Seattle Storm: 2nd half goals in the playoff push towards another championship

The second half of the WNBA season kicks off tomorrow and we look at the goals for the Storm to make a playoff run

Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

The Storm sit comfortably in the playoff picture right now with a 14-9 record, 4th best in the WNBA. This sits them behind the Sun, Liberty, and ever dominant Lynx whom sit at a stunning 20-4 record. Nneka Ogwumike, Skylar Diggins, and company have great chemistry in order and the team looks to continued success in order to contend with the leagues front runners.

According to the most recent betting odds, the Storm sit at 22/1 to win the NBA title - a reach to defeat the league's best. This shows that despite their competitive standing, the sharps think that they have a low probability of achieving the feat.

As for everyone else, the Liberty lead the odds at +180 followed by the defending champion Minnesota Lynx at +200 . The Mercury sit at +500 and then the Fever are +700. Seattle is 6th in the odds currently. Advanced metrics do have the Storm at a 99.6% chance to make the playoffs, so that will not be an issue. Getting to the title series will be the hurdle.

Last season the Storm performed quite well reaching a 25-15 final record. Unfortunately, they fell in the first round by sweep to the Aces. Returning a very similar roster, the Storm are on that same path. They currently are pacing for 27 wins, or so, 2 more than last year but with 4 more games in the 2025 season. Below we look into some goals to achieve upon their return to the basketball court.

Three-Point Shooting

Now what do the Storm need to do to compete with the Liberty and Lynx? Three-point shooting will be one. The Storm only shoot about 22 three pointers per game. They score by three point field goals at just the 9th highest rate in the league. However, they have the 5th highest percentage in the league. Perhaps a hint that they should shoot the three-ball more often.

Defense

Defensively, the Storm rate at 5th in the league - another solid mark. The Lynx, however, rate the far best in the league defensively. To show, the Storm have a defensive efficiency rating of 98.9 while the Lynx lead comfortably at a 94.8 rating. To get to through playoff series', the Storm will have to stop the likes of Caitlin Clark, Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart. They will have to lock in defensively in these potential playoff games and stop they centerpieces of opposing offenses. To do this would lead to further success.

Home-Court Advantage

As it stands, the Storm own home-court as the 4th seed in the playoffs if it were to start today. That does not guarantee it beyond the first round. To rise in the standings can only help. In any sport, any team will always prefer to play at home. Not to mention, Seattle is a further travel trip to opposing cities as compared to some other franchises. The Storm sit 1.5 games behind the Sun and 2 games behind the Liberty. If they could manage to attack New York and find the 2nd seed, that would lock up home-court until the championship series.

It will be up to Seattle to stay locked in and accumulate wins. They are playing very solid basketball leading for little criticism, but they shall not want to plateau. Their return post-break comes with the ability to get hot quickly. The schedule begins with the Wings (12th place) then the Sky (11th place) and the Mystics (7th place). They will be the better team on paper and they should go 3-0 on a road to a 2 seed.