Sky-Storm Preview

By MATT BEARDMORE
Posted Jul 29 2010 2:49PM

With the top seed in the Western Conference already clinched, the Seattle Storm might need to find some motivation over the last three weeks of the regular season.

Staying unbeaten at home and defeating the team that handed them their first loss of the year should be more than enough.

Looking to improve to 13-0 at KeyArena, the Storm also look for their 13th straight win overall Friday night against a last-place Chicago Sky team that's still looking to reach the postseason for the first time.

Led by Lauren Jackson's season-high 33 points, the Storm (21-2) rallied from an 18-point halftime deficit Tuesday to defeat defending WNBA champion Phoenix 91-85. After giving up a season-high 56 first-half points, Seattle outscored the Mercury 24-8 in the third quarter and secured homecourt advantage through the conference finals.

"Everyone just sort of dug deep and got out there and played defense and that was the one thing that won us the game," said Jackson, second in the league with 22.3 points per game.

Poor defense was one of the reasons Seattle lost 84-75 at Chicago on May 27. The Sky were off to their worst start in franchise history at 0-4, but went 6 for 13 from 3-point range and shot 49.1 percent from the field to snap Seattle's team-best 4-0 start.

"We didn't get any stops," Jackson said after scoring 15 points with 11 rebounds in the Storm's third consecutive loss to Chicago. "We didn't help each other defensively. We didn't play how we normally play defensively and we are known as a defensive team and tonight we just didn't show it at all."

The Storm, who have won five of their last six by eight points or fewer, will try to do a better job against Chicago center Sylvia Fowles, who scored 19 points with eight boards and four blocks during May's matchup.

Fowles had 18 points with eight rebounds and newcomer Shay Murphy added 12 points, but Chicago (12-13) fell to 1-1 on its five-game trip with Tuesday's 78-74 loss to Eastern Conference-leading Indiana.

"We fought hard in the second half,'' said Murphy, who signed with the Sky last week after being waived by the Fever. "To steal a game from the Fever would have been nice."

The Sky, who trail Indiana by just five games, will now try to hand the Storm their first home loss for the second straight year. With Fowles scoring just four points and pulling down five rebounds in her first game back after missing four with a sore right knee, Chicago snapped Seattle's franchise-record 15-game home winning streak with an 86-81 victory July 12, 2009.

Seattle leads 6-3 all-time versus Chicago.

Storm roll past Sky for 13th straight win

Posted Jul 31 2010 1:07AM

SEATTLE (AP) The Seattle Storm showed the Sky how much they have improved since a rare loss two months ago at Chicago.

Swin Cash had 16 points to lead five players in double figures as the Storm beat the Sky 80-60 Friday night for their 13th consecutive win.

Lauren Jackson added 14 points, Svetlana Abrosimova had 13, Sue Bird 11 and Camille Little 10 for Seattle (22-2). Bird also had eight assists as the Storm, who have already clinched the Western Conference title, improved to 13-0 at home.

``That really wasn't our team at that point in the season,'' Bird said. ``They played really well and kind of put us back on our heels and we never figured it out. We've learned a lot since that game about ourselves and to come out here and show that against them felt good.''

The Storm, who lost 84-75 at Chicago on May 27 to end Seattle's 4-0 start and give Chicago its first win after opening 0-4, have won 18 of 19 since then. Seattle is also undefeated since a 72-65 setback at Indiana on June 17.

``They are clicking,'' said Fowles, who led the Sky with 13 points. ``They've put all of the puzzle pieces together. Everyone on that team is a threat, not just Lauren and Sue. You have to guard everybody.''

Chicago (12-14) has lost three of four to drop to last place in the Eastern Conference.

Bird hit three 3-pointers in the second quarter as Seattle built a 55-31 lead at halftime. The Storm shot 8 of 14 on 3-pointers in the first half and finshed with 10 3s.

``We were just hitting,'' Bird said. ``We were getting really good looks, open looks and everybody who got them was knocking them down. Sometimes it is simple as that.''

Seattle increased the advantage to 27 points in the third and fourth quarters.

``We actually were present and engaged in playing our style of play,'' Cash said. ``We were aggressive defensively. Our assignment was there in regards to Sylvia and everything was just working. On offense we were hitting shots early on.''

The Storm are closing in on the best start in WNBA history - 25-2 set by Houston in 1998. The Comets finished that season 27-3 en route to its second of four straight titles in the league's first four years.

Cash scored 10, Jackson eight and Little seven to help give the Storm a 27-13 in the first quarter.

Jackson and Cash sat out the fourth quarter as the Storm held on to the large lead.

``Lauren and I were sitting there and I didn't know should I or shouldn't I put my shirt on,'' Cash said. ``I was happy to sit there and cheer on my teammates.''

• Sky: --
• Storm: --

• Sky: --
• Storm: --

• Lead Changes: 1
• Times Tied: 0

• Arena: Key Arena, Seattle, WA
• Officials: #42 Roy Gulbeyan, #45 Tom Mauer, #27 Penny Davis
• Attendance: 7749
• Duration: 1:47