2020 Seattle Storm season
WNBA team season
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The 2020 Seattle Storm season was 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 was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The shortened season tipped off on July 25, 2020, versus the New York Liberty.[1]
Angel of the Winds Arena
Rescheduled to: IMG Academy gymnasiums, Bradenton, Florida
| 2020 Seattle Storm season | |
|---|---|
WNBA champions | |
| Head coach | Gary Kloppenburg |
| Arena | Originally: Alaska Airlines Arena Angel of the Winds Arena Rescheduled to: IMG Academy gymnasiums, Bradenton, Florida |
| Results | |
| Record | 18–4 (.818) |
| Place | 2nd (Western) |
| Playoff finish | 2nd Seed, WNBA Champions - beat Las Vegas Aces 3–0 in the Finals |
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 have featured 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 Hughes announced he would sit out the season due to COVID-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 two 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
| 2020 Seattle Storm roster | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Game log
Regular season
| 2020 game log Total: 18–4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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July
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August
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September
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| 2020 season schedule | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playoffs
| 2020 playoff game log Total: 6–0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Semifinals
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Finals
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| 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-5 (September 20–29) | WNBA Finals Best-of-5 (October 2–11) | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | Las Vegas Aces | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Minnesota Lynx | 80 | 7 | Connecticut Sun | 2 | |||||||||||||
| 5 | Phoenix Mercury | 85 | 5 | Phoenix Mercury | 79 | 1 | Las Vegas Aces | 0 | ||||||||||
| 8 | Washington Mystics | 84 | 2 | Seattle Storm | 3 | |||||||||||||
| 2 | Seattle Storm | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Los Angeles Sparks | 59 | 4 | Minnesota Lynx | 0 | |||||||||||||
| 6 | Chicago Sky | 81 | 7 | Connecticut Sun | 73 | |||||||||||||
| 7 | Connecticut Sun | 94 | ||||||||||||||||
Note: Teams re-seeded after each round.
- Bold – Game or series winner
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] |