Day One of the Rest of the Season

With a playoff spot secured, the Storm got back to work Monday at The Furtado Center, practicing in preparation for tomorrow's game with Minnesota.

Saturday had a palpable effect on the mood at Furtado. It would have been one thing to clinch, as the Storm did, with Houston's loss at San Antonio and then go out and play poorly. Instead, the Storm had a complete game in dismantling the Washington Mystics 91-68 at the Key.

On top of that, the team will be at home the rest of the week for the final two regular-season games against the Lynx and the Los Angeles Sparks on Friday before preparing to host Game 1 of a first-round series either Aug. 23 or Aug. 24 at the Key.

"The schedule right now works out in our favor," said Anne Donovan, who resisted the temptation to add "at last."

Ashley Robinson's performance filling in at center for Janell Burse has given the team a lot of confidence about its new starting lineup. Robinson has 24 rebounds and five blocks over the last two games. Donovan gave Robinson a lot of credit for what she termed, "Defensively, one of our best games by far" against the Mystics. She also cited Robinson's excellent communication as the anchor of the team's defense.

Betty Lennox is scheduled for an MRI this afternoon on her left wrist, termed as "precautionary" by all parties. She practiced today and is planning to keep playing through the injury barring something very surprising showing up on the MRI.

I caught the tail end of Lauren Jackson talking about where she is in the grieving process after her grandmother passed away last week.

"I have a lot of people supporting me," Jackson said. "I feel better each day."