The Seattle Storm began the 2018 season with four straight games against the
Phoenix Mercury – two exhibition preseason games and their first two games of
the regular season. Now they will open their playoff run with at least three and
up to five more games with Phoenix as the two meet in the best-of-five
semifinals with a spot in the WNBA Finals on the line. Game 1 is set to tip off
in Seattle on Sunday.
Series Schedule
– Game 1: Sunday, Aug. 26, Phoenix at Seattle, 5 p.m. ET (ESPN2) – Game 2:
Tuesday, Aug. 28, Phoenix at Seattle, 10 p.m. ET (ESPN2) – Game 3: Friday, Aug.
31, Seattle at Phoenix, 10 p.m. ET (ESPNews/NBA TV) – Game 4*: Sunday, Sept. 2,
Seattle at Phoenix, Time TBD (ESPN2) – Game 5*: Tuesday, Sept. 4, Phoenix at
Seattle, Time TBD (ESPNews) *if necessary
This will be the fifth meeting between the teams in the postseason. The first
three came during the old East-West format in 2007, 2010 and 2011. In 2007, the
Mercury swept the Storm 2-0 in the Conference Semifinals en route to their first
WNBA title. In 2010, the Storm returned the favor, sweeping the Mercury 2-0 in
the Conference Finals en route to their second WNBA title.
Playoff History – 2007: Phoenix def Seattle 2-0 in Conf Semis, went on to win
title (vs. Detroit) – 2010: Seattle def Phoenix 2-0 in West Finals, went on to
win title (vs. Atlanta) – 2011: Phoenix def Seattle 2-1 in Conf Semis, lost in
Conf Finals (vs. Minnesota) – 2017: Phoenix def Seattle 1-0 in First Round, lost
in Semifinals (vs. Los Angeles)
That was the only playoff series that the Storm would win over the Mercury as
Phoenix earned first-round wins over the Storm in 2011 and 2017, but were
subsequently eliminated before reaching the Finals. Overall, Phoenix holds a 3-1
advantage in playoff series and a 5-3 advantage in playoff games.
After meeting in a single-elimination game in the first round of last year’s
playoffs, the Storm and Mercury now have a five-game series to determine the
Western Conference representative in this year’s Finals. While the new playoff
format has ditched conference affiliations and set up the bracket strictly by
record, with the way the first two rounds played out, we are guaranteed a West
vs. East matchup with Atlanta and Washington meeting in the second Semifinal
series.
The Storm have home-court advantage in the 2-2-1 format in this series by virtue
of being the No. 1 overall seed in the playoffs as they finished the season
26-8, compared to 20-14 for the fifth-seed Mercury.
While the Storm enjoyed the double-bye to the Semifinals, the Mercury had to
survive and advance through two single-elimination playoff rounds to set up this
matchup. Of course, the Mercury are masters of the single-elimination game as
they are a perfect 6-0 in the first two rounds of the playoffs since the playoff
format changed in 2016. However, they have yet to win a game in the Semifinal
round as they were swept by Minnesota and Los Angeles the past two years.
Season Series (Seattle 2, Phoenix 1)
May 20 at Seattle Mercury 87, Storm 82
While the Storm finished with their second-best record in franchise history
(26-8), they opened the 2018 season with a loss at home to the Mercury. Behind
29 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three blocks from Brittney Griner, the
Mercury held off the Storm for an 87-82 win to improve to 2-0. Briann January
finished with 15 points, while Diana Taurasi and DeWanna Bonner each scored 12
for Phoenix. Breanna Stewart led the way for the Storm as she finished with 22
points, 15 rebounds, three blocks and two steals and was one of five Storm
players to score in double figures.
May 23 at Phoenix Storm 87, Mercury 71
After losing their first game at home to Phoenix, the Storm flipped the script
on the Mercury three days later by handing Phoenix its first home loss of the
season. Jewell Loyd led the way for the Storm with 29 points on 9-of-14 shooting
from the field and 10-of-10 from the free throw line. Alysha Clark added 16
points, while Breanna Stewart had a season-low nine points but contributed 11
rebounds and three assists as the Storm overcame a quick start from the Mercury
(13-2 to open the game) to win by 16 points. Diana Taurasi led the Mercury with
23 points (including four 3-pointers), while Brittney Griner added 18 points as
both shot 8-15 from the field.
July 31 at Phoenix Storm 102, Mercury 91
After two meetings in the season’s opening week, the Storm and Mercury would not
meet for another two months. But when they did, Jewell Loyd picked up right
where she left off as she dropped another 29-point gem to lead the Storm to
victory in Phoenix. Loyd shot 11-20 from the field and 5-of-7 from beyond the
arc as the Storm put up 102 points on the Mercury. It was Seattle’s fifth game
of the season breaking the 100-point threshold and their third-highest scoring
game of the season. Brittney Griner (25 points, six rebounds, seven assists,
three blocks) had a strong game for Phoenix, but the Mercury still lost for the
seventh time in an eight game span, including their fourth straight at home.
Stats Spotlight
Scoring
This is a matchup of two of the WNBA’s top offenses as the Storm (87.2) and
Mercury (85.8) rank second and fourth, respectively, in points per game. They
hold the same ranks in efficiency ratings, which accounts for pace. With each
team having multiple All-Stars and scoring options, it makes sense that both
also rank very high in assists, with Seattle leading the way (21.2 per game,
tied for the WNBA lead) and Phoenix just behind them (20.6 per game, 3rd in
WNBA). In their first two playoff games, the Mercury have averaged 24.5 assists,
with Diana Taurasi second among all players at 8.5 per game. During the regular
season, Sue Bird ranked second in the WNBA in assists (career-best 7.1 per
game), while Taurasi was fourth (5.3 per game).
Shooting
You can’t rack up assists if you don’t make shots and these two teams get plenty
of buckets. When examining effective field goal percentage – which accounts for
the added value of 3-point shots – the Storm (53.4%) and Mercury (52.2%)
finished the regular season ranked 1-2. These are the two most prolific 3-point
shooting teams in the league as the Storm average a league-high 9.0 3-pointers
per game, with the Mercury right behind them at 8.5 per game. Taurasi led all
players during the regular season at 3.2 per game, while Seattle had three of
the top 10 3-point leaders – Jewell Loyd (2.0), Sue Bird (1.9) and Breanna
Stewart (1.8). The Storm shot a league-best 37.6% from beyond the arc during the
regular season, while Phoenix finished fourth at 36.0% – a mark they have
improved upon in their first two playoff games (41.1%).
Pace/Fast Breaks
While both teams play at nearly the same overall pace – Phoenix (80.3) is just
slightly ahead of Seattle (80.1) – there are differences when breaking it down
between offense and defense. The Storm play at a much faster pace on offense
(82.8) than they do on defense (77.5), while the Mercury are nearly the same on
both sides of the ball (80.5 offense, 80.2 defense). Much of the discrepancy for
the Storm comes with the fact that they push the ball in transition in search of
fast break points as they led the league at 11.6 fast break points per game,
while the Mercury finished 11th at just 6.9 per game. Many of Seattle’s fast
break opportunities are a byproduct of forcing live-ball turnovers to ignite
their fast break. Seattle ranked sixth in points off turnovers (15.2), while the
Mercury were last at 12.3.
Matchups To Watch
Diana Taurasi vs. Sue Bird
How about the WNBA’s all-time scoring leader (Taurasi at 8,549 career points)
taking on the WNBA’s all-time leader in assists (Bird at 2,831 dimes)? That’s
intriguing enough even before we add the fact that they were teammates in
college, overseas and internationally with USA Basketball and are long-time
friends. Entering the semifinals, Taurasi needs just eight points to pass Tamika
Catchings (1,141) as the WNBA’s all-time leading playoff scorer to add to her
regular season crown. Meanwhile, Bird currently sits in fifth place on the
all-time playoff assists list, but can move all the way up to second if she
dishes 21 more during this postseason run.
Breanna Stewart vs. Brittney Griner
How about MVP favorite Breanna Stewart – the second leading scorer in the WNBA
in each of the past two seasons – going up against two-time Defensive Player of
the Year and six-time blocks leader Brittney Griner? It was Griner that won the
scoring title last year as her 21.9 points per game average topped Stewart’s
19.9 average in her second WNBA season. This season, Stewart increased her
scoring to 21.8 points per game, but fell just shy of her first scoring to
Dallas’ Liz Cambage (23.0). Griner finished sixth at 20.5 points per game. This
will be an interesting matchup to watch as Stewart’s ability to score from all
over the floor could pull Griner away from the basket and open up lanes for her
Storm teammates.
DeWanna Bonner vs. Natasha Howard
Neither of these two players were part of last year’s playoff meeting between
these teams. Howard was a member of the Minnesota Lynx, who came to Seattle in
an offseason trade for a 2018 second round pick and the right to pick swap in
the 2019 first round. Since Seattle finished with the top record in the league
and the lowest first round pick, that swap will not happen, making this trade an
even biggest steal for the Storm. Bonner missed the entire 2017 season after
giving birth to twins last July. Her bounce back from childbirth to playing in
the All-Star Game in the span of one year and one day is remarkable. The
addition of Bonner to Taurasi and Griner gives Phoenix the highest-scoring trio
in the WNBA with a combined 58.5 points per game between them. In their
second-round win over Connecticut, the trio combined for 77 of Phoenix’s 96
points.
Jewell Loyd vs. Briann January
After a 10-point outing in their first meeting, Jewell Loyd torched the Mercury
with consecutive 29-point efforts in their final two games of the season.
Overall she averaged 22.7 points on 51.1 percent shooting from the field and 60
percent from beyond the arc. January came to Phoenix as part of a three-team
trade with Indiana and Minnesota. She is a six-time All-Defensive Team selection
(four First Team, two Second Team) that will have her hands full against either
Loyd or Sue Bird depending on which guard she gets matched up with while she’s
on the court.
Dan Hughes vs. Sandy Brondello
Sandy Brondello served as an assistant coach as part of Dan Hughes’ staff in San
Antonio from 2005 to 2009 before taking over as the team’s head coach in 2010
with Hughes as the team’s general manager. Brondello’s tenure in San Antonio
lasted only one season (14-20) as she was fired and replaced by Hughes as he
returned to the sidelines for another six seasons. Brondello would join the L.A.
Sparks staff as an assistant from 2011 to 2013 before taking over as head coach
of the Mercury in 2014, leading the team to the championship in her first
season.
After taking a season away from coaching, Hughes returned to the WNBA this year
and led the Storm to the top seed in the playoffs in his first season with the
team. In addition to their three regular season meetings, Hughes and Brondello
were on opposing sides as coaches during the 2018 All-Star Game with Brondello
helping Team Parker defeat Hughes and Team Delle Donne. While Brondello has a
2-1 regular season lead and a 1-0 All-Star lead over Hughes, can she defeat
Hughes in the Playoffs and get the Mercury back to the Finals?
