Mercury-Storm Preview

Posted Sep 14 2011 4:14PM

SEATTLE (AP) Sue Bird isn't afraid of leaking any strategic secrets that the Seattle Storm might employ when they open defense of their WNBA title on Thursday night against the Phoenix Mercury.

As the All-Star point guard sees it, there are simply no secrets left to leak in a rivalry that has become as fierce as any in the league.

``We know them very well, they know us very well, even down to the play calls,'' Bird said. ``At this point, it's just about who can execute and who can impose their will on the other team.''

Heading into the opener of the best-of-3 Western Conference semifinal series in Seattle, it's the Storm who have done most of the imposing lately.

Seattle has won 10 of the past 11 against the Mercury. That includes a two-game sweep of last year's conference finals and an overall run of nine straight victories that ended Aug. 16 when the Mercury prevailed 81-79 in Phoenix.

``Most of these games come down to the last two or three minutes,'' Phoenix star and WNBA leading scorer Diana Taurasi said after the Mercury lost Friday in Seattle, losing homecourt advantage for the first round. ``We have to find a way to get stops and good offensive possessions.''

Phoenix, with the league's best offense (89 points per game), and Seattle, with the stingiest defensive average (69.9 points), are both aiming for a third title. The defending champion Storm also won in 2004, while Phoenix took it all in 2007 and 2009.

Seattle (21-13) is surging into the playoffs, winning eight of its last nine, all since three-time MVP Lauren Jackson returned on Aug. 20 after missing 20 games for hip surgery.

Jackson has averaged 14 points since then. Before her surgery, she averaged 9.1.

``The last eight games have helped me get involved with the team on offense and defense and everything,'' Jackson said. ``It was just more of a mental thing, just getting through that. Staying out for so long, obviously, I was burning to get back into it.''

Storm coach Brian Agler said the time off might actually have been a blessing for Jackson with the postseason looming.

``She doesn't have that baggage (of 20 extra games),'' Agler said. ``She's going to be fresh.''

Phoenix (19-15) is trying to shake off a late-season slump, having dropped two straight and three of its last five.

``The last couple of games, I don't think we've been making our transition, pushing the ball. And that's how we beat teams,'' said Candice Dupree, the Mercury's leading rebounder at 8.2 per game. ``So we have to revert back to that, and we should be OK.''

The Storm are counting on their vocal fans for an added edge. The Mercury say bring it on.

``We have to come out and attack,'' Dupree said. ``I don't know about everyone else, but I enjoy playing there. The fans are great, but that should give us some motivation to come out and beat them.''

Just as the Storm benefit from having Jackson back on the court, the Mercury are counting on the return of fellow Australian Penny Taylor. The forward averages 16.7 points and 4.9 rebounds, but missed five of the last six with back spasms.

Storm beat Mercury 80-61 in WNBA playoff opener

Posted Sep 16 2011 2:50AM

SEATTLE (AP) Tanisha Wright and the Seattle Storm got their offense rolling and finally figured out a way to slow down high-scoring Diana Taurasi.

Wright scored 21 points, and Camille Little had 17 points and 11 rebounds to lead the defending WNBA champion Storm over the Phoenix Mercury 80-61 on Thursday night in the opener of the Western Conference semifinals.

Lauren Jackson added 13 points, six rebounds and three blocks for Seattle, which led 69-42 after three quarters. Swin Cash added 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Taurasi, who averaged 21.6 for Phoenix to lead the WNBA in scoring for the fourth straight year, had just 11 points. She shot 3 of 11 from the field, including 1 of 5 on 3-pointers.

``Last game we played them here, we really let her get some shots off,'' Wright said of Taurasi's 36-point outburst last week in a loss to the Storm. ``With a player like Diana, she's going to knock those down all night. Tonight, we tried to do a better job of just staying in her space, make her make tough shots.''

Taurasi never could get untracked.

``Obviously, I didn't play as well as I wanted to,'' Taurasi said. ``But I'm more worried about our team. You get 36 and you lose and it doesn't matter. You get 11 you lose, so it doesn't really matter how many points you score until we can find a way to beat this team. We'll see if we can find that answer.''

Phoenix will host Game 2 of the best-of-three series on Saturday.

Penny Taylor scored 13, and DeWanna Bonner added 10 - all in the first half - to lead the Mercury.

``We couldn't get her open shots,'' Mercury coach Corey Gaines said about Taurasi. ``She's coming off of picks, and we couldn't get our run game going. They switched, we swung the ball around and the people who were open couldn't hit the shots.''

Little and Cash scored six points apiece as Seattle outscored Phoenix 29-11 in the third quarter. The Storm used a 14-0 run over the final three minutes to take a 69-42 lead at the end of the period.

``I don't know if we did anything in particular,'' Storm coach Brian Agler said of the third-quarter outburst. ``It was what we were doing much of the game. We got some transition buckets. We got to the free-throw line. I just thought we ran really efficient offense. A lot of it came from out stops defensively.''

Taurasi was 0 of 5 from the field as the Mercury shot 4 of 22 (18.2 percent) in the third quarter. Seattle shot 9 of 17 (52.9 percent).

Wright and Little both had 11 points, and Jackson added nine to help the Storm to a 40-31 halftime lead.

Wright netted seven points during a 17-7 run to close the first half after Phoenix led 24-23 early in the second quarter.

Bonner scored 10, including two 3-pointers, to help the Mercury tie it at 19 after one quarter.

Seattle was 9 of 9 on free throws in the first half. Phoenix was 1 of 2.

The game turned physical as Taurasi received a technical foul in the third quarter after kicking her leg at Wright after a foul by Wright. Little was given a technical in the second quarter after getting tangled with Taurasi away from the ball.

Little responded to her technical moments later with a three-point play on a strong move to the basket.

``That kind of thing does fire me up a little bit,'' Little said. ``And I like to bring energy to the team whatever I can do. I'm glad I could finish that play. I think it gave us a boost and we ran with it.''

The Storm won the season series 3-1, including an 85-70 victory last week to earn the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference.

Mercury starting center Nakia Sanford missed the game because of a sore knee. She averages 4.2 points and rebounds per game.

Seattle has won 11 of 12 games against the Mercury, including a sweep in the West finals last year. The Storm improved to 16-2 at home this season.

• Mercury: --
• Storm: --

• Mercury: Taurasi
• Storm: Little

• Lead Changes: 4
• Times Tied: 2

• Arena: Key Arena, Seattle, WA
• Officials: #45 Tom Mauer, #55 Eric Brewton, #13 Cameron Inouye
• Attendance: 7279
• Duration: 1:56