The champs are coming back to town.
The Seattle Storm, defending WNBA champions, return to Everett this week for Angel of the Winds Arena’s second stint as the team’s home, and the Storm are hoping the second trip through town proves as fruitful as the first.
“That’s been one of our home gyms, and any time you play at home you want to value your home court and play as hard as you can because you want to protect it — and also play for your fans,” Storm guard Jewell Loyd said following Tuesday’s practice at Seattle Pacific University.
The Storm are without a permanent home this season because of the demolition of KeyArena and construction of a new Seattle arena. The Storm are splitting their home games between two venues: Angel of the Winds and Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion in Seattle. Hec Ed is Seattle’s primary host site, with Angel of the Winds being used for the five games when there were scheduling conflicts at Hec Ed.
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One of those conflicts happens over the coming seven days, meaning the Storm play their next two home games at Angel of the Winds: Friday against the Washington Mystics in a rematch of last year’s WNBA finals, and next Thursday against the Dallas Wings. Both games tip off at 7 p.m.
Seattle fared well during its first stint at Angel of the Winds, going a perfect 3-0 in its first three home contests. The Storm opened the season on May 25 with their championship ring ceremony, then went on to defeat the Phoenix Mercury 77-68. That was followed by an 84-77 victory over the Minnesota Lynx on June 4 and an 84-62 drubbing of the Los Angeles Sparks on June 21.
The 3-0 record in Everett is the reason why the Storm (12-9) have a winning record. Seattle is 5-3 at Hec Ed.
“I really enjoy it,” Storm coach Dan Hughes said about returning to Everett. “They’ve really made us feel at home there. It’s been an amazing thing, and our fans have been great to come up to Everett. From walking in the locker room and the way they put the locker room together for us, to my first game back after cancer surgery when we played L.A., they’ve just been a great host.”
At three games above .500 the Storm are in a virtual tie for fourth place in the WNBA, which would be good enough to nab one of the league’s eight playoff berths. Given Seattle has spent the entire season without reigning league MVP Breanna Stewart, who’s out for the season because of a ruptured Achilles, and legendary point guard Sue Bird, who remains out indefinitely after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery, the Storm are satisfied with their position.
With the exception of Stewart and Bird, the Storm are healthy heading into the final stretch of the season. Loyd missed games before the All-Star break because of an ankle injury and Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis had been out because of a knee injury. However, both are practicing at full speed and should be good to go Friday against Minnesota.
“Considering our circumstances and everything we’ve kind of dealt with, we’re sitting really well,” Loyd said. “We let a couple games slip away, but this is kind of the first time we’re all healthy, and that’s scary. That’s definitely how we want to finish the season, with everyone healthy and strong and getting ready to push for the playoffs.”
In the absence of Stewart and Bird, Seattle has been led by its All-Star pair of Loyd and Natasha Howard. Howard is leading the team in scoring (18.1 points per game), rebounding (8.3) and blocked shots as Seattle’s primary interior presence, while Loyd (14.4 points per game) has provided scoring from the perimeter. Seattle has also received important contributions from Jordin Canada (10.2 points, 5.1 assists per game), who has done an admirable job filling in for Bird.
“They’ve had a lot of toughness,” Hughes said about why the Storm have weathered the loss of Stewart and Bird. “Defensively we’ve been able to turn teams over and that’s really been good. Offensively we’ve kind of brought the 3-ball back into our game, even without Sue and Stewie who are maybe our two best 3-point shooters. We’ve been up and down offensively, but I think recently we’ve done a good job integrating the 3-ball with the other things we do.”
While next Thursday’s game against Dallas may be the final regular season game the Storm play at Angel of the Winds, it may not be the final time Seattle plays in Everett in 2019. It’s possible the Storm could play home playoff games at Angel of the Winds, should Seattle reach the postseason.
Championship Night
Friday’s game has been dubbed Championship Night, as the Storm celebrate Seattle pro sports champions. Among the dignitaries scheduled to appear are former Seattle Seahawks defensive end Cliff Avril, a member of the Seahawks’ team that won Super Bowl XLVIII in 2014; former Seattle SuperSonics coach Lenny Wilkens, who guided the Sonics to the 1978-79 NBA title; and Eric Duechle, a flanker for the Seattle Seawolves team that won the past two Major Rugby League championships. A representative from the Seattle Sounders FC team that won the MLS Cup in 2016 is also expected to attend.
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