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2020 Seattle Storm season

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2020 Seattle Storm season
WNBA champions
CoachGary Kloppenburg
ArenaOriginally: Alaska Airlines Arena
Angel of the Winds Arena
Rescheduled to: IMG Academy gymnasiums, Bradenton, Florida
Attendance0 per game
Results
Record18–4 (.818)
Place2nd (Western)
Playoff finish2nd Seed, WNBA Champions - beat Las Vegas Aces 3–0 in the Finals
Team Leaders
PointsBreanna Stewart – 19.7 ppg
ReboundsBreanna Stewart – 8.3 ppg
AssistsJordin Canada – 5.5 apg

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]

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

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WNBA draft

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See also: 2020 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

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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

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2020 Seattle Storm roster
Players Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs
G 10 United States Bird, Sue 5' 9" (1.75m) 150 lb (68kg) 1980-10-16 Connecticut 16
G 21 United States Canada, Jordin 5' 6" (1.68m) 135 lb (61kg) 1995-08-11 UCLA 2
F 32 Israel Clark, Alysha 5' 11" (1.8m) 167 lb (76kg) 1987-07-07 Middle Tennessee 8
F 6 United States Howard, Natasha 6' 2" (1.88m) 165 lb (75kg) 1991-09-02 Florida State 6
F/C 1 United States Langhorne, Crystal 6' 2" (1.88m) 185 lb (84kg) 1986-10-27 Maryland 12
G 24 United States Loyd, Jewell 5' 10" (1.78m) 148 lb (67kg) 1993-10-05 Notre Dame 5
F 0 Australia Magbegor, Eziyoda 6' 4" (1.93m) 176 lb (80kg) 1999-08-13 Australia R
G 11 Russia Prince, Epiphanny 5' 9" (1.75m) 179 lb (81kg) 1988-01-11 Rutgers 10
C 2 United States Russell, Mercedes 6' 6" (1.98m) 195 lb (88kg) 1995-07-27 Tennessee 2
F 30 United States Stewart, Breanna 6' 4" (1.93m) 170 lb (77kg) 1994-08-27 Connecticut 3
F 3 United States Tuck, Morgan 6' 2" (1.88m) 207 lb (94kg) 04-30-1994 Connecticut 4
G 33 Australia Whitcomb, Sami 5' 10" (1.78m) 145 lb (66kg) 1988-07-20 Washington 3
Head coach
United States Gary Kloppenburg (UC San Diego)
Assistant coaches
United States Noelle Quinn (UCLA)
United States Ryan Webb (Seattle)
Athletic trainer

Caroline Durocher


Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (IN) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured

Game log

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Regular season

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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

[edit]
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

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# 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

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Main article: 2020 WNBA 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)
1Las Vegas Aces6283688466
4Minnesota Lynx807Connecticut Sun8775777563
5Phoenix Mercury855Phoenix Mercury791Las Vegas Aces809159
8Washington Mystics842Seattle Storm9310492
2Seattle Storm888992
3Los Angeles Sparks594Minnesota Lynx867971
6Chicago Sky817Connecticut Sun73
7Connecticut Sun94

Note: Teams re-seeded after each round.

Statistics

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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

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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

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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

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  1. ^ "2020 Seattle Storm Schedule". WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
  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". April 3, 2020. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  5. ^ "WNBA Announces Plan To Tip Off 2020 Season". WNBA. June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  6. ^ "WNBA announces plans for 2020 season to start late July in Florida". NBC Sports Washington. June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  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.
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