Best-case scenario for title
League’s top-two teams in Aces, Storm to face off
For the fourth time in five seasons the best two teams in the WNBA will square off for the championship when the Storm and Aces play in the finals.
The best-of-five series begins Friday night.
The Aces needed to beat the Sun in a decisive fifth game of the semifinals Tuesday to reach the finals for the second time franchise history. The Aces, who are the top seed in the playoffs, also made the championship round in 2008, when the team was located in San Antonio. The Silver Stars were swept in three games by Bill Laimbeer’s Shock that season.
The Storms swept the Lynx in their semifinal to reach the championship round for the second time in three seasons.
“They are going to be rested and that can be good and bad sometimes,” Laimbeer, the Aces coach said. “Sometimes a bit of rust. We know them, they know us. We played each other twice. Eyeballed each other.”
The Storm had nine days off after the regular season ended because they earned a double-bye. It was supposed to be a few days less, but three inconclusive COVID-19 tests forced the first game of their series with the Lynx to be postponed two days. Eventually all the tests came back negative.
The Storm’s Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart were glad to have some rest again before the opener of the WNBA Finals.
“There’s a huge difference in 10 days and five days,” Stewart said. “We’re going to do what we can to make sure our bodies are ready.”
Both players missed the final meeting between the Storm and Aces on the last day of the regular season because of injury. Bird, who turns 40 on Oct. 16, also missed the first meeting because of a bone bruise in her knee.
“This is the finals. The two best teams in the league going at it,” said A’ja Wilson, the Aces center who was the league’s MVP. “It was ugly, but we got a win. End of day, we’ll go back and watch film on ourselves and Seattle.”
History may be on the Aces’ side as the team that has had the league’s MVP has won the title every year since 2016.
The Storm were the preseason favorite to win the championship and ran through the first part of the season before Bird suffered a bone bruise in her knee. Stewart also missed the final few games of the regular season as the Storm (18-4) finished as the No. 2 seed behind the Aces.
“We’ll get some time off. Everyone’s beat up at this time of the season,” Storm coach Gary Kloppenburg said. “Playing every other day. Get some good practices for whoever we are going to play at the end of the week.”
The Storm have been to the finals three times before and won each one. They were champions in 2004, 2010 and 2018.
“When you’re younger, you think it’s always going to happen,” Bird said. “You start to realize how hard it is. When you’re in the moment, you start to grab at it. Right now, I’m thinking I’m super excited to be in the final.”