Home Women's Basketball How Seattle Storm Won the 2020 WNBA Championship

How Seattle Storm Won the 2020 WNBA Championship

PALMETTO, FL - OCTOBER 6: The Seattle Storm poses for a team portrait with the WNBA Championship Trophy after winning Game 3 of the 2020 WNBA Finals against the Las Vegas Aces on October 6, 2020 at Feld Entertainment Center in Palmetto, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2020 NBAE (Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images)

Yet another championship for the Seattle Storm, their fourth one to be precise, joining the Minnesota Lynx and the now folded Houston Comets in the elite club of being the only teams to hold a record of having won four championship titles. A special record for the Seattle Storm though is that their 92-59 win over the Las Vegas Aces, a 33-point margin, is the largest margin of victory in the history of the WNBA finals.

Seattle Storm won the 2020 WNBA championships almost complete with the same squad from their 2018 title run which also saw them being crowned as champs after demolishing the Washington Mystics in a 3-game sweep.  If your NBA betting predictions banked on the 2018 winning team to deliver another win in 2020, you would have been in for gold. As the duo, Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart who were front and centre the last time for their 2018 win, delivered an exceptional performance this time around as well.

This ferocious duo alongside the incredible two-time all-star, Jewell Loyd and the Storm’s dominating squad secured this year’s championship, and although the game against the Aces might have been a tough one for them, winning this year’s finals was never unexpected.

After brilliantly securing a win against the Minnesota Lynx in the semi-finals at 92-71, the Storm continued their winning streak with a squad that played as if all players were in the best shapes of their life, this is despite the fact that a couple of their seasoned players were nursing physical injuries or had only just recovered from one. The squad’s execution consisted of a balanced attack, efficient game play and a sharp but free flowing movement of ball passes.

The post half-time play was the defining moment for the storms, obliterating the Aces by extending a 2-point advantage to a score-line of 43-34, effectively putting the win squarely within their reach in the 3rd quarter. Their complete sweep win was much a team effort as it was the result of the leadership and top-class performance of veteran player, Sue Bird. On and off the court, Bird dictates the tempo of each and every Storm game, shepherding the Seattle Storm to victory this time, being a catalyst player and averaging 11 assists in 3 games.

At 26 points in 25 minutes in the final game, there is the star player that is Breanna Stewart, and there is no Stewart without Bird, and vice versa. The subsequent games and the finals win for the Storm would not have been possible without this 26-year old’s exceptional performance. The WNBA Most Value Player (MVP) 2020, Stewart poured in 26 points in the game against the Aces, 33 points and 15 rebounds in game 1 and 22 points, including 3 pointers in game 2.

Similarly, Jewel Loyd was an explosive scoring guard this season averaging 15.5 points and 2.4 rebounds per game and pouring in a whopping 19 points and 9 rebounds in their final game against the Las Vegas Aces, consistently delivering for her team every time. Other superstar players such as Alysa Clark and Jordin Canada also delivered points in the double-digits in the finals which saw the Seattle Storm eventually dominating and obliterating any chance the Aces had at winning this year’s championship title.

The Storm took command of the game and defeated the Aces from the moment they were able to regain command of the game and offset the initial lead the Aces had on them early on in the game. With the core championship winning squad from 2018, including all their superstar players at the top of their game and with a mission bigger than themselves in mind, the Seattle Storm cemented their place in the WNBA wubble as the champions for a fourth time.

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