The Seattle Storm showed exactly why they were always meant to be there. Breanna Stewart, Sue Bird, Jewell Loyd and the Storm tested the Las Vegas Aces in Game 1 of their Finals matchup, coming away with a 93-80 win.
Stewart reminded everyone why she won the 2018 WNBA and Finals MVP and why she was this season’s MVP runner-up. She ended the night with 37 points (five of eight from downtown), 15 rebounds and two assists.
Stewart reminded everyone why she won the 2018 WNBA and Finals MVP and why she was this season’s MVP runner-up when she went on an 11-0 run in the fourth quarter. That hot set helped give the Storm the edge they kept until the final buzzer. She ended the night with 37 points (five of eight from downtown), 15 rebounds and two assists in 37 minutes of play.
“I was just taking what they gave me and being confident,” Stewart said after the game. “I don’t think I’ve had enough time to even realize what the performance was or meant. I didn’t know it was anything crazy. I guess it’s something that you appreciate later and after the season is over. I was just continuing to do what I do.”
The Storm got off to a slow start down at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. on Friday. Then somewhere in the middle of the first quarter, something clicked. Bird found a rhythm somewhere between her no-look, half-court passes and helped lead the team on a run in the first half, setting a record for most assists in a half of a playoff or Finals game (10), then set the record for most assists in a Finals game (16).
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The Aces may have fallen behind, but they got to this point in the season by fighting back and that’s exactly what they did, especially in the third quarter.
A’ja Wilson, Angel McCoughtry and Danielle Robinson put the team on their back and whittled down the 19-point deficit to one by the end of the third quarter.Robinson could be heard on the broadcast saying, “They can’t guard us,” during a timeout.
Wilson, the 2020 WNBA MVP, finished the night with 19 points, six rebounds, an assist and a steal. McCoughtry had 20 points and nine rebounds. For the Aces, their three-point bombing was a huge surprise. McCoughtry made five of six threes, with a team total of 10-of-20 shots made from three. It was their most makes all season and their most attempts in a game since Aug. 11.
“I think we just weren’t locked in mentally on the defensive end,” Wilson said after the game. “I think I got to switch gears in my head and know that this is a different team, a different ball game. I think I put that on myself.”
The Aces toppled the Storm their two meetings in the regular season, but under much different circumstances. In those games, the Storm were without Bird in both and without Stewart in one. But the Aces this time were missing 2020 Sixth Woman of the Year Dearica Hamby, and it showed. Head coach Bill Laimbeer said on Thursday they would need even more from McCoughty and Jackie Young on the defensive end to guard Stewart to make up for losing Hamby.
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The Aces will need to figure out how to slow Stewart down and block the passing lanes more efficiently against Bird if they want a hope for Wilson to help pull them in the next game.
The Storm are two wins away from their second title in three years.
All that stands between the Storm and WNBA Finals glory and the league from pulling off a history season is the remainder of this best-of-five series.
