The Seattle Storm sweep the Las Vegas Aces to take their fourth WNBA Championship. Seattle won 92-59 in yet another dynamic and impressive performance. Seattle started off struggling somewhat on offense, with the Aces holding a 9-2 lead about halfway through the first quarter. Aces’ season MVP, A’ja Wilson, started off the first quarter impressively as she secured 14 quick points for her team to get them started. Yet Breanna Stewart persevered to help bring her team back, scoring 11 points and going 5-5 from field goal range and 1-1 from 3-point range to help bring her team within 2 at the end of the quarter. By the second quarter, Seattle’s effective transition offense had given them a 33-27 lead over Las Vegas, without a bucket from their star Forward.
The Aces struggled significantly throughout the game, shooting only 34% and coming up with 19 turnovers. A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young were the only two Aces scored double digits, scoring 18 and 11 points, respectively. Their bench also struggled to add to the scoring, coming up with only 13 points all-together. The second and third quarter was when they let the game get away from them. A’ja Wilson went for 0 points in the second quarter as Seattle’s defense managed to shut her out completely, and they finished the third 27 points behind Seattle. The Aces scored only 14 points in the third quarter.
Seattle’s star Forward put up another impressive show to help her team secure the win, finishing with 26 points and 4 rebounds, going 10-14 from the field and 3-4 from 3-point range. Breanna Stewart’s performance across all 3 games made her the obvious candidate for Finals MVP, which she secured by unanimous vote. The two-time WNBA champion’ season and finals performance secured her more accolades as she also made this year’s All-WNBA First Team and WNBA All-Defensive Second Team for the 2020 season. Seattle’s other star, Sue Bird, won her fourth championship with the Storm. Bird currently leads the WNBA in assists and is a member of the WNBA All-Decade Team. Bird’s ageless performance broke records this year as she is the first player in WNBA history to win titles in three different decades, and she broke playoffs and finals record in assists in game 1. Bird has been helped lead Seattle to all four of their victories in 2004, 2010, 2018, and now 2020. Although she only scored 23 points throughout the whole series, Bird’s play-making skills has been crucial to the team’s success. The effectiveness and finesse that Bird displayed in finals shows that she is more than capable of upkeeping with the high level of performance that she has displayed throughout her entire career.
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