Storm win on Bird’s late basket
Sue Bird certainly got teammate Lauren Jackson’s attention with her spinning reverse layup with 2.6 seconds left in overtime.
“She made the most incredible shot I’ve ever seen in women’s basketball,” Jackson said. “That was awesome. Sue just made a big-time shot.”
Bird’s layup gave the Seattle Storm a 85-83 victory over the Washington Mystics on Saturday night in Seattle. The Mystics’ Chasity Melvin missed a 15-footer at the buzzer, putting an end to a thrilling game that had 26 lead changes and eight ties.
Jackson scored a season-high 33 points, and her defense factored into the play of the game. With the score tied at 83, Jackson blocked Chamique Holdsclaw’s shot near the top of the key with seven seconds to play. Bird grabbed the ball and raced down the floor for the winning bucket. It was Jackson’s fourth block of the game.
Jackson and Bird, who finished with 18 points, combined to score all 10 of Seattle’s points in overtime. Seattle (13-7), which has won three in a row, never led by more than three points the entire night.
“That second half was gritty,” Storm coach Anne Donovan said. “Lauren’s block and Sue’s layup, it was unbelievable. Two incredible plays by two incredible players.”
Washington (9-10), which had won four of its previous five games, led by as many as 16 points and outscored Seattle 21-7 on second-chance points.
“We had the game won, but we just found a way to lose the game,” coach Michael Adams said. “It was just not being smart down the stretch that cost us the game. It was all of us. It wasn’t anything they did down the stretch. We just didn’t finish the job.”
Holdsclaw, the WNBA’s leading scorer, was held without a point for the first 33 minutes of the game but managed to finish with 10. Alana Beard led Washington with a career-high 18 points, and Stacey Dales-Schuman added 15. Murriel Page came off the bench to score a season-high 12 points.
Washington’s Tamicha Jackson left the game with a left knee injury four minutes into the game and did not return.
Comets 72, Sun 56: At Houston, Tina Thompson scored 18 points to lead Houston to a victory over Connecticut, the first time in more than a month that the Comets have won consecutive games.
After Taj McWilliams-Franklins layup pulled the Sun to 41-40 early in the second half, Houston (10-12) responded with a 10-0 run to break the game open.
Monarchs 79, Sparks 70: At Los Angeles, Yolanda Griffith scored 15 points to help Sacramento rally for a win over Los Angeles in the Sparks’ first game without coach Michael Cooper, who resigned to become an assistant with the NBA’s Denver Nuggets.
Tangela Smith added 14 points and Ticha Penicheiro had 13 points, six rebounds and six assists for the Monarchs, who ended the Sparks’ six-game winning streak.