2020 Seattle Storm season

The 2020 Seattle Storm season is the franchise's 21st season in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The regular season was originally scheduled to tip off at home versus the Dallas Wings on May 15, 2020. However the beginning of the 2020 WNBA schedule will be delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The shortened season will tip off on July 25, 2020 versus the New York Liberty.[1]

2020 Seattle Storm season
Coach	Gary Kloppenburg
Arena	Originally: Alaska Airlines Arena Angel of the Winds Arena Rescheduled to: IMG Academy gymnasiums, Bradenton, Florida
Attendance	0 per game
Results
Record	18–4 (.818)
Place	2nd (Western)
Playoff finish	2nd Seed, WNBA Champions - beat Las Vegas Aces 3–0 in the Finals
Team Leaders
Points	Breanna Stewart – 19.7 ppg
Rebounds	Breanna Stewart – 8.3 ppg
Assists	Jordin Canada – 5.5 apg
← 2019 season 2021 season →

Due to ongoing renovations at Climate Pledge Arena the Storm will continue to split time between the Alaska Airlines Arena and the Angel of the Winds Arena.[2]

This WNBA season would feature an all-time high 36 regular-season games.[3] However, the plan for expanded games was put on hold on April 3, when the WNBA postponed its season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[4] Under a plan approved on June 15, the league was scheduled to hold a shortened 22-game regular season at IMG Academy, without fans present, starting on July 24.[5][6] Gary Kloppenburg was named the interim head coach for the year, when Dan Huges announced he would sit out the season due to COVD-19 concerns.[7]

The Storm got off to a hot start, winning their first two games before losing to last' years champions Washington. They then went on a nine game winning streak, and their record sat at 10–1 halfway through the season. The winning streak was ended by a two game losing streak, just after the halfway mark of the season. The Storm then rallied for seven straight wins and were 18–3 entering the final game of the regular season. They faced off against the 17–4 Las Vegas Aces. With a win, the Storm could secure the first seed in the playoffs. A loss, would mean the Storm would be the second seed via tie-breaker rules. The Aces prevailed 86–84, and the Storm ended up as the second seed.

As the second seed, the Storm received a double-bye into the Semifinals and would play the higher remaining seed. They faced off against the fourth seed Minnesota Lynx. The Storm swept the series three games to none. The first game was a close one, with the Storm winning by three points, but they won the second two games by double digits to advance to the finals. In the finals, they faced off against the Aces again. The Storm again swept the series, three games to none. No game was very close, with the Storm winning the first two games by thirteen, and the third game by thirty three points. The Storm won their fourth WNBA Championship.

Transactions

WNBA Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School/Team/Country
1	11	Kitija Laksa	Latvia	South Florida/TTT Riga (Latvia)
2	19	Joyner Holmes	United States	Texas
3	31	Haley Gorecki	United States	Duke

Trades and roster changes

Date	Details
February 10, 2020	Traded the 7th pick in the 2020 WNBA draft to the Connecticut Sun in exchange for the 11th pick in the 2020 WNBA draft and F Morgan Tuck.[8]
February 11, 2020	Re-signed F Breanna Stewart[9]
February 24, 2020	Acquired the Connecticut Sun's 2nd round pick in the 2021 WNBA draft in exchange for F Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis[10]
	Signed G Epiphanny Prince[11]
February 25, 2020	Re-signed G Sue Bird[12]

Roster

Seattle Storm roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs G 10 Bird, Sue 5' 9" (1.75m) 150 lb (68kg) 1980-10-16 Connecticut 16 G 21 Canada, Jordin 5' 6" (1.68m) 135 lb (61kg) 1995-08-11 UCLA 2 F 32 Clark, Alysha 5' 11" (1.8m) 167 lb (76kg) 1987-07-07 Middle Tennessee 8 F 6 Howard, Natasha 6' 2" (1.88m) 165 lb (75kg) 1991-09-02 Florida State 6 F/C 1 Langhorne, Crystal 6' 2" (1.88m) 185 lb (84kg) 1986-10-27 Maryland 12 G 24 Loyd, Jewell 5' 10" (1.78m) 148 lb (67kg) 1993-10-05 Notre Dame 5 F 0 Magbegor, Eziyoda 6' 4" (1.93m) 176 lb (80kg) 1999-08-13 Australia R G 11 Prince, Epiphanny 5' 9" (1.75m) 179 lb (81kg) 1988-01-11 Rutgers 10 C 2 Russell, Mercedes 6' 6" (1.98m) 195 lb (88kg) 1995-07-27 Tennessee 2 F 30 Stewart, Breanna 6' 4" (1.93m) 170 lb (77kg) 1994-08-27 Connecticut 3 F 3 Tuck, Morgan 6' 2" (1.88m) 207 lb (94kg) 04-30-1994 Connecticut 4 G 33 Whitcomb, Sami 5' 10" (1.78m) 145 lb (66kg) 1988-07-20 Washington 3 East: ATL • CHI • CON • IND • NY • WAS | West: DAL • LV • LA • MIN • PHO • SEA

Head coach Dan Hughes (Muskingum) Assistant coaches Gary Kloppenburg (UC San Diego) Noelle Quinn (UCLA) Athletic trainer Caroline Durocher Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured WNBA roster page

Game log

Regular season

2020 game log Total: 18–4
July Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 July 25 New York Liberty W 87–71 Stewart (18) Stewart (8) Bird (5) IMG Academy 0 1–0 2 July 28 Minnesota Lynx W 90–66 Stewart (18) Stewart (10) Loyd (6) IMG Academy 0 2–0 3 July 30 Washington Mystics L 71–89 Stewart (15) Stewart (10) Clark (4) IMG Academy 0 2–1
August Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 4 August 1 Los Angeles Sparks W 81–75 Stewart (21) Stewart (9) Clark (6) IMG Academy 0 3–1 5 August 4 Connecticut Sun W 87–74 Stewart (22) Howard (6) Canada (6) IMG Academy 0 4–1 6 August 6 Atlanta Dream W 93–92 Stewart (27) Stewart (8) Canada (6) IMG Academy 0 5–1 7 August 8 Phoenix Mercury W 74–68 Loyd (20) Howard (10) Canada (10) IMG Academy 0 6–1 8 August 10 Chicago Sky W 89–71 Stewart (25) Howard (7) Stewart (7) IMG Academy 0 7–1 9 August 12 Atlanta Dream W 100–63 Tied (20) Stewart (9) Canada (10) IMG Academy 0 8–1 10 August 14 Dallas Wings W 83–65 Stewart (21) Howard (8) Bird (5) IMG Academy 0 9–1 11 August 16 Connecticut Sun W 95–72 Stewart (19) Howard (11) Loyd (5) IMG Academy 0 10–1 12 August 18 New York Liberty W 105–64 Prince (16) Howard (11) Bird (7) IMG Academy 0 11–1 13 August 20 Indiana Fever L 84–90 Loyd (35) 3 tied (5) Canada (6) IMG Academy 0 11–2 14 August 22 Las Vegas Aces L 74–82 Stewart (29) Stewart (18) Canada (7) IMG Academy 0 11–3 15 August 25 Indiana Fever W 87–74 Stewart (27) Tied (9) Canada (5) IMG Academy 0 12–3 16 August 29 Chicago Sky W 88–74 Stewart (21) Howard (15) Canada (9) IMG Academy 0 13–3
September Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 17 September 2 Washington Mystics W 71–64 Stewart (16) Stewart (14) Canada (5) IMG Academy 0 14–3 18 September 4 Los Angeles Sparks W 90–89 Loyd (25) Stewart (8) Stewart (9) IMG Academy 0 15–3 19 September 6 Minnesota Lynx W 103–88 Howard (19) Clark (5) Tied (7) IMG Academy 0 16–3 20 September 9 Dallas Wings W 107–95 Tied (23) Stewart (11) Bird (9) IMG Academy 0 17–3 21 September 11 Phoenix Mercury W 80–63 Canada (13) Tied (7) Loyd (5) IMG Academy 0 18–3 22 September 13 Las Vegas Aces L 84–86 Loyd (30) Russell (11) Canada (5) IMG Academy 0 18–4
2020 season schedule

Playoffs

2020 playoff game log Total: 6–0
Semifinals Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 September 22 Minnesota Lynx W 88–86 Loyd (25) Stewart (10) Bird (8) IMG Academy 1–0 2 September 24 Minnesota Lynx W 89–79 Loyd (20) Stewart (8) Stewart (7) IMG Academy 2–0 3 September 27 Minnesota Lynx W 92–71 Stewart (31) Clark (9) Bird (9) IMG Academy 3–0
Finals Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 October 2 Las Vegas Aces W 93–80 Stewart (37) Stewart (15) Bird (16) IMG Academy 1–0 2 October 4 Las Vegas Aces W 104–91 Stewart (22) Howard (8) Bird (10) IMG Academy 2–0 3 October 6 Las Vegas Aces W 92–59 Stewart (26) Loyd (9) Bird (7) IMG Academy 3–0
2013 playoff schedule

Standings

#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB	Conf.
1	x – Las Vegas Aces	18	4	.818	–	8–2
2	x – Seattle Storm	18	4	.818	–	8–2
3	x – Los Angeles Sparks	15	7	.682	3	5–5
4	x – Minnesota Lynx	14	8	.636	4	4–6
5	x – Phoenix Mercury	13	9	.591	5	4–6
6	x – Chicago Sky	12	10	.545	6	6–4
7	x – Connecticut Sun	10	12	.455	8	7–3
8	x – Washington Mystics	9	13	.409	9	6–4
9	e – Dallas Wings	8	14	.364	10	1–9
10	e – Atlanta Dream	7	15	.318	11	5–5
11	e – Indiana Fever	6	16	.273	12	4–6
12	e – New York Liberty	2	20	.091	16	2–8

Notes

x – Clinched playoff berth

e – Eliminated from playoffs

Home and Away records not shown, as all games played at a neutral location.

Updated to include results from September 13, 2020

Source

Playoffs

	First round: Single elimination (September 15)				Second round: Single elimination (September 17)				Semifinals: Best-of-five (September 20–29)				WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (October 2–11)
									1 Las Vegas Aces	3
									7 Connecticut Sun	2
					4 Minnesota Lynx	80
					5 Phoenix Mercury	79
	5 Phoenix Mercury	85
	8 Washington Mystics	84
													1 Las Vegas Aces	0
													2 Seattle Storm	3
	6 Chicago Sky	81
	7 Connecticut Sun	94
					3 Los Angeles Sparks	59
					7 Connecticut Sun	73
									2 Seattle Storm	3
									4 Minnesota Lynx	0

Note: Teams re-seeded after each round.

Semifinals

Team	1	2	3	4	5
1 Las Vegas Aces	62	83	68	84	66
7 Connecticut Sun	87	75	77	75	63

Team	1	2	3
2 Seattle Storm	88	89	92
4 Minnesota Lynx	86	79	71

WNBA Finals

Team	1	2	3
1 Las Vegas Aces	80	91	59
2 Seattle Storm	93	104	92

Statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game	RPG	Rebounds per game
APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game	BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage	TO	Turnovers per game
PF	Fouls per game		Team leader		League leader

Regular season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Breanna Stewart	20	20	30.4	45.1	36.8	89.4	8.3	3.6	1.7	1.3	19.7
Jewell Loyd	22	22	27.9	44.3	39.0	87.5	2.4	3.2	1.5	0.3	15.5
Alysha Clark	22	22	28.8	55.8	52.2	80.0	4.2	2.7	1.5	0.5	10.0
Sue Bird	11	11	23.4	49.4	46.9	75.0	1.7	5.2	0.6	0.2	9.8
Natasha Howard	22	22	21.0	53.0	35.0	77.8	7.1	1.0	1.7	0.6	9.5
Sami Whitcomb	22	0	16.5	44.3	38.1	100	2.3	2.0	0.7	0.1	8.1
Jordin Canada	20	11	24.2	42.4	9.1	77.2	2.3	5.5	1.5	0	7.9
Ezi Magbegor	22	0	13.3	56.9	33.3	70.4	2.5	0.3	0.5	0.7	6.5
Epiphanny Prince	15	0	12.7	38.6	33.3	84.6	1.2	1.4	0.4	0.1	4.3
Mercedes Russell	22	2	13.8	41.0	0	56	3.2	0.6	0.4	0.4	3.5
Morgan Tuck	10	0	8.8	31.3	22.2	62.5	0.6	0.2	0.5	0	1.7
Crystal Langhorne	13	0	8.2	41.2	20	50	2.2	0.5	0.1	0.1	1.4

Awards and honors

Recipient	Award	Date awarded	Ref.
Breanna Stewart	Western Conference Player of the Week	August 3, 2020	[13]
		August 31, 2020	[14]
Alysha Clark	1st Team All-Defense	September 29, 2020	[15]
Breanna Stewart	2nd Team All-Defense
	All-WNBA First Team	October 4, 2020	[16]
	Finals MVP	October 6, 2020	[17]

References

1. "2020 Seattle Storm Schedule". WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
2. "Seattle Storm Unveils 2020 Schedule". WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA. January 16, 2020. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
3. "Atlanta Dream Announce 2020 Schedule - Atlanta Dream". dream.wnba.com. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
4. "WNBA Statement Regarding the Start of the 2020 Regular Season". 2020-04-03. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
5. "WNBA Announces Plan To Tip Off 2020 Season". WNBA. 2020-06-15. Retrieved 2020-06-17.
6. "WNBA announces plans for 2020 season to start late July in Florida". NBC Sports Washington. 2020-06-15. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
7. "Seattle Storm coach Dan Hughes to sit out 2020 season". usatoday.com. The Associated Press. June 29, 2020. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
8. "Seattle Completes Trade With Connecticut, Acquires Morgan Tuck". WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA. February 10, 2020. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
9. "Seattle Storm Re-Signs Breanna Stewart". WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA. February 11, 2020. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
10. "Sun Acquire Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis from Seattle". WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA. February 24, 2020. Retrieved February 25, 2020.
11. "Seattle Storm Adds Epiphanny Prince in Free Agency". WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA. February 24, 2020. Retrieved February 25, 2020.
12. "Seattle Storm Re-Signs Three-Time WNBA Champion Sue Bird". WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA. February 25, 2020. Retrieved February 25, 2020.
13. "Stewart, Hines-Allen Earn First Players Of The Week Honors Of The Season". wnba.com. WNBA. August 3, 2020. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
14. "Thomas, Stewart Earn Player of the Week Honors For Week 5". wnba.com. WNBA. August 31, 2020. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
15. "Two Atlanta Dream Players And Seattle Storm's Alysha Clark Headline 2020 WNBA All-Defensive Team". wnba.com. WNBA. September 29, 2020. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
16. "A'ja Wilson And Candace Parker Unanimously Selected To 2020 All-WNBA First Team". wnba.com. WNBA. October 4, 2020. Retrieved October 5, 2020.
17. "Breanna Stewart Named WNBA Finals MVP (October 6, 2020)". wnba.com. WNBA. October 6, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.

External links

• Official website of the Seattle Storm