2022 Seattle Storm Schedule

[David]

The following is the complete 2022 Regular Season schedule for the Seattle Storm.

The Storm are entering their 23nd Season as members of the WNBA. The Storm play in the Western Conference, along with the Dallas Wings, Las Vegas Aces, Los Angeles Sparks, Minnesota Lynx, and the Phoenix Mercury.

After three seasons not playing at their home arena, the Storm finally return home to Climate Pledge Arena (formerly KeyArena). The Storm temporarily called Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett, WA as home for the 2019 and 2021 Seasons (along with selected games at Alaska Airlines Arena at University of Washington). The 2020 WNBA Season was played entirely in a bubble setting at IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL.

The Storm look to add another WNBA Championship to the banners of their new arena after failing to defend their championship last season. After capturing the franchise's fourth overall title, Seattle went 21-11 and was eliminated in Round 2 of the playoffs in single-game elimination by Phoenix. With longtime veteran Sue Bird (G), and the core of Breanna Stewart (F), Jewel Loyd (G) and Jordin Canada (G), Seattle looks to maintain its perch atop the WNBA mountain. The team saw more shuffling of its roster, seeing the departures of 2018 1st Round draft pick Jordin Canada (G) and veteran Cierra Burdick (F). Seattle also shook up its roster, trading away F Katie Lou Samuelson one season after acquiring her in a mega trade. Samuelson will join teammate Canada as members of the Los Angeles Sparks.

At age 41, life-long star Sue Bird (F) returns for the 2022 season in what many consider to be her final WNBA season. Along with the re-signings of Jewell Loyd (G), Mercedes Russell (C) and Brianna Stewart (F), the Storm managed to keep the core of their team intact. New names to the team include long-time WNBA veterans Jantel Lavender (F), Gabby Williams (F), Briann January (G), adding veteran presence and depth for a team looking to capture the Storm's fifth Championship, which would be the most all-time in WNBA history.

Noelle Quinn will return for her second season as the team's head coach after taking over for Dan Hughes last year, who retired after coaching six games and a 5-1 record. Quinn went 16-10 the rest of the season, and now will coach her first full season going into this year.

Seattle will play a total of 36 regular season games (18 home, 18 away) in 2022. The league intended to implement the 36-game schedule in 2020, but was scrapped due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The WNBA has been using a 34-game schedule from 2003-2019, but due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the league reduced games to 22 in 2020 in a bubble hub city at IMG Academy, then went to a 32-game season last year. Much like last season, the WNBA will have teams play a "series" with teams of greater distance in an effort to reduce travel, which will see back-to-back games played consecutively.

This season will also feature the return of the WNBA Commissioner's Cup. The Commissioner's Cup will see all 12 teams play 10 intra-conference games in the first half of the season before the in-season break. The top team from each conference with the best winning percentage in their cup (conference) games will go on to play in the Commissioner's Cup Championship, set to take place July 26th at Phoenix Suns Arena in Phoenix, AZ.  The total prize pool is valued at $500,000, with the winning team sharing the prize of $375,000 while the runner up shares a $120,000 prize.  Seattle won the inaugural Commissioner's Cup last season, defeating the Eastern Conference representative Connecticut Sun 79-57 at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, AZ.

Seattle will tip-off their season on May 6th against the Minnesota Lynx. The Storm then hit the road to face Las Vegas and Phoenix before returning home for a eight-game homestand that runs from May 14-June 7. It'll be the longest homestand in the Storm's franchise history. As a result, Seattle will play 11 of its final 16 games on the road.

The WNBA will also introduce a new playoff format this season, getting rid of the Round 1 and Round 2 single elimination games before the semifinals. The first round of the playoffs will be a best-of-3 series, followed by best-of-5 series in the semifinals and the WNBA Finals. The two-round, single elimination playoffs before the semifinal series had been in place since the 2016 season and ran through 2021. In essence, the WNBA is returning to the bracket format the league used from 1997-2015, however the seeding will remain a 1-8 seed format and not a conference format.

National broadcast information for games on ABC, the ESPN family of Networks, CBS Sports Network, NBA TV, Facebook Live, and Amazon Prime Video are listed in parenthesis. All local games in the Puget Sound region will air on Q13 FOX (KCPQ). All local games in the team's viewership footprint can be seen on Amazon Prime. Game times are listed in Pacific Time (PST) and are subject to change, especially due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Home games played at Climate Pledge Arena are listed in bold green. Updated results will appear bold for wins.

May
Fri., May 6 - Minnesota Lynx* (W 97-74)
Sun., May 8 - at Las Vegas Aces* (L 74-85)
Wed., May 11 - at Phoenix Mercury* (L 77-97)
Sat., May 14 - Phoenix Mercury* (L 64-69)
Wed., May 18 - Chicago Sky (W 74-71)
Fri., May 20 - Los Angeles Sparks* (W 83-80)
Fri., May 27 - New York Liberty W 79-71 (OT)
Sun., May 29 - New York Liberty (W 92-61)

June
Fri., June 3 - Dallas Wings* (L 51-68)
Sun., June 5 - Connecticut Sun (L 86-93)
Tue., June 7 - Atlanta Dream (W 72-60)
Fri., June 10 - at Dallas Wings* (W 89-88)
Sun., June 12 - at Dallas Wings (W 84-79)
Tue., June 14 - at Minnesota Lynx* (W 81-79)
Fri., June 17 - at Connecticut Sun (L 71-82)
Sun., June 19 - at New York Liberty (W 81-72)
Thu., June 23 - Washington Mystics (W 85-71)
Sat., June 25 - Los Angeles Sparks (L 77-85)
Wed., June 29 - Las Vegas Aces* (W 88-78)

July
Fri., July 1 - Indiana Fever (W 73-57)
Sun., July 3 - at Atlanta Dream (L 76-90)
Tue., July 5 - at Indiana Fever (W 95-73) - (Indiana Farmers Coliseum)
Thu., July 7 - at Los Angeles Sparks* (W 106-69)
Sun., July 10 - 2022 WNBA ALL-STAR GAME
Tue., July 12 - Dallas Wings (W 83-74)
Sun., July 17 - Indiana Fever (W 81-65)
Wed., July 20 - at Chicago Sky (L 74-78)
Fri., July 22 - at Phoenix Mercury (L 78-94)
Sun., July 24 - Atlanta Dream (W 82-72)
Tue., July 26 - WNBA Commissioner's Cup Championship
Thu., July 28 - at Connecticut Sun (L 83-88)
Sat., July 30 - at Washington Mystics (W 82-77)
Sun., July 31 - at Washington Mystics (L 75-78)

August
Wed., August 3 - Minnesota Lynx (W 89-77)
Sun., August 7 - Las Vegas Aces (L 81-89)
Tue,. August 9 - at Chicago Sky (W 111-100)
Fri., August 12 - at Minnesota Lynx (W 96-69)
Sun., August 14 - at Las Vegas Aces (L 100-109)


* Commissioner's Cup games


PLAYOFFS

First Round
Game 1 -- Thu., August 18 - Washington Mystics (W 86-83)
Game 2 -- Sun., August 21 - Washington Mystics (W 97-84)

Semifinals
Game 1 -- Sun., August 28 - at Las Vegas Aces (W 76-73)
Game 2 -- Wed., August 31 - at Las Vegas Aces (L 73-78)
Game 3 -- Sun., September 4 - Las Vegas Aces (L 98-110) (OT)
Game 4 -- Tue., September 6 - Las Vegas Aces (L 92-97)


AWAY VENUES
Atlanta Dream - Gateway Center Arena at College Park; College Park, Georgia
Chicago Sky - Wintrust Arena; Chicago, Illinois
Connecticut Sun - Mohegan Sun Arena; Uncasville, Connecticut
Dallas Wings - College Park Center; Arlington, Texas
Indiana Fever - Gainbridge Fieldhouse; Indianapolis, Indiana
Las Vegas Aces - Michelob Ultra Arena; Las Vegas, Nevada
Los Angeles Sparks - Crypto.com Arena; Los Angeles, California
Minnesota Lynx - Target Center; Minneapolis, Minnesota
New York Liberty - Barclays Center; Brooklyn, New York
Phoenix Mercury - Footprint Center; Phoenix, Arizona
Washington Mystics - East Entertainment and Sports Arena, Washington D.C.

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[David]

Monthly Update: With future Hall of Famer Sue Bird back for what is likely one last run, and the return of Breanna Stewart and Jewell Loyd as part of the Storm's main core, Seattle looks to send Bird out with a fifth WNBA Championship in the 2022 season.

The Storm got off to a good start, defeating the Minnesota Lynx 97-74 in the regular season opener, the first home game for Seattle at the newly renovated Climate Pledge Arena (formerly KeyArena). What would follow was a three game slide which saw the Storm lose not only three games in the Commissioner's Cup standings, but the loss of Stewart and Epiphanny Prince due to positive COVID tests in the home-and-home games against the Phoenix Mercury. Stewart would return the next week, a close 74-71 home victory over the Chicago Sky that saw the Storm nearly lose the game in the final quarter.

The narrow win over the defending champions would kick off a 4-game win streak, all at home, however two of the next three would include an 83-80 nail-biter over the Los Angeles Sparks. The thrills continued entering a home-and-home series against the New York Liberty, in which Bird, Stephanie Talbot and Ezi Magbegor all sat out due to COVID protocols. The first resulted in Seattle winning 79-71 OT thriller after blowing a late 4th Quarter lead, but would come out in full beast mode two days later, stomping New York to a league worst 1-7 record

Entering June, Seattle sits in 2nd place in the Western Conference with a 5-3 record, 3 games behind the red-hot Las Vegas Aces (9-1), and 0.5 games ahead of the 3rd place Dallas Wings (5-4). In terms of the overall league standings, Seattle ranks 4th behind #1 Las Vegas and Eastern Conference foes #2 Washington Mystics (7-3) and #3 Connecticut Sun.

Seattle's three game slide put them back of the WNBA Commissioner's Cup Standings; the Storm sit in 4th Place with a 2-3 Commissioner's Cup record with 5 Commissioner's Cup games remaining. Las Vegas (5-0), Dallas (2-1) and Los Angeles (3-3) sit ahead of Seattle in the Commissioner's Cup standings. However, Dallas still has more Commissioner's Cup games (7) to play, and Los Angeles is down to 4 games left, meaning Seattle can make up some ground should Dallas and Los Angeles stumble, or upset Las Vegas.

[David]

Monthly Update: The month of June saw two disappointing home losses to the Dallas Wings and the Connecticut Sun, snapping a 4-game winning streak that finished off the previous month. Seattle would rebound with a 72-60 win over the Atlanta Dream, then hit the road for the next week for the next five games. The road trip was of success for the Storm, winning the first four games of the trip (including back-to-back games at the Dallas Wings) before falling to the Connecticut Sun a day after future Hall of Famer Sue Bird announced that this current season would be her final season. Seattle would bounce back in potentially Bird's final game in her home state of New York, defeating the Liberty 81-72.

Seattle returned home the next week, defeating the Washington Mystics in F/G Alysha Clark's first game back in Seattle since she departed after the 2020 season. A disappointing loss to the Los Angeles Sparks occurred two days later, but Seattle would rebound with an exciting 88-78 win over the red-hot Las Vegas Aces. Seattle finishes the month of June with a 7-4 mark for the month.

Entering July, Seattle remains in 2nd place in the Western Conference with a 12-7 record, gaining a game on Las Vegas (14-5), and but stand 2 games back. They increased their lead of the 3rd place Dallas (9-11), leading the Wings by 3.5 games. In terms of the overall league standings, Seattle remains 4th behind #1 Chicago Sky (14-5), #2 Las Vegas, and #3 Connecticut (13-7). Washington, who sat in the #3 spot with a 7-3, struggled in June going 6-4 and falling to the #5 spot at 13-9.

Unfortunately, Seattle's early season hole in the WNBA's Commissioner's Cup standings resulted in Las Vegas claiming the bid for the Western Conference. Seattle has one Commissioner's Cup game left to play, but sit at #2 with a 5-4 mark. The Aces will take on Chicago (9-1 in Eastern Conference Commissioner's Cup standings). Last season's Eastern Conference representative, Connecticut (5-5) finished in the #3 spot behind the Sky and the Liberty.

[David]

Monthly Update: Seattle kicked off the month of July with a 73-57 thrashing of the Indiana Fever in the finale of a four game homestand before trekking across the country beginning in Atlanta and trekking back west toward Los Angeles with three games in five days. The travel East affected the Storm, dropping 90-76 game to the Atlanta Dream, but would rebound with thumpings of Indiana and the Los Angeles Sparks to enter the All-Star Break.

With a home loaded first two months of the season, the Storm would find themselves looking at five of their final eight games of the month on the road. Seattle would win all three of its remaining July home games, but would amass a 1-4 record for the rest of the road games to finish the month off.

Seattle's lone win post All-Star Game on the road came with the first of back-to-back games against the Washington Mystics. The 82-77 victory clinched Seattle a berth in the 2022 WNBA Playoffs, its seventh straight playoff appearance. However, Seattle would drop the second game to cap off a 7-5 July record.

Entering August, Seattle still holds onto 2nd place in the Western Conference with a 19-12 overall record. The Storm entered the month 2 games behind the Las Vegas Aces for 1st, but by the end of the month found themselves losing 1.5 games on Vegas, currently sitting 3.5 games back of 1st place. The Storm increased their lead over 3rd place Dallas (13-16), with a 5 game lead over the Wings. Seattle didn't gain ground in the overall league standings, remaining in 4th behind #1 Chicago Sky (23-7), #2 Las Vegas (22-8) and #3 Connecticut Sun (20-10).

[David]

End of Season Update:

With five games in August to cap off the remainder of the regular season, the Storm went 3-2 to finish and claim the #4 seed in the WNBA Playoffs.

Seattle finishes the season with a 22-14 mark, good for 2nd in the Western Conference and 4th Overall in the league standings. With a 2-1 record advantage over the Washington Mystics, the Storm claimed home court advantage in the First Round series. The best of 3 format will have the first two playoff games at Climate Pledge Arena, giving Seattle fan two more guaranteed chances to watch Sue Bird before her retirement.

[David]

Postseason update:

Seattle sweeps the Washington Mystics 2-0 in the Best-of-3 series.

The Storm take on #1 Las Vegas Aces in a Best-of-5 Semifinal. The Aces swept the #8 Phoenix Mercury in two games.

Seattle was 1-3 against the Aces in the regular season.

[David]

Postseason/End of Season update:

Seattle's 2022 season comes to an end in the Semifinals as the Storm fall to the Las Vegas Aces 3-1 in the Best-of-5 series.

Seattle escaped with a 76-73 victory at Las Vegas in Game 1, but would lose another close contest in Game 2 to split the series. Home court would provide more heartbreak than success, as the Storm would lose in gut wrenching fashion in Game 3, 98-110 in OT. The Storm would fall again in Game 4, 92-97, but not only saw the end of their season, but the end of F Sue Bird's career.