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.

2018 Seattle Storm season
WNBA champions
Coach	Dan Hughes
Arena	KeyArena
Attendance	8,109 per game
Results
Record	26–8 (.765)
Place	1st (Western)
Playoff finish	1st seed; WNBA Champions, beat Washington Mystics 3–0 in 2018 WNBA Finals
Team Leaders
Points	Breanna Stewart – 21.8 ppg
Rebounds	Breanna Stewart – 8.4 rpg
Assists	Sue Bird – 7.1 apg
Media
Television	KZJO (JOEtv)
← 2017 season 2019 season →

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.^[1]

Transactions

WNBA draft

See also: 2018 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[2]
February 2, 2018	Signed C Courtney Paris[3]
February 5, 2018	Re-signed G Noelle Quinn[4]
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.[5]

Roster

2018 Seattle Storm roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs G 10 Bird, Sue 5' 9" (1.75m) 150 lb (68kg) 1980-10-16 Connecticut 15 G 21 Canada, Jordin 5' 6" (1.68m) 1995-08-11 UCLA R F 32 Clark, Alysha 5' 11" (1.8m) 167 lb (76kg) 1987-07-07 Middle Tennessee 6 F 6 Howard, Natasha 6' 2" (1.88m) 165 lb (75kg) 1991-09-02 Florida State 4 F/C 1 Langhorne, Crystal 6' 2" (1.88m) 185 lb (84kg) 1986-10-27 Maryland 10 G 24 Loyd, Jewell 5' 10" (1.78m) 148 lb (67kg) 1993-10-05 Notre Dame 3 F 23 Mosqueda-Lewis, Kaleena 5' 11" (1.8m) 180 lb (82kg) 1993-11-03 Connecticut 3 C 3 Paris, Courtney 6' 4" (1.93m) 250 lb (113kg) 1987-97-21 Oklahoma 8 G 45 Quinn, Noelle 6' 0" (1.83m) 178 lb (81kg) 1985-01-03 UCLA 11 G 2 Russell, Mercedes 6' 6" (1.98m) 1995-07-27 Tennessee R F 30 Stewart, Breanna 6' 4" (1.93m) 170 lb (77kg) 1994-08-27 Connecticut 2 G/F 33 Whitcomb, Sami 5' 10" (1.78m) 145 lb (66kg) 1988-07-20 Washington 1	Head coach Dan Hughes (Muskingum) Assistant coaches Gary Kloppenburg (UC San Diego) Crystal Robinson (SE Oklahoma State) Athletic trainer Tom Spencer (Central Washington) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Game log

Preseason

2018 pre-season game log
May: 2–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 1–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 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) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 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) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 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) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 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) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 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) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 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) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 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[permanent dead link] Stewart (19) Howard (11) Bird (4) KeyArena 14,212 2–0 3 September 12 @ Washington W 98–82[permanent dead link] Stewart (30) Howard (14) Bird (10) EagleBank Arena 9,164 3–0
2018 playoff schedule

Awards and honors

Recipient	Award	Date awarded	Ref.
Breanna Stewart	WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week	June 18, 2018	[6]
Sue Bird	WNBA All-Star Selection	July 17, 2018	[7]
Jewell Loyd
Breanna Stewart
Breanna Stewart	WNBA Western Conference Player of the Month - July	August 1, 2018	[8]
Alysha Clark	WNBA Cares Community Assist Award - July	August 17, 2018	[9]
Breanna Stewart	WNBA Most Valuable Player Award	August 26, 2018	[10]
Natasha Howard	WNBA Most Improved Player Award	August 26, 2018	[11]
Sue Bird	Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award	August 26, 2018	[12]
Breanna Stewart	WNBA Finals MVP	September 12, 2018	[13]

Standings

#	Western Conference v t e	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

Main article: 2018 WNBA Playoffs

	First round Single elimination (Aug. 21)					Second round Single elimination (Aug. 23)					Semifinals Best-of-5 (Aug. 26 – Sept. 4)					WNBA Finals Best-of-5 (Sept. 7 – Sept. 12)
											1	Seattle Storm	3
						4	Connecticut Sun	86			5	Phoenix Mercury	2
	5	Phoenix Mercury	101			5	Phoenix Mercury	96								1	Seattle Storm	3
	8	Dallas Wings	83													3	Washington Mystics	0
											2	Atlanta Dream	2
						3	Washington Mystics	96			3	Washington Mystics	3
	6	Los Angeles Sparks	75			6	Los Angeles Sparks	64
	7	Minnesota Lynx	68

Note: Teams re-seeded after second round and semi-finals.

• Bold – Game or series winner
• Italic – Team with home-court advantage

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	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