Breanna Stewart and her Seattle Storm couldn't have gone into the All-Star break with more momentum than they did Thursday night.
"We all knew this was the last game before the break and those games are sometimes really hard because you're focused on what's ahead instead of staying in the moment," she said. "But 106 points is a lot of points."
That's how many Seattle scored, led by Stewart's 23, in a 37-point rout of the Los Angeles Sparks in its final game before the break. But there is no break for Stewart, who is one of the team captains for Sunday's WNBA All-Star Game in Chicago.
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Stewart and Las Vegas center A'ja Wilson selected the teams for this game after receiving the most votes from fans. Sue Bird and Sylvia Fowles, who are retiring at season's end, were assigned to Wilson's and Stewart's teams, respectively, before being traded for each other.
The team selected by Wilson will be run by Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon and her staff. Chicago coach James Wade and his assistants will guide Stewart's squad.
Chicago fans will be excused if they wind up leading cheers for both teams. The Sky wound up with four players in the game. Candace Parker and Courtney Vandersloot will play for Team Wilson, while Kahleah Copper and Emma Meesseman will lace them up for Team Stewart.
Joining Wilson in her starting lineup are Parker, Fowles, Las Vegas point guard Kelsey Plum and New York guard Sabrina Ionescu. Teaming up with Stewart in her starting five are Bird, Jonquel Jones (Connecticut), Nneka Oguwmike (Los Angeles) and Jackie Young (Las Vegas).
WNBA
There will be three special rules for the game, including a 4-point shot some may find reminiscent of MTV's Rock N' Jock games from the 1990s. The shot clock will be reduced from 24 to 20 seconds and there will be no free throw attempts until the final two minutes of the fourth quarter and any overtime periods.
Any shooting fouls will result in the player's team automatically getting one, two or three points, depending on the situation.