Sparks oust Storm with bench stuff

Sue Bird fiddled with a tissue, trying to compose herself as reporters surrounded her and fired questions quicker than Candace Parker baskets.

Bird tucked her head in her shooting shirt. She rubbed her eyes.

None of it stopped the tears from coming.

For a fourth consecutive season, the point guard who defines herself by winning lost in the opening round of the playoffs, this time a 71-64 defeat to Los Angeles in Game 3 of their best-of-three WNBA playoff series at KeyArena.

"I know we got knocked out in first round, and that's a broken record for Seattle Storm fans," Bird said. "But I'm very proud of everyone in this locker room. We never gave up, and it sucks. We did have to go through a lot, and you never know if a team is going to be the same next year."

Two costly plays by Tanisha Wright, the fourth-year guard, blunted a last-ditch Storm comeback.

Down by as many as 15 in the second half, the Storm used a 13-4 run to pull to 65-62 with 1:51 remaining in the game. But Wright was called for a charge against defender Marie Ferdinand-Harris with 1:37 left. A minute later, Wright had the ball in her possession when the shot clock expired, causing another turnover with 36.9 seconds remaining.

The Storm fouled to give itself more opportunities, but Los Angeles outscored Seattle 6-2 — all from the free-throw line — to win the game in front of 7,805.

It's the third time the Sparks have handed the Storm an early postseason exit, doing so in 2002, when L.A. went on to win the WNBA championship, and again in 2006.

Los Angeles will play San Antonio (2-1) for the Western Conference championship beginning Thursday at Staples Center in Los Angeles. It's the Sparks' seventh appearance, but first since 2006.

"We started being active on defense, sort of like on Sunday, and put ourselves back in position to potentially get the lead," Storm coach Brian Agler said of the rally. "It was just a matter of people coming together out on the floor and deciding they were going to make a run at it."

Bird and Wright, the only active players to appear in all of those brief playoff appearances, tried to carry Seattle offensively. Wright finished with a team-high 20 points. But Bird, who averaged 21.5 in the series' first two games, was caged by the Sparks' backcourt and limited to 16 points on 7-of-16 shooting from the field with five assists. She was limited to five attempts in the opening half while the Sparks took early control of the game, leading 42-35 at the half.

Bird needed an inside offensive counter and that player, star forward Lauren Jackson, paced the sideline in street clothes, sidelined after ankle surgery last month. Seattle's bench, outscored 22-2, could offer no help.

"In terms of not having Lauren out there, we've had to play without her for two months now," Bird said. "I don't anyone's thinking about that."

Midseason trade pick-up Camille Little played an impressive game in place of Jackson, finishing with 17 points and five rebounds. She also had the task of trying to corral Parker, the Sparks' prize rookie. Parker finished with 20 points, but Little helped limit her to seven points in the second half as Seattle mounted its comeback.

"This is a big win for us," Sparks coach Michael Cooper said. "We've had a lot of trials and tribulations throughout the season. I think the Olympic break really disrupted us.

"But Candace is a brilliant rookie coming into the league, and she understands what it's like playing at this level."

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