Live From Press Row - Storm vs. Los Angeles (Game 1)
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Storm Beats L.A.!
Final: Storm 84, Los Angeles 72
Your Seattle Storm dominates the fourth quarter, outscoring Los Angeles 27-13 to claim victory in Game 1 of the teams' Western Conference Semifinals matchup. So many big performances. Lauren Jackson clearly got the best of Lisa Leslie on this night, finishing with 22 points and nine rebounds while Leslie had 15 points - just two in the final period - seven rebounds, five turnovers and five personal fouls. Sue Bird was so big in the first half and finished with 15 points. Janell Burse battled Leslie as well and had 17 points on 7-for-12 shooting to beat the Los Angeles zone. What can you say about Tiffani Johnson? Johnson come off the bench for 10 huge points and four critical rebounds in 22 minutes, helping the Storm take control without Jackson in the fourth quarter.
The KeyArena crowd was equally awesome tonight, starting impromptu "Beat L.A.!" chants all night long and sticking around to serenade Lauren Jackson with a chant of "MVP! MVP! MVP!" as she was interviewed on the KeyArena court by David Locke. The Key had playoff intensity all night long.
David Locke points out that the Storm has largely planned your Saturday for you. It starts at 11 a.m. at Benefit Park where the Sonics and Storm will honor Xavier McDaniel and Simone Edwards. At noon - maybe set your TiVo - FSN Northwest will rebroadcast this game. I know I'm excited to re-experience this fourth quarter.
While the Storm still needs a win in Los Angeles to advance to the Western Conference Finals, tickets for a potential Game 1 next Thursday against the winner of the Houston-Sacramento series are 
on sale as of 10:00 p.m. Friday. Don't miss out on your chance to get the best seats to what could be another night like tonight.
And, oh yeah, Aloha means victory.
Storm Close to Putting it Away
Fourth Quarter: Storm 76, Los Angeles 66
Huge stretch by Iziane Castro Marques, who buried an open 3-pointer after Los Angeles got within four and then stole the ball from Mwadi Mabika and led a fast break that ended in Lauren Jackson converting a three-point play to make it a 10-point game. That's the margin with 1:19 left. The Storm must only avoid big mistakes to secure this victory. The roof about to come off KeyArena.
Critical Stretch
Fourth Quarter: Storm 70, Los Angeles 64
After Sue Bird was flattened with no call on a buzzer-beater attempt, we take our under-three media timeout with 2:59 left on the clock and a six-point Storm lead. Los Angeles finally snapped a lengthy scoreless streak with a Chamique Holdsclaw 3-pointer.
I don't think I need to remind you at home the importance of this stretch of basketball. In a best-of-three series, every game is critical, but no more so than Game 1 for the lower-seeded host team. Only twice in WNBA history has a team lost Game 1 at home and come back to win the series. We all remember one of them, Houston over the Storm last season, but the Storm still needs this win.
"More than likely, it's going to be extremely difficult to win two in L.A," said Anne Donovan before the game.
Fortunately, they have an incredible home crowd behind them for this final stretch.
5:05 Left
Fourth Quarter: Storm 68, Los Angeles 61
With an under-6 mandatory timeout, a chance to expand a little bit on the manic thoughts of a moment ago. What a huge run by the Storm. Lauren Jackson headed to the bench at the 8:03 mark with the game tied at 61-all. She sat out nearly three minutes and will now return, but in that span the Storm scored seven points and Los Angeles did not score. The last play saw Lisa Leslie clear out Janell Burse on offense for her fifth foul. The energy in this arena is ... I'll have to invent a word to describe it ... scrumtrulescent!
Speaking of manic, Simone Edwards delights the crowd with some impromptu dancing from her courtside seat next to Karen Bryant.
Storm On the Run
Fourth Quarter: Storm 68, Los Angeles 61
With Tiffani Johnson playing the best basketball of her life, the Storm on a 7-0 run to unbreak a tie with Lauren Jackson resting ... and waiting. Four fouls on Leslie. Pandemonium at the Key as Jellybean takes a 20.
Storm Looking to Lennox
End Third Quarter: Los Angeles 59, Storm 57
Great third quarter for Los Angeles, which outscored the Storm 23-15 to take a two-point lead to the fourth quarter. The good news for the Storm is that Lauren Jackson has that fiery look in here eyes that means she is not to be denied. The bad news is that Jackson has played 21 minutes and 44 seconds, meaning she will probably have to rest at some point here.
The Seattle zone has not been very effective, and while Tiffani Johnson has six huge points, the rest of the bench has been very quiet. Three reserves in the game to start the final period.
Storm Looking to Lennox
Third Quarter: Storm 46, Los Angeles 43
If the Storm is going to win this game, it seems inevitable that Betty Lennox is going to play a big part.
"Her nickname is B-Money that Heidi (VanDerveer)gave to her a long time ago," said Storm Coach Anne Donovan before the game. "I think that she just likes the money time. She likes the money ball, she likes big shots at the big times, she likes the pressure, she loves playing at KeyArena. This is someone who loves and thrives in the spotlight."
Lennox came out with too much energy, it seemed, in the first quarter, leading to some misses and some turnovers. Donovan is trying to get her going in this period, but Lennox can't put together any consistency. She has five assists, but has made just 2-for-8 from the field. Will Betty Basketball find a rhythm?
Storm Leads, But Not Comfortably, at Break
Halftime: Storm 42, Los Angeles 36
Lauren Jackson rests for part of the final two minutes of the first half, allowing the Sparks to go on a 5-2 mini-run to get within six at the half. All told, the Storm was outscored 17-8 when Jackson was on the bench in the first half while outscoring Los Angeles 34-19 when she was on the court. The good news is Jackson played 13:59 in the first half, giving Anne Donovan about 16 minutes to work with her superstar in the second half.
From a big-picture perspective, the Storm is shooting the ball well (48.4%) and getting to the free-throw line (10-3 advantage in free-throw scoring), but has been badly beaten on the glass - Los Angeles' rebound percentage is a dominant 62.2% thus far, with four offensive rebounds by Lisa Leslie, who has 11 points.
I think the fans (and live-bloggers) need a break as much as the players. It has been intense in here in the first half of action.
There's a Bird in the House
Second Quarter: Storm 40, Los Angeles 31
Sue Bird is hot, hot, hot right now. Bird is powering the Storm's offense with 5-for-6 shooting, including 2-for-3 from 3-point range. Her 12 points lead all scorers; Lauren Jackson, with 11, is also in double-figures. The Storm is shooting an impressive 51.9% from the field.
This place is loud, and we've got some celebrity fans courtside. In addition to Simone Edwards and Jamie Redd - two players who were on the Storm roster when these teams battled in the playoffs four years ago - we've got Sonics players Robert Swift and Nick Collison (with his young baby) and Sonics legend Slick Watts, always a huge Storm supporter.
LJ Factor Quickly Apparent
Second Quarter: Storm 32, Los Angeles 23
Technically speaking, the Storm got it going a little before Lauren Jackson returned to the game, with Sue Bird burying a jumper from the top of the key. But Jackson quickly forced a miss after returning and then scored in the paint. Now the Storm has pushed its lead back to nine. The Storm has outscored Los Angeles 26-11 with Jackson on the court so far.
I'm sure you already know about the Sonics and Storm Legends Tour, but just in case, here's another reminder. As part of the Sonics 40th Anniversary season, Sonics and Storm legends are being honored at local NeighborHoops courts refurbished by the Sonics & Storm Foundation. Tomorrow, that will be Xavier McDaniel for the Sonics and recently-retired Simone Edwards for the Storm at Benefit Park. Click here for more information and directions.
Sparks Surge Sans Leslie
End First Quarter: Storm 22, Los Angeles 18
While the Seattle Storm leads by four after one quarter, the Los Angeles Sparks have to feel pretty good about where they are after trailing by as many as 11 in the quarter. The Sparks scored on their last six possessions even after Lisa Leslie picked up her second foul (a terrible foul beyond the 3-point line) and left the game. Five of the six scores came with Lauren Jackson out of the game resting - Los Angeles went on a 12-6 run after LJ checked out.
Chamique Holdsclaw has a left foot strain, but she has been able to return to the court. Before that, Mwadi Mabika picked up a lot of key scoring for the Sparks - she's already got eight points in just five minutes. Mabika going off would be bad news for the Storm.
Sparks Go Big, Storm Plays Bigger
First Quarter: Storm 8, Los Angeles 4
Joe "Jellybean" Bryant talked about it all week, but it still caught me off guard when out walked the Sparks starting lineup and it included Murriel Page and Chamique Holdsclaw, with guard Tamara Moore and forward Mwadi Mabika going to the bench. Holdsclaw never started in the regular season, so this is a big shift, but Bryant wanted to go big to try to stymie the Storm defensively. Anne Donovan said before the game about playing against this lineup (or other big ones) that the Storm will play zone, because Los Angeles does not have a particularly good shooter on the floor. So far, the Sparks have missed six of their eight shots, with Lisa Leslie just 1-for-3 with a turnover against the Storm zone.
Joe Bryant might have taken timeout anyway after a Sue Bird layup in transition, but he had no choice after Chamique Holdsclaw ran off the floor. I couldn't tell what Holdsclaw was grabbing, but she received immediate medical attention.
Bennett in Attendance
Pregame
Clayton Bennett, the chairman of the Professional Basketball Club, which reached agreement to buy the Sonics and Storm a month ago today, is in attendance at tonight's game and chatted briefly with reporters beforehand.
"I wanted to see the game, congratulate Anne and the players and the staff and enjoy the experience," Bennett said. "I wanted, to the extent that it makes a difference, to show my support to the team, to the organization. That's why I came."
Bennett spoke with Storm Coach Anne Donovan before the game and hopes to chat with Storm players during his brief trip, which has him leaving tomorrow morning. Bennett spoke about the importance of the Storm in the process of securing a new arena for the Sonics and Storm.
"Our commitment stands," said Bennett. "We're absolutely committed to succeeding. The Storm is a big part of that. I told Coach Donovan that. It's clear to us the importance of the Storm in the market, not just their success on the court, but who they are as individuals and their connection to their fans. We certainly understand the value."
While this is Bennett's first Storm game, he has past experience with the WNBA.
"I've been to several WNBA games," he said. "I was telling Anne earlier that I've personally stayed a little bit connected because when I was with the Spurs was when David (Stern) and Val (Ackerman) put the vision of the league together, so I've followed it fairly closely."
Signing On
Pregame
The 2006 WNBA Playoffs start now! Okay, that's not really true - we're the last of the four opening games around the league, all three so far won by the visitors. But until Lisa Leslie and Lauren Jackson square off for the opening tip, these playoffs won't really have started. KeyArena is still filling up as the clock tickets down towards 10 minutes left until game time, but an energy is already palpable. I also want to note that I'm starting to see a lot of Hawaiian shirts in the house. I've again donned the shirt pictured below, which David Locke described as "gross":
I'm emboldened by the fact that I passed a fan on the aisle who told me the shirt isn't ugly at all. Take that, David! David and sideline reporter Dick Fain have also brought out Hawaiian shirts; we might not wear anything else for a while if the Storm keeps winning.
