Storm eliminate Mercury despite Jackson’s back injury

Sue Bird tied a season-high with 20 points, and the Seattle Storm ended the Phoenix Mercury’s playoff hopes with an 85-74 win Saturday, their ninth-straight home victory.

Seattle won despite playing nearly the last 23 minutes without leading scorer Lauren Jackson. The former Most Valuable Player felt pain in her lower back after pulling down a defensive rebound late in the first half, and was held out to rest for the playoffs.

For Phoenix, it was another disappointing finish. The Mercury needed to beat Seattle and have Houston beat Los Angeles to earn their first playoff berth since 2000.

Diana Taurasi scored a career-high 31 points for the Mercury, but made just 11 of 25 shots. Kamila Vodichkova, who played for Seattle last season and was presented with her championship ring before the game, added 18 points.

Mystics 76, Shock 67: At Washington, reserve Laurie Koehn scored 15 points, shooting 5 for 7 on 3-pointers, and the Mystics beat Detroit in the regular-season finale. The game had little meaning as Washington was eliminated from playoff contention with a loss at Connecticut the previous night. Though the teams finished tied and split four meetings, Detroit earned the fourth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot because of a better conference record.

The Shock start postseason play Wednesday against the first-place Sun, and Detroit coach Bill Laimbeer went with his usual bench players throughout the game. Washington’s Temeka Johnson had 10 points and five assists, and DeLisha Milton-Jones added 15 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Alana Beard had 13 points and seven assists.

Sun 78, Sting 69: At Charlotte, N.C., Asjha Jones scored a career-high 22 points and Connecticut set an Eastern Conference record for wins by beating the last-place Sting. Lindsay Whalen added 18 points and Nykesha Sales scored 14 for the Sun (26-8), who topped Detroit’s 25-9 mark in 2003. Connecticut, which has secured home-court advantage throughout the playoffs, will visit Detroit to open the first round Wednesday. Sheri Sam scored 21 points for the Sting, who had their two-game winning streak snapped and finished with the worst record in team history at 6-28. Their previous worst mark was 8-24 in 2000.

Fever 75, Liberty 50: At Indianapolis, Kelly Miller scored 13 points and Tully Bevilaqua added 10 points and six assists as Indiana beat New York and set a franchise record for victories. The Fever won the season series 3-1 and will open the first round of the playoffs at New York on Tuesday night. Crystal Robinson scored 12 of her 19 points in the first half for New York, which rested its starters for much of the game. All-star Becky Hammon played just 9 minutes and did not score. It was Indiana’s largest winning margin of the season and New York’s lowest scoring output of the year.

Monarchs 61, Lynx 52: At Minneapolis, Rebekkah Brunson had 11 points and 11 rebounds to lead Sacramento over Minnesota. Yolanda Griffith had 17 points and seven rebounds for Sacramento, which already had the top seed in the Western Conference locked up. The Monarchs will open the playoffs at Los Angeles. Nicole Ohlde scored 18 points for the Lynx, who lost the last four games of the season and will miss the playoffs for the first time in three years.

Comets 77, Sparks 51: At Houston, Dominique Canty scored 17 points to lead the Comets over Los Angeles. Tina Thompson had 13 points and Michelle Snow added 11 for the Comets, who will host defending champion Seattle in the opener of the first round on Tuesday. Los Angeles earned the fourth and final postseason spot in the Western Conference when Phoenix lost at Seattle earlier Saturday. The Sparks host first-place Sacramento on Wednesday. Houston, missing Sheryl Swoopes because of a stomach virus, made nine of its first 10 shots. Canty, who was moved from guard to forward just minutes before tip-off, was 6 for 7 from the floor.