AUBURN HILLS, Michigan, Aug. 8 (Ticker) -- The Seattle Storm clinched a playoff berth the hard way.

After blowing a 25-point second-half lead, the Storm recovered for a 81-79 victory over the Detroit Shock as All-Star Lauren Jackson scored the game-winning basket with 10.2 seconds to play.

It will be the third straight postseason appearance for the Storm (18-14), who won the WNBA title in 2004. Seattle has won four straight games.

After a terrific first half, the Storm opened their largest lead at 56-31 when Iziane Castro Marques began the third quarter with a 3-pointer. But the Shock closed to 66-58 entering the fourth quarter and kept coming in the final period.

A 3-pointer by Katie Smith gave Detroit a 76-75 lead with 2:53 left and positioned the Shock for the biggest comeback in WNBA history. However, baskets by Sue Bird and Jackson gave the Storm a 79-76 lead wth 1:08 remaining.

A basket by Cheryl Ford and a free throw by Swin Cash pulled Detroit into a 79-79 tie with 31 seconds to play. Jackson, who had 18 points and five blocks, answered with a driving layup.

Detroit had a chance to tie, but Deanna Nolan missed a difficult layup with just under five seconds to go and Seattle ran out the clock.

Bird had 24 points and five steals for the Storm, who moved one game ahead of Houston into third place in the Western Conference.

Smith scored 25 points, Nolan added 22 and Ford 12 and 17 rebounds for the Shock (21-10), who are just one game ahead of Indiana in the race for second place in the East and home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.