Despite having three players fresh off international travel after winning Olympic gold in Tokyo, the defending WNBA champion Seattle Storm managed to add another piece of hardware to their extensive trophy case Thursday night, capturing the first-ever Commissioner’s Cup with a 79–57 victory over the Connecticut Sun.
The three Olympians — Breanna Stewart, Jewell Loyd and Sue Bird — all played well, combining for 43 points, with Stewart scoring a game-high 17 on 6-for-8 shooting, including a 3-of-4 mark from three-point range.
When the Storm and Sun last met back in mid-June, Seattle crushed Connecticut by 23 points. But Sun star centre Jonquel Jones was away on international duty for Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Storm were all too aware of the impact she can have.
“They didn’t have J.J. that game, so it’s definitely different. Totally different game plan. She changes everything,” said Storm guard Bird.
But if the Storm have proven one thing time and again, it’s that they should never be counted out of any contest, and they wanted to prove that in Thursday’s matchup.
The Commissioner’s Cup is a new event that saw teams playing designated Cup games during the season to determine who would eventually play for a Cup championship with $500,000 on the line to be split between the two teams.
All we do is WIN! #TakeCover pic.twitter.com/Ap2DVo5hFK
— Seattle Storm (@seattlestorm) August 13, 2021
Even with the substantial prize, though, there was little emphasis on actually trying to get to the Cup final from both Seattle and Connecticut. Instead, they remain focused on making the WNBA playoffs and winning a championship, and the chance at a Commissioner’s Cup came along with that.
“In the long run, does it have any crazy significance? No,” said Bird. “Other than that I think Stewie talked about it before the game — this is very familiar for those of us that have played overseas.
“There’s always some random game in February that has a random bonus on it, or a random game in November that has a bonus on it or if you’re playing your big rival, it has a bonus on it. So we’re familiar with it — this mid-season-bonus-type game — and it’s only good when you win it.”
And winning it is exactly what the Storm did.
Seattle jumped to a 10-point lead to end the first quarter 28–18, and though they barely outscored the Sun 18-17 in the second period, their halftime regroup saw the Storm come out full-throttle and diminish any chance of a Sun comeback.
Connecticut was held to just five points in the third quarter while Seattle scored 22, giving the Storm a 28-point lead going into the final quarter. Connecticut found some rhythm, scoring 17 points in the fourth, but it wasn’t enough.
Jet lag? Nah. @breannastewart has 15 points after one quarter of the Commissioner's Cup!#TakeCover pic.twitter.com/fARo1lS1mr
— Seattle Storm (@seattlestorm) August 13, 2021
Sun centre Jones finished the game with a double-double for the 11th time this season — having only played in 16 games — with a 10-point, 11 rebound performance. Teammates DeWanna Bonner and Natisha Hiedeman each added 11 points for the Sun.
“We came in with a mindset to compete and go out and put our best foot forward, and we didn’t do that,” said Jones. “Even though it doesn't count, it’s still a poor representation of what we want to bring every night when we step on the court.
“(Now) we have a chance to bounce back and fix a lot of the things that we need to fix.”
The prize money was split up so that the winning Storm players all got $30,000, and the Sun players received $10,000 for making it to the Cup. Storm superstar Stewart added another accolade to her already impressive résumé, getting named MVP, which came with an extra $5,000 on top of her other winnings.
And even though every player went home with cash of their own, it was mere cold comfort for the Sun, who have been eyeing a spot in the WNBA Finals after their run was cut short by Las Vegas last year.
“Ten grand. We are not thinking about that right now because, quite frankly, we were outplayed tonight and we’ve got to get back to the drawing board,” said Jones. “Our mission is to win a championship and the way we played tonight is not going to do that, so we need to get back to work.”
