WNBA; Storm face cloudy future

Anne Donovan, Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson all claim it’s not a distraction.

Yet tonight could be the last regular season game in Seattle for the Storm, as the future of the WNBA franchise and their NBA brethren SuperSonics continues to be a lingering question.

Seattle is already assured of at least one home playoff game next week – most likely against Phoenix – but tonight’s fan appreciation night could have a little more meaning for a city that’s already lost one women’s professional basketball team when the ABL folded in late 1998, taking away the Seattle Reign.

“Things like this in my opinion are so out of my hands, so out of Anne’s hands, so out of Lauren’s, you go down the list. Whether or not I lose sleep over it is not going to have an effect on what happens,” Bird said Thursday.

Liberty 73, Mystics 72: At Washington, Janel McCarville scored 18 points and Shameka Christon added 12, including the go-ahead free throws with 9.8 seconds left, to help New York beat the Mystics and preserve the Liberty’s chance for the Eastern Conference’s final playoff berth.

Lynx 87, Shock 77: At Minneapolis, Svetlana Abrosimova scored 25 points and Seimone Augustus added 19 as Minnesota beat Detroit. Ivory Latta had 15 points for the Shock, who have lost three straight since clinching home-court advantage throughout the playoffs on Saturday.

Sky 81, Comets 70: At Houston, Stacey Dales scored 17 points to lead Chicago to a win over the Comets. Tina Thompson scored a season-high 33 points on 12 for 20 shooting from the field, and Tamecka Dixon added 14 points for Houston.