Natasha Howard is more than doing her part to help the Seattle Storm move on without two of the best players in WNBA history.
The Storm forward looks to continue her strong start Saturday night when the reigning league champions try to maintain their recent dominance over the host Chicago Sky.
With 2018 MVP Breanna Stewart missing the season with an Achilles injury and legend Sue Bird out indefinitely because of a knee issue, many wonder if the Storm (2-1) can seriously defend their title. Thanks to Howard, the early indication seems to be positive.
After setting career highs with 13.2 points and 6.4 rebounds in her fifth season in 2018, Howard's been among the early stars of '19 while averaging 19.3 points and 11.7 boards. She had game highs of 19 points and 14 boards, plus four assists and three blocks, as Seattle rolled to an 82-66 victory at Atlanta on Friday.
Jordin Canada, who is replacing Bird at the point, added 12 points and seven assists for the Storm, who bounced back from a 72-61 loss at Minnesota by holding the Dream to 32.9-percent shooting.
"They have to write their own story," Bird told the WNBA's official website about her team. "The story has to be about who's on the court and who's able to play and what they're able to do -- and not worry about who is not there."
Finishing a stretch of three road games in four days, the Storm try for a sixth straight win over Chicago. Howard averaged 14.0 points in three games against the Sky last year.
Chicago might have a new coach in James Wade, but it appears, at least early on, it's still saddled with the same defensive issues from 2018. Last season, the Sky allowed a league-worst 90.1 points per contest, and opened this season with an 89-71 loss at Minnesota last Saturday.
The Sky allowed the Lynx to shoot 44.1 percent and were on the wrong end of a 46-29 rebounding scenario. Not exactly an ideal debut for Wade, a former assistant with the Lynx, but he did not expect things to be easy.
"Just want to get better tomorrow," Wade told the Sky's official website. "And get better the next day and just try to build something. And, we will see where we are."
Gabby Williams and Kahleah Copper each had 11 points to lead the Sky, who shot 40 percent, including 3 of 13 from 3-point range. Diamond DeShields, who averaged 14.4 points last season as a rookie, was held without a point while missing all seven field-goal attempts in 11 minutes.
"(Last weekend) was a rough start, but I'm still really hopeful with this team," Williams said.
Chicago's Allie Quigley had 10 points in the opener, and averaged 20.3 during the season series versus Seattle in 2018.