Storm-Mercury Preview

By KATE HEDLIN
Posted Sep 04 2010 3:22PM

Lauren Jackson and coach Brian Agler of the Seattle Storm opened the Western Conference finals by receiving individual awards for record-setting performances during the regular season.

However, they continue to focus on the bigger picture.

Seattle will try to sweep the defending WNBA champion Phoenix Mercury when the best-of-three series continues at US Airways Center on Sunday afternoon.

Before an 82-74 win in Game 1 on Thursday, Jackson was named the WNBA's most valuable player for the third time in her career and Agler was named the league's coach of the year after Seattle matched the WNBA record for wins in a regular season with 28.

"It's just because of where we are at the moment and the opportunity to do great things this year," Jackson said. "Especially playing the Western Conference finals, that definitely makes it special."

Jackson quickly reminded people why she received the honor, scoring 23 points and grabbing a team playoff-record 17 rebounds.

"That's Lauren. That's why she's the MVP - she can get it done in a variety of ways," said Sue Bird, who had 10 assists. "And the way she's getting rebounds ... that's key against this team. Defensively, it doesn't allow them to score or allow them second shots. And offensively, it doesn't allow them to run. So Lauren was huge for us on the boards."

The win was Seattle's sixth straight overall after sweeping its first-round series against Los Angeles. The Storm have won six in a row against the Mercury with Jackson averaging 22.3 points and recording a double-double three times.

While Seattle is looking to eliminate the defending WNBA champs, Phoenix will try to force a Game 3 and have Diana Taurasi bounce back after scoring nine points on 2-of-15 shooting Thursday.

Taurasi scored fewer than 10 points only once during the regular season, when she averaged a league-best 22.6 points.

"I'm not worried about it," coach Corey Gaines said. "It's gone, it's over. She doesn't have any more of those. It happens."

Taurasi has had some difficulties against Seattle this year, averaging 12.0 points in the first two regular-season meetings. However, she averaged 35.5 in the last two, scoring 44 the previous time these teams met in Phoenix.

She won't be the only player trying to get things going Sunday. The Mercury averaged 99.0 points while sweeping San Antonio in the conference semifinals, but they shot 38.0 percent while getting outrebounded 40-34 in Game 1.

The Storm haven't allowed an opponent to score more than 75 points in their last six games.

"I think we need to run more," said Mercury forward Candice Dupree, who had 15 points. "We need to be more aggressive attacking the basket. ... As long as we're aggressive, we should be fine."

If necessary, Game 3 would be in Seattle on Wednesday.

Storm beat Mercury to advance to WNBA finals

Posted Sep 05 2010 5:42PM

PHOENIX (AP) Sue Bird made a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 2.8 seconds Sunday and the Seattle Storm advanced to the WNBA finals with a 91-88 victory over the defending champion Phoenix Mercury, closing the game with a 15-0 run.

Diana Taurasi, who finished with 28 points, missed a contested 3-pointer at the buzzer for Phoenix.

Swin Cash had 23 points and eight rebounds, helping Seattle erase an 88-76 deficit in the second game of the best-of-three conference finals. League MVP Lauren Jackson added 20 points and eight boards.

Phoenix missed shots on three consecutive possessions in the final 1:35, the last being Tameka Johnson's short layup against Bird. Bird grabbed the rebound and called timeout.

Johnson had 15 points and 12 assists for Phoenix, which had won two of the last three WNBA titles.

The Storm earned their seventh consecutive win and advanced to the finals for the first time since 2004. They will meet the winner of the Eastern Conference finals between Atlanta and New York, which was scheduled to start Sunday night.

Cash sparked Seattle's big rally with a three-point play with 3 minutes left and Jackson, who had been held relatively quiet, had five points in the final 2:33. Cash converted a tying layup with 36 seconds left after a Jackson offensive rebound.

Phoenix out together a 20-1 run in the second quarter, holding Seattle without a field goal for more than seven minutes. But the Storm scored the last seven points of the half to cut the lead to 48-40 at the break.

Taurasi, the league's leading scorer during the regular season, scored 10 points in an impressive stretch during the run after being held to nine points total in the first game of the series.

Jackson had 10 points and six rebounds in the first half, but also picked up her third foul with 2:09 left in the second quarter.

Phoenix increased its lead to 67-48 lead with 5:24 left in the third and Seattle responded again, finishing period with a 13-4 surge to trim the deficit to 71-61 entering the fourth.

The Storm improved to 7-0 against the Mercury this year.

• Storm: --
• Mercury: --

• Storm: --
• Mercury: --

• Lead Changes: 14
• Times Tied: 4

• Arena: US Airways Center, Phoenix, AZ
• Officials: #55 Eric Brewton, #9 Denise Brooks, #42 Roy Gulbeyan
• Attendance: 9010
• Duration: 2:5