Lauren Jackson leads Storm to 93-84 victory over Mercury

PHOENIX — Yeah, Phoenix wishes it had Lauren Jackson.

Mercury fans rained down boos as she stepped to the free-throw line in the fourth quarter Sunday. But the power forward, who snubbed the Mercury in favor of returning to the Storm as a free agent in the offseason, made one of two shots to close out an impressive 93-84 win.

Seattle (5-2) handed Phoenix its first loss in six games this season at US Airways Arena, and moved into a tie with the Mercury for the Western Conference lead.

"Everybody has been sort of talking about them and not really about us," said Jackson, who finished with a team-high 25 points, eight rebounds and four blocks. "It was good to get this win as more of making a statement in the league and people recognizing us as a legitimate contender."

The Storm ran out to an early 14-point lead, but the potent Mercury, which leads the league in scoring (93.3), rallied to take a four-point lead early in the third quarter. Seattle bounced back ahead by the end of the quarter, but Phoenix wouldn't go away, using an 8-0 run to close to 85-82 with 1:53 left.

On the Mercury's next possession, Sue Bird swiped at a Diana Taurasi 7-foot jumper, causing the Phoenix star to miss, and Jackson collected the rebound. She eventually found herself open at the top of the three-point arc and hit the shot with 1:02 remaining.

Bird, who scored 11 of her 21 points in the fourth quarter, added a three-pointer 33 seconds later to give the Storm a 91-82 lead. And the crowd began to make its displeasure known.

"I knew I was going to get booed eventually," said Jackson, who was booed louder as the game progressed.

The emotions of the 6,181 in attendance were heightened after Phoenix coach Corey Gaines was ejected with 14.4 seconds left, sending Jackson to the free-throw line.

Gaines disagreed with a charging foul called on Taurasi against Tanisha Wright. He also disagreed with the call that Bird's earlier "swipe" of Taurasi's shot wasn't a slap.

He stormed the court, yelling in the ear of official Cameron Inouye until guard Cappie Pondexter rushed in to push him away. Irate, Gaines nearly shoved Pondexter and eventually was dragged off the court by staff.

"I guess we saw things different," Gaines said calmly afterward.

Wright, who was called for a technical with 9:19 to go in the first quarter, felt vindicated.

"That [the charge] was probably a bad call, but I'm going to take it," said Wright, who finished with 14 points and seven boards. "I was there, but I think I was under the rim too much."

Seattle dominated the game in the paint. The Storm outrebounded the Mercury 37-22 and outscored them 42-26 inside. And three Storm starters — Jackson, Bird and Swin Cash (season-high 22 points) — scored more than 20.

"We played pretty efficient basketball," Storm coach Brian Agler said.

Seattle, which is 3-2 on the road, returns for a home-and-home set against rival Los Angeles beginning Friday at KeyArena.

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