet, it still wasn’t enough. The Storm fell to the Minnesota Lynx 105-102, but Johnson’s performance was good enough to earn a rare public compliment from the player she’s been chasing all season, fellow rookie Olivia Miles.

Asked about their rookie duel afterward, Miles didn’t hold back.

“Yeah, Flau’s great. She’s a competitor,” Miles said in the post-match interview. “Felt like she couldn’t miss for a while there. So grateful she missed the last shot at the end there, but it was fun to always compete. Same person in the draft class, obviously went to college together in the same year, at different universities. We watched each other, supported each other, so it’s cool to get out there and compete at the highest level.”

That respect was earned in real time. Johnson finished with 26 points on five made 3-pointers, shooting 63.6% from the field for a true shooting percentage of 89.5%. That kind of efficiency is what makes her the highlight of the night even in a loss.

Miles matched her, and then added some. She finished with 32 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists, one point shy of her own career high set July 13 against Phoenix. Kayla McBride led all scorers with 33 points, and Courtney Williams sealed it with two free throws in the final seconds after Johnson’s potential game-tying three rimmed out at the buzzer. The win was Minnesota’s sixth straight, pushing the Lynx to 21-6 atop the West.

Johnson’s night fits a pattern that’s held for most of her rookie season. She’s averaging 12.2 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game, third among all rookies in scoring and first among them in rebounding. These numbers have made her Seattle’s most complete two-way player almost by necessity. Her 28-point game against the Liberty on June 25, built on 11-of-23 shooting with nine rebounds and three steals, showed the same combination of scoring and defensive activity that showed up again Monday.

What Johnson hasn’t been able to do is stop Seattle’s slide. Injuries have made that close to impossible this season.

Injuries have gutted Seattle’s frontcourt

Ezi Magbegor missed the first 20 games of the season recovering from a right foot injury suffered playing for Australia. She then managed just four games back before suffering a facial fracture that will keep her out for at least a couple more weeks. Katie Lou Samuelson, signed in April after missing the entire 2025 season with a torn ACL, opened this season still working her way back and only recently found consistent minutes.

With a 6-22 record, Seattle sits near the bottom of the league standings. Their losses are now taking a brutal shape. Monday’s game was their latest heartbreaker, decided in the final possession. This has been a pattern that has defined their season as much as the injuries have.

Seattle gets an immediate chance to flip the script very soon. The Storm host Minnesota again on Wednesday at Climate Pledge Arena. This would be the second half of a back-to-back that also marks the last game for both teams before the All-Star break.