# 2018 Seattle Storm season

The 2018 WNBA season was the 19th season for the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association. The regular season began May 20 and ended on August 19.
The Storm started the season strongly posting a 5–1 record in May. Their only loss came in the opening game of the season against the Phoenix Mercury. The storm had their worst month of the season in June, going 6–4. The team couldn't string together a run of wins, alternating between winning 2 and losing one. The team found their stride in July with a strong 9–2 record. The month started with a 4-game winning streak, and the team won 7 of its first 8. The only losses in July came in over time to Los Angeles and to eventual #2 playoff seed Atlanta. August was another good month for the Storm. The team went 6–1 in the month, with their only loss being at eventual #3 playoff seed Washington. The team's final record of 26–8 was their best since 2010. This record earned them the #1 seed in the 2018 WNBA Playoffs and a bye into the Semifinals.
The Storm faced off against the #5 seed Phoenix Mercury in the Semifinals. The series was a hotly contested series, with both teams making large runs in individual games. Eventually the home team won each game in the series, which meant the Storm advanced 3–2. In the WNBA Finals, the Storm swept the Washington Mystics in three games, securing the third championship in franchise history.

## Transactions
### WNBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
| 1 | 5 | Jordin Canada | United States | UCLA |
| 3 | 29 | Teana Muldrow | United States | West Virginia |

### Trades and roster changes

| Date | Details |
| February 1, 2018 | Re-signed G Sami Whitcomb |
| February 2, 2018 | Signed C Courtney Paris |
| February 5, 2018 | Re-signed G Noelle Quinn |
| February 7, 2018 | Acquired F Natasha Howard from Minnesota Lynx in exchange for the 17th pick in the 2018 WNBA draft. Minnesota also gains right to swap 1st round picks in 2019. |

## Game log
### Preseason

2018 pre-season game log :
May: 2–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 1–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
May 8
Phoenix
W 73–69
3 Tied (15)
Howard (6)
Tied (3)
KeyArena 3,502
1–0
2
May 12
Phoenix
W 84–61
Canada (17)
Stewart (8)
Bird (5)
Talking Stick Resort Arena 4,535
2–0 :
2018 pre-season schedule :

### Regular season

2018 game log Total: 26–8 (Home: 13–4; Road: 13–4) :
May: 5–1 (Home: 3–1; Road: 2–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
May 20
Phoenix
L 82–87
Stewart (22)
Stewart (15)
Bird (5)
KeyArena 8,602
0–1
2
May 23
@ Phoenix
W 87–71
Loyd (29)
Stewart (11)
Bird (5)
Talking Stick Resort Arena 8,068
1–1
3
May 25
Chicago
W 95–91
Loyd (29)
Howard (10)
Bird (9)
KeyArena 5,866
2–1
4
May 27
@ Las Vegas
W 105–98
Stewart (23)
Stewart (9)
Loyd (9)
Mandalay Bay Events Center 7,662
3–1
5
May 29
Washington
W 81–77
Loyd (27)
Loyd (8)
Bird (7)
KeyArena 4,453
4–1
6
May 31
Las Vegas
W 101–74
Stewart (21)
Russell (8)
Bird (9)
KeyArena 5,235
5–1 :
June
: 6–4 (Home: 4–2; Road: 2–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
7
June 2
@ Dallas
L 90–94
Stewart (28)
Howard (9)
Canada (9)
College Park Center 5,191
5–2
8
June 7
@ Los Angeles
W 88–63
Clark (17)
Howard (9)
Bird (8)
Staples Center 9,204
6–2
9
June 10
Atlanta
L 64–67
Howard (15)
Howard (15)
Tied (3)
KeyArena 6,345
6–3
10
June 12
Chicago
W 96–85
Stewart (30)
Paris (8)
Tied (5)
KeyArena 4,353
7–3
11
June 15
Connecticut
W 103–92
Howard (25)
Stewart (9)
Tied (5)
KeyArena 7,094
8–3
12
June 19
Las Vegas
L 77–87
Stewart (27)
Tied (8)
Loyd (7)
KeyArena 6,395
8–4
13
June 22
Indiana
W 72–63
Loyd (25)
Howard (9)
Bird (7)
KeyArena 8,142
9–4
14
June 24
@ Dallas
W 97–76
Stewart (28)
Stewart (12)
Bird (10)
College Park Center 4,084
10–4
15
June 26
@ Minnesota
L 79–91
Stewart (27)
Paris (8)
Bird (9)
Target Center 8,634
10–5
16
June 28
Los Angeles
W 81–72
Stewart (27)
3 Tied (8)
Bird (11)
KeyArena 8,447
11–5 :
July
: 9–2 (Home: 3–1; Road: 6–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
17
July 1
Connecticut
W 84–70
Howard (13)
Howard (8)
Bird (9)
KeyArena 9,307
12–5
18
July 3
@ New York
W 77–62
Tied (21)
Stewart (8)
Bird (11)
Westchester County Center 1,749
13–5
19
July 6
@ Atlanta
W 95–86
Stewart (29)
Howard (11)
Bird (10)
McCamish Pavilion 3,935
14–5
20
July 8
Washington
W 97–91
Stewart (25)
Stewart (10)
Bird (5)
KeyArena 8,724
15–5
21
July 10
Los Angeles
L 75–77 (OT)
Howard (18)
Stewart (13)
Bird (8)
KeyArena 9,686
15–6
22
July 14
Dallas
W 91–84
Stewart (35)
Stewart (10)
Loyd (6)
KeyArena 9,686
16–6
23
July 18
@ Chicago
W 101–83
Stewart (30)
Loyd (10)
Bird (11)
Wintrust Arena 10,024
17–6
24
July 20
@ Connecticut
W 78–65
Loyd (31)
Tied (6)
Bird (5)
Mohegan Sun Arena 7,908
18–6
25
July 22
@ Atlanta
L 74–87
Stewart (31)
Stewart (8)
Bird (6)
McCamish Pavilion 4,916
18–7
26
July 24
@ Indiana
W 92–72
Stewart (26)
Stewart (10)
Bird (11)
Bankers Life Fieldhouse 5,908
19–7
27
July 31
@ Phoenix
W 102–91
Loyd (29)
Howard (10)
Bird (5)
Talking Stick Resort Arena 10,005
20–7 :
August
: 6–1 (Home: 4–0; Road: 2–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
28
August 3
Minnesota
W 85–75
Stewart (20)
Stewart (7)
Bird (11)
KeyArena 12,064
21-7
29
August 6
@ New York
W 96–80
Stewart (32)
Howard (10)
Tied (7)
Madison Square Garden 12,488
22-7
30
August 7
@ Indiana
W 94–79
Howard (19)
Stewart (12)
Tied (8)
Bankers Life Fieldhouse 6,401
23-7
31
August 9
@ Washington
L 77–100
Tied (15)
Langhorne (5)
3 Tied (4)
Capital One Arena 6,808
23-8
32
August 12
@ Minnesota
W 81–72
Howard (21)
Stewart (17)
Loyd (6)
Target Center 9,123
24-8
33
August 17
New York
W 85–77
Stewart (22)
Stewart (15)
Bird (6)
KeyArena 10,873
25-8
34
August 19
Dallas
W 84–68
Tied (15)
Russell (9)
Canada (5)
KeyArena 12,574
26-8 :
2018 season schedule :

### Playoffs

2018 playoff game log Total: 6–2 (Home: 5–0; Road: 1–2) :
WNBA Semifinals: 3–2 (Home: 3–0; Road: 0–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
August 26
Phoenix
W 91–87
Stewart (28)
Stewart (7)
Bird (10)
KeyArena 9,686
1–0
2
August 28
Phoenix
W 91–87 (OT)
Stewart (27)
Langhorne (10)
Bird (6)
KeyArena 9,686
2–0
3
August 31
@ Phoenix
L 66–86
Howard (19)
Stewart (11)
Bird (11)
Talking Stick Resort Arena 15,185
2-1
4
September 2
@ Phoenix
L 84–86
Stewart (22)
Bird (9)
Bird (7)
Talking Stick Resort Arena 8,137
2–2
5
September 4
Phoenix
W 94–84
Stewart (28)
Clark (13)
Bird (5)
KeyArena 8,992
3–2 :
WNBA Finals: 3–0 (Home: 2–0; Road: 1–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
September 7
Washington
W 89–76
Loyd (23)
Clark, Howard, Loyd (5)
Bird (7)
KeyArena 11,486
1–0
2
September 9
Washington
W 75–73
Stewart (19)
Howard (11)
Bird (4)
KeyArena 14,212
2–0
3
September 12
@ Washington
W 98–82
Stewart (30)
Howard (14)
Bird (10)
EagleBank Arena 9,164
3–0 :
2018 playoff schedule :

## Awards and honors

| Recipient | Award | Date awarded |
| Breanna Stewart | WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week | June 18, 2018 |
| Sue Bird | WNBA All-Star Selection | July 17, 2018 |
| Jewell Loyd | WNBA All-Star Selection | July 17, 2018 |
| Breanna Stewart | WNBA All-Star Selection | July 17, 2018 |
| Breanna Stewart | WNBA Western Conference Player of the Month - July | August 1, 2018 |
| Alysha Clark | WNBA Cares Community Assist Award - July | August 17, 2018 |
| Breanna Stewart | WNBA Most Valuable Player Award | August 26, 2018 |
| Natasha Howard | WNBA Most Improved Player Award | August 26, 2018 |
| Sue Bird | Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award | August 26, 2018 |
| Breanna Stewart | WNBA Finals MVP | September 12, 2018 |

## Standings

| # | Western Conference vte | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Conf. |
| 1 | Seattle Storm (1) | 26 | 8 | .765 | – | 13–4 | 13–4 | 11–5 |
| 2 | Phoenix Mercury (5) | 20 | 14 | .588 | 6 | 9–8 | 11–6 | 8–8 |
| 3 | Los Angeles Sparks (6) | 19 | 15 | .559 | 7 | 11–6 | 8–9 | 9–7 |
| 4 | Minnesota Lynx (7) | 18 | 16 | .529 | 8 | 9–8 | 9–8 | 9–7 |
| 5 | Dallas Wings (8) | 15 | 19 | .441 | 11 | 10–7 | 5–12 | 7–9 |
| 6 | e –Las Vegas Aces | 14 | 20 | .412 | 12 | 8–9 | 6–11 | 4–12 |
Notes
    (#) – Conference Standing, Playoff Seeds shown to the right of team name
    x – Qualified for playoffs
    e – Eliminated from playoffs

## Playoffs

| First round: Single elimination (Aug. 21) | First round: Single elimination (Aug. 21) | First round: Single elimination (Aug. 21) | Second round: Single elimination (Aug. 23) | Second round: Single elimination (Aug. 23) | Second round: Single elimination (Aug. 23) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Aug. 26 – Sept. 4) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Aug. 26 – Sept. 4) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Aug. 26 – Sept. 4) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Aug. 26 – Sept. 4) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Aug. 26 – Sept. 4) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Aug. 26 – Sept. 4) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Aug. 26 – Sept. 4) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 7 – Sept. 12) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 7 – Sept. 12) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 7 – Sept. 12) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 7 – Sept. 12) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 7 – Sept. 12) |
| | | | | | | 1 | Seattle Storm | 91 | 91 | 66 | 84 | 94 | | | | | |
| | | | 4 | Connecticut Sun | 86 | 5 | Phoenix Mercury | 87 | 87 | 86 | 86 | 84 | | | | | |
| 5 | Phoenix Mercury | 101 | 5 | Phoenix Mercury | 96 | | | | | | | | 1 | Seattle Storm | 89 | 75 | 98 |
| 8 | Dallas Wings | 83 | | | | | | | | | | | 3 | Washington Mystics | 76 | 73 | 82 |
| | | | | | | 2 | Atlanta Dream | 84 | 78 | 81 | 76 | 81 | | | | | |
| | | | 3 | Washington Mystics | 96 | 3 | Washington Mystics | 87 | 75 | 76 | 97 | 86 | | | | | |
| 6 | Los Angeles Sparks | 75 | 6 | Los Angeles Sparks | 64 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 7 | Minnesota Lynx | 68 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Note: Teams re-seeded after second round and semi-finals.

## Statistics
### Regular season

| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| Breanna Stewart | 34 | 34 | 31.6 | .529 | .415 | .820 | 8.4 | 2.5 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 21.8 |
| Jewell Loyd | 34 | 34 | 29.7 | .423 | .370 | .851 | 4.6 | 3.7 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 15.5 |
| Natasha Howard | 34 | 33 | 25.6 | .547 | .327 | .798 | 6.4 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 2.0 | 13.2 |
| Sue Bird | 31 | 31 | 26.6 | .466 | .448 | .828 | 1.7 | 7.1 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 10.1 |
| Alysha Clark | 31 | 30 | 26.2 | .480 | .392 | .846 | 3.5 | 1.9 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 7.4 |
| Jordin Canada | 33 | 2 | 16.5 | .357 | .182 | .738 | 1.5 | 3.3 | 0.9 | 0.0 | 5.7 |
| Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis | 33 | 4 | 13.4 | .412 | .420 | .917 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 5.4 |
| Crystal Langhorne | 26 | 1 | 13.9 | .500 | .000 | .889 | 3.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 4.6 |
| Sami Whitcomb | 31 | 0 | 8.5 | .349 | .362 | 1.000 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 2.9 |
| Courtney Paris | 34 | 0 | 10.6 | .533 | .000 | .529 | 3.9 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 2.1 |
| Mercedes Russell | 22 | 0 | 4.6 | .484 | .000 | .500 | 1.4 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 1.6 |
| Noelle Quinn | 20 | 1 | 9.1 | .302 | .235 | .000 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 1.5 |