Aces spoil Sue’s retirement party
SEATTLE, Aug 8, (AP): Sue Bird was at the conclusion of her speech to the sold out crowd, nearly all of whom still remained, and decided – maybe hoped - this would not be the last time she would get to play in the city she’s called home the past two decades.
“I don’t really have that ‘Mamba Out’ moment,” Bird said referencing Kobe Bryant’s retirement speech. “I just want to say I love you, thank you so much and I’ll see you in the playoffs.”
The day set aside to honor Bird and her career with the Seattle Storm was slightly soured when the Las Vegas Aces pulled away late for an 89-81 win on Sunday. A’ja Wilson scored 29 points and Kelsey Plum added 16 including a key 3-pointer in the final minute.
But the result didn’t take away from the three hours where Storm fans, WNBA fans and the city of Seattle said thank you to Bird for her career as the face of the franchise. The largest crowd in Storm history packed Climate Pledge Arena honor Bird for her career as one of the best women’s basketball players ever.
Bird said while the day was recognition of her, it was also recognition of the players and coach she played with through her career and the accomplishments of the franchise.
“I think today was yes, an honor in honor of me and people showed up, showed out for sure. It really was amazing,” Bird said. “But I think it’s really, truly a celebration of Storm basketball because I am kind of Storm basketball.”
Unfortunately for Bird and Seattle’s fans, the Aces weren’t willing to play their part. Wilson dominated the first three quarters, Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young both scored 15 and the Aces never trailed the final 28 minutes.
Breanna Stewart finished with a seasonhigh 35 points and Tina Charles added 19. Bird finished with nine points, six assists and four rebounds, but the result was much like the first game she played in Seattle 20 years ago - a defeat.
The outcome mattered and didn’t in the same breath. Both Seattle and Las Vegas were jockeying for playoff positioning, and for the Storm the loss was a knock to their chances of having home-court advantage in the first-round of the WNBA playoffs. The Aces locked up a top-four seed kept alive their hopes of catching Chicago for the
Sky 94, Sun 91
In Chicago, Candace Parker scored 18 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and tipped a pass to Emma Meesseman for a 3-pointer in the closing seconds to help the Chicago Sky beat the Connecticut Sun 94-91 to set the franchise record for wins in a season.
Courtney Vandersloot had 20 points, five assists and four steals for Chicago (25-8). Meesseman and Allie Quigley added 15
BASKETBALL
points apiece and Kahleah Copper scored 11.
Alyssa Thomas made a driving layup with 4:37 left in the third quarter to give the Sun – who trailed by as many as 17 points in the first half – their first lead at 58-56 and Odyssey Sims capped a 10-0 run with a driving layup that gave Connecticut a 75-69 lead early in the fourth.
Sparks 79, Mystics 76
In Washington, Brittney Sykes scored 21 points. including a driving layup in the closing seconds, and the Los Angeles Sparks kept their slim playoff hopes alive with a 79-76 win over the Washington Mystics.
Los Angeles (13-20), which snapped a six-game losing streak, are one of five teams within two games of each other vying for the final two postseason berths. The Sparks are 1 1/2 games back of seventh-place Atlanta (14-18) and a game behind Phoenix (14-19) for the final playoff spot with a week left in the regular season.
Washington is in a battle with Seattle for the fourth spot. The Mystics trail by a halfgame with two games left.
Lynx 81, Dream 71
In Minneapolis, Napheesa Collier made her season debut for Minnesota, Kayla McBride scored 20 points and the Lynx used a fourth-quarter run to beat the the Atlanta Dream 81-71 to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Collier, Minnesota’s leading scorer (16.2 per game) last season, played for the first time since she gave birth to her daughter, Mila, in late May. The 2019 WNBA Rookie of the Year finished with six points in 21 minutes.
Atlanta (14-19) fell into a tie with the Phoenix Mercury for the eighth, and final, playoff spot with a week remaining in the regular season - a half-game ahead of the New York Liberty (13-19) and a game in front of Minnesota (13-20) and the Los Angeles Sparks (13-20).