Storm marches into playoffs

It wasn't Game 7 of the NBA Finals or anything, but Storm forward Lauren Jackson provided her best Willis Reed impersonation, crawling off the bench after a timeout to tell teammate Sue Bird to get her the ball.

Minutes earlier, Jackson, who is playing with an injured back, took a hard hit with 5:45 remaining after Connecticut guard Lindsay Whalen crashed into her. Jackson was called for an offensive foul, tumbling to the court. When she rose, Bird said she could see water pooling in Jackson's eyes, but the native Australian didn't ask for a substitution.

Instead, with her team up just 69-68 with 3:45 remaining in a pivotal matchup, Bird ran two plays through the All-Star to help the Storm defeat the Sun 86-74 at KeyArena.

Jackson scored on a running bank shot and a three-point play to ignite a 17-6 run to close the game. It was the Storm's fourth consecutive win and first against the Sun since 2005.

"This is the most I've seen her hurting in terms of injuries," said Bird, who has been Jackson's teammate through ankle and shin injuries. "But she's going to play. She's not going to come out of the game.

"Your back is a totally different beast. Your ankle, you can favor, but she's got people hitting her back the whole game."

There was a question whether Jackson would play, but Storm coach Brian Agler said he left the decision to the player. She played 30 minutes, helping the Storm clinch its sixth consecutive playoff berth. Only Connecticut, Detroit and Sacramento have longer streaks reaching the postseason.

The Storm, however, has lost in the opening round of the postseason since winning the WNBA championship in 2004.

"We're starting to play the type of basketball we need to play going into the playoffs," said Storm forward Swin Cash, who finished with 17 points and nine rebounds. "You look at the West and Seattle has been that consistent person that's been in the playoffs. Now, it's just time to get over that hump. "

Seattle (17-11) is second in the West and if the postseason started today, it would play Los Angeles in a rematch of last season's first-round series. Yet with six games remaining, there's a chance Seattle could finish anywhere within the top four slots.

"Now that we're in, we want to get good position and we're playing for that," said Bird, who finished with a game-high 21 points and also had seven assists. "We want to make more noise than we have in the past."

Jackson has a second doctor's appointment today regarding what she calls a "jarred back." She hasn't missed a start, but admitted the injury is bothersome."It's painful, it's really painful," said Jackson, who finished with a season-high-tying four blocks for the second straight game.

Now that the Storm has clinched a postseason berth, Agler said he may think about resting his star.

"We have to evaluate," Agler said.

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

Thursday night's box

CONNECTICUT		fg	ft
min		m-a	m-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Jekbsn-Zgta	21:19	2-10	0-0	1-3	3	2	4
Gardin	21:37	5-9	0-1	4-8	0	2	10
Gruda	35:48	4-13	2-3	2-3	1	3	10
White	28:10	4-9	0-0	1-3	3	2	10
Whalen	32:19	7-13	2-2	1-4	5	5	18
Phillips	19:15	3-8	2-2	2-5	2	0	9
Whitmore	17:07	2-3	2-2	1-2	1	1	7
Holt	12:00	1-4	2-3	0-2	2	5	4
Brown	7:27	0-2	0-0	0-1	0	0	0
Black	4:58	1-2	0-0	0-0	0	0	2
Totals		29-73	10-13	12-31	17	20	74

Percentages: FG .397, FT .769. Three-point goals: 6-26, .231 (Whalen 2-4, White 2-6, Whitmore 1-2, Phillips 1-5, Brown 0-1, Holt 0-2, Jekabsone-Zogota 0-6). Team rebounds: 7. Team Turnovers: 10 (17 PTS). Blocked shots: 2 (Gardin 2). Turnovers: 10 (Gruda 3, Whalen 3, White 2, Gardin, Whitmore). Steals: 6 (Phillips 2, Brown, Gruda, White, Whitmore). Technical fouls: None.

SEATTLE		fg	ft
min		m-a	m-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Cash	36:34	4-8	8-8	1-9	3	3	17
Jackson	29:20	5-11	6-6	1-5	1	4	17
Little	33:04	5-10	3-4	2-10	0	2	13
Bird	36:32	9-16	0-0	0-3	7	0	21
Wright	30:03	5-8	5-6	1-2	3	3	15
Burse	16:15	0-2	1-2	1-2	0	2	1
Johnson	16:51	0-1	2-2	1-3	0	2	2
Batkovic	1:21	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	1	0
Totals		28-56	25-28	7-34	14	17	86

Percentages: FG .500, FT .893. Three-point goals: 5-14, .357 (Bird 3-6, Cash 1-1, Jackson 1-5, Little 0-2). Team rebounds: 6. Team Turnovers: 14 (13 PTS). Blocked shots: 6 (Jackson 4, Burse, Little). Turnovers: 14 (Bird 4, Wright 4, Cash 3, Jackson 2, Burse). Steals: 8 (Bird 2, Wright 2, Cash, Jackson, Johnson, Little). Technical fouls: None.

Connecticut	15	17	21	21 — 74
Seattle	19	17	23	27 — 86

Attendance: 6,588 (17,098). Time: 1:55. Officials: Roy Gulbeyan, Tom Mauer, Maj Forsberg.