Final
Sparks-Storm Preview
Aug 24, 2010 - 6:53 PM By MATT BECKER STATS Senior WriterLos Angeles (13-21) at Seattle (28-6), 11:00 p.m. EDT
The Seattle Storm were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Los Angeles Sparks each of the past two seasons.
A healthy Lauren Jackson is determined not to let that happen again.
After finishing with one of the best records in WNBA history, Jackson and the Storm try to take the first step toward winning their first title in six years when they host the Sparks in Wednesday night's best-of-three series opener.
Seattle (28-6) has looked like the favorite to win the championship for much of the season, opening a franchise-best 22-3 and securing home-court advantage throughout the postseason July 27. The Storm tied the 2001 Sparks for most regular-season victories and are seeking their first title since 2004.
"Our team is on a mission right now," Jackson told the WNBA's official website. "And that's to win a championship."
With Jackson healthy and the top contender to win her third league MVP, that goal seems possible.
Jackson missed each of the past two postseasons with injuries, and Seattle lost both series to the Sparks in three games.
Jackson, who averaged 20.5 points and 8.3 rebounds this season, and the Storm won all five meetings with Los Angeles (13-21) in 2010.
The Storm concluded the regular season with a 76-75 win over the Sparks on Saturday to finish a league-record 17-0 at home. Seattle has won eight straight regular-season home games over Los Angeles since 2007.
"I think both teams have really good competitors," Storm coach Brian Agler said. "(The Sparks are) to the point now where they're going to take whatever it takes to win. They're going to do what they have to do."
Seattle, with Jackson in the post, boasted one of the league's top defenses, allowing an average of 73.8 points on 41.3 percent shooting.
While Jackson garners most of the attention for the Storm's remarkable season, Swin Cash and Sue Bird are also playing significant roles for Seattle.
Cash averaged 13.8 points - her highest since 2004 with Detroit - and Bird finished second in the league with 5.8 assists per game.
"We've played them five times, so at this point, if we don't know them by now, then we haven't been paying attention," Sparks forward Tina Thompson said. "We're going to keep coming out and playing hard, fighting. That's what our players are all about, is to leave everything out there and give it our all."
While the Storm are finally at full strength for the playoffs, the Sparks have been without Candace Parker since June because of a season-ending shoulder injury.
The 35-year-old Thompson has stepped up in Parker's absence, averaging team highs of 16.6 points and 6.2 rebounds to help Los Angeles rebound from a 4-13 start and make the playoffs for the 11th time in 12 years.
Still, without Parker, it appears that it will be tough for the Sparks, who were eliminated in the Western Conference finals each of the past two seasons, to win their first title since 2002.
Game 2 of the series will be in Los Angeles on Saturday afternoon.
- **CONFIRMED**
WNBA
LOS ANGELES 66
SEATTLE 79 FINAL
Aug 26 1:13 AM - WNBA
LOS ANGELES 15
SEATTLE 25 END, 1ST QTR
Aug 25 11:29 PM
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