Storm | Bird leads way before flying away for surgery

She called this a critical time in the Storm's schedule.

But Sue Bird will not be there to guide her team through the four games before the midseason break as Seattle attempts to improve on its standing in the Western Conference. And just to be sure everyone knew what they'd be missing, Bird played one of her better games, orchestrating the Storm's 90-71 victory Tuesday over the Los Angeles Sparks at KeyArena.

Bird had a game-high 11 assists. But as her team travels today to Houston for its game against the Comets on Friday, Bird will depart for Connecticut for arthroscopic surgery to remove loose particles in her left knee.

"Don't get me wrong, I know four games in this league is a lot of games to miss," she said. "But I don't feel 100 percent and I'm hoping in these two weeks if I can recover fully and get back to 100 percent, that'll help my team even more come the end of the season."

The Storm dedicated the game to Bird, but took awhile to back it up with impressive basketball.

Seattle (9-7) was shaky offensively in the opening quarter, shooting 30 percent from the field. But the Storm used a 7-2 run to lead 40-36 at halftime.

Bird had four assists as Seattle opened the decisive third quarter on a 24-9 run to morph the four-point halftime lead into a 19-point advantage (64-45) after two made free throws by forward Lauren Jackson.

Los Angeles played without regulars Temeka Johnson (knee), Chamique Holdsclaw (retirement) and Lisa Leslie (maternity leave).

The Sparks had eight turnovers in the third quarter, and the Storm shot 47.4 percent from the field.

"Their size and smarts got to us," said Los Angeles coach Michael Cooper. "We're a young team trying to find the screws to the whole thing so we don't fall apart."

The Storm is 1 ½ games out of first in the Western Conference after a rocky start that included a 28-point defeat to San Antonio and internal problems. Seattle still has not won three consecutive games or beaten a team with a winning record.

Of the four games Bird will miss, however, only San Antonio (10-6) has a winning record. Seattle also plays Houston (4-12), Los Angeles (7-9), and Connecticut (6-10).

"It's going to be horrible playing without her," Jackson said. "In saying that, we have to regroup, again. It's a little bit of adversity that we need to handle and try and do something without her."

The game Tuesday wasn't without drama. Sparks forward Sidney Spencer provided the theatrics, first crashing into Betty Lennox on a fast break in the third quarter, injuring Lennox's jaw.

With 53 seconds remaining in the quarter, Spencer backhanded Bird, giving her a bloody nose. Spencer was assessed a technical foul.

Both Lennox and Bird returned to the game.

Bird, who will return to Seattle on July 10 to begin rehabilitation, said the surgery will help her be healthy for the playoffs.

Bird also has Team USA commitments in September, preventing her from considering postseason surgery.

Guard Tanisha Wright will replace Bird in the starting lineup and the Storm is expected to announce the signing of guard Shona Thorburn, who was cut by Minnesota in May. Thorburn, a 2006 first-round draft choice, takes the place of center Tye'sha Fluker, who was cut Monday.

"Hopefully I can provided that spark that I had in preseason," said Wright, who was 2-0 as a starter in exhibitions while Bird won a championship in Russia. "The main thing is to go in and hold down the fort, make sure that things are running smoothly while Sue's out, doing what we need to do in order to win games."

Jayda Evans: 206-464-2067 or jevans@seattletimes.com