Dominique Malonga just showed she's the future AND the present of the Storm

After Game 1 of the first round series between the Las Vegas Aces and Seattle Storm, you'd have been forgiven for writing the Storm off. The Aces, fresh off a 16-game win streak to end the regular season, won that first game 102-77, and it certainly looked like we were heading for a two-game sweep.

In Game 2, Vegas led 69-61 at the start of the fourth. It was a closer contest than expected, but it still largely felt like the Aces were about to close things out and head to the semifinals.

But Seattle opted to go with Dominique Malonga over Ezi Magbegor for much of that final quarter, a change that seemed to spark something in the team. Malonga only scored three points in that quarter, but she made her present felt elsewhere, grabbing five rebounds and blocking two shots, while also dishing out a pair of assists. The Storm were plus-13 in the 7:45 she played in the fourth.

All season long, Malonga's presence in Seattle has felt strange. This is a team full of veterans, and trying to work the No. 2 overall pick from this year's draft into the mix felt a little like the Storm trying to exist on two separate timelines at once — an attempt to win immediately with the veterans while also developing a player who can be the real future of the franchise.

Maybe it was sometimes awkward, but Tuesday night showed the fruits of that labor.

Dominique Malonga is the most important player in this series

Could this be a stretch? Maybe! But the Storm are playing just seven players right now, with Malonga being the only big off the bench. With Ezi Magbegor getting into foul trouble a little more than you'd like — her 2.9 fouls per game put her 129th out of 139 qualifying players — the Storm have to trust their rookie to play key playoff minutes.

And, well, it looks like she's more than up for the task.

Before Malonga, a teenager had never recorded a double-double in a WNBA playoff game. Malonga has now done it twice.

Dominique Malonga is making a difference at both ends

Scoring aside, the big reason Seattle won on Tuesday night was Malonga's defense. She's managed to quickly harness her athleticism into high-level defense. Sure, she can switch seamlessly between positions on that end and her versatility is a huge plus, but on Tuesday we saw a lot of examples of her just sticking to A'ja Wilson in the post and making life difficult for the MVP frontrunner.

There was one Aces possession in the fourth where I literally just couldn't believe what I was seeing out of Malonga. She picked up Wilson at the top of the key, then switched to double Jackie Young, forcing Young to give the ball up to Chelsea Gray. Malonga switches on to the driving Gray and forces her to stop and pick the ball up. Gray passes, Malonga sticks on Gray, the ball rotates back to Gray, who is forced to take a long 3-pointer with Malonga in her face.

Beyond, like, the athleticism, it's just so impressive to see a player Malonga's age playing such smart basketball. It's instinctual. She's playing defense like a savvy veteran despite being a rookie who has never even started a WNBA game.

Seattle still faces an uphill battle to win this series. The Aces haven't lost at home since Aug. 2, and they haven't lost at home to a team that wasn't the No. 1 seed Minnesota Lynx since June 26. It's not going to be easy.

And the Storm also still face a tough decision this offseason, as the team owns the Sparks' lottery pick and will have a chance to draft another blue-chip prospect, potentially furthering this divide on the roster between veterans and youth if the team brings back its veterans in free agency.

But regardless of what the future holds in Seattle, it's clear that Malonga is the key to that future. She also happens to be the key to the present as well.

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