Originally published September 6, 2008 at 12:00 AM | Page modified September 6, 2008 at 12:50 AM

Storm is on a roll with Sue Bird at the helm

With MVP Lauren Jackson out for an injury, Sue Bird has kept the ball in her hands and helped the Storm to a 6-3 record.

By Jayda Evans

Seattle Times staff reporter

Jayda Evans' Storm blog

Today

Minnesota @ Seattle, 7 p.m.

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For those seated around the Storm bench tonight — ages 21 or older — guard Sue Bird has a new game for you to play. It involves Storm coach Brian Agler, a catchy phrase and your favorite beverage from the KeyArena concessions stand.

"If you could have a microphone on Brian and you were playing a drinking game, and you drank every time he said, 'Sue, keep the ball in your hands!' you would be wasted by the time the game was over," Bird told Chicago reporters. "He is constantly telling me, 'Keep the ball in your hands! Keep the ball in your hands!' "

The harping, essential with the absence of MVP Lauren Jackson (ankle surgery), has worked in the Storm's four post-Olympics games. Bird, averaging a career-high 14.5 points, has kept the ball in her hands and helped the Storm to a 6-3 record — without its leading scorer, Jackson (20.2). Seattle has moved into a first-place tie in the Western Conference.

Controlling the ball worked especially well in Chicago on Thursday. In the final quarter, Bird was 5 of 5 from the field, making three three-pointers, for 13 points. She outscored the Sky in the fourth and helped the Storm clinch its fifth straight playoff berth.

Yet for Seattle, clinching isn't the key — it's home-court advantage.

The Storm is a league-leading 14-1 at home and needs to continue winning to secure the home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. With the Storm tied with San Antonio and Los Angeles three games behind in the standings, tonight's matchup with Minnesota is just as big as any since the break.

"We feel good about how we are playing," Agler said. "A lot of people were counting us out without Lauren."

After playing the Lynx (14-15), the Storm enters the final challenging stage of its schedule with road games against Sacramento (16-14) and L.A. (18-13), teams also jockeying for playoff seeding.

Seattle (20-10) has never won the Western Conference regular-season title.

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

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