WNBA 2010: Storm win first title since 2004

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ATLANTA -- Sue Bird jumped into Lauren Jackson's arms to celebrate the Seattle Storm's second WNBA championship and admitted that, after six years of waiting, this title was sweeter than the first.

"I'm going to be smiling for a long time," Bird said after the Storm completed their undefeated march through the postseason, beating the Atlanta Dream 87-84 on Thursday night for a three-game sweep in the WNBA Finals.

The Storm made up for the long gap between titles by dominating the 2010 season. Seattle was 28-6 during the regular season -- tying the league record for wins -- before sweeping each of its three postseason series.

Bird and Jackson are the only players remaining from the Storm's 2004 title team.

"I think the roads have been completely different," said Jackson of the two championships. "After the last six years, it definitely has taken a long time to get here."

Jackson, who had 26 points in each of the Storm's first two wins in the series, had 15 points and nine rebounds and was selected MVP of the Finals.

Swin Cash scored 18 points to lead a balanced offense as Seattle overcame 35 points by Atlanta's Angel McCoughtry.

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WNBA 2010: Storm close in on second WNBA title

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SEATTLE -- Brian Agler watched his team throw the ball away and miss several free throws down the stretch Tuesday night.

When it was over, the coach focused on the bottom line: The Storm are just one win away from their second WNBA title.

"It's almost like everyone is disgusted with how we've played the last two games," Agler said. "The point is, we're up 2-0."

League MVP Lauren Jackson scored 26 points, Swin Cash added 19 and Seattle moved one step closer to the title with an 87-84 win over the Atlanta Dream in Game 2 of the Finals.

Seattle improved to 21-0 at home this season and is hoping it won't need another game at Key Arena. The best-of-five series resumes Thursday night in Atlanta, where the Storm can wrap up their first title since 2004.

"We pulled it off, thank God. So I'm happy," Jackson said.

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WNBA 2010: Bird hits another game winner for Storm

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SEATTLE -- She really doesn't go back and watch them all. Continued success requires living in the present and looking to the future.

But someday, Seattle guard Sue Bird might take some time to review all the moments when she has been the difference in the clutch. And that will probably take awhile, because there are a lot of them.

Sunday in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals, Bird did it again. Her 18-foot jumper with 2.6 seconds left was the decisive basket for the Storm in a 79-77 victory in front of 15,084 at KeyArena.

Sue Bird had 14 points, eight assists and five rebounds -- and one game-winning shot.

"It was a very tough game, and it came down to the end," Bird said. "I don't think we played our best, but we still got the win. This is the Finals; it's never going to be easy."

But once again, it was Bird who had the last word. How many times have we said that?

As Atlanta coach Marynell Meadors put it, "If you give Sue Bird an open look with the game on the line, nine times out of 10 she's going to make it."

Indeed, Bird has become accustomed to sinking such shots and then answering the ensuing questions about why she's so good in these situations.

For Bird, she might as well be explaining why she's 5 feet, 9 inches. She's that way because … she's that way.

http://sports.espn.go.com/wnba/columns/story?columnist=voepel_mechelle&id=5564790

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WNBA 2010: Angel McCoughtry scores 42 points to help Dream reach WNBA finals

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Angel McCoughtry needed a few minutes to let it all sink in.

The second-year Dream star set a new league playoff scoring record and helped Atlanta make the WNBA finals for the first time.

McCoughtry had 42 points to win a high-scoring duel with Cappie Pondexter as the Dream beat the New York Liberty 105-93 on Tuesday night to complete their unlikely march to the league finals.

Perhaps overwhelmed by it all, McCoughtry at first claimed the Eastern Conference finals clincher "was just another game."

Just another game? McCoughtry couldn't leave that as her signoff on the biggest night of her two-year professional career.

"I take it back," McCoughtry said when asked again. "This was different."

McCoughtry, the 2009 WNBA rookie of the year, has scored more than 20 points in Atlanta's four straight playoff wins.

"Angel McCoughtry just really showed how good she is going to be and what a bright star she is already," said New York coach Anne Donovan.

Atlanta, a third-year expansion franchise which set a league record with 30 losses only two years ago, will face the Western Conference champion Seattle Storm in the WNBA finals. The best-of-five series begins Sunday in Seattle.

The Dream, the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, swept Washington in the first round before also winning two straight over the Liberty in the conference finals.

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WNBA 2010: Storm clinches Western Conference title with game-ending 15-0 run

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PHOENIX -- Sue Bird wanted no part of a deciding game with a spot in the WNBA finals on the line.

Thanks to her clutch shooting, the Seattle Storm won't have to worry about that risky proposition.

Bird made a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 2.8 seconds left Sunday and the Storm closed out the Western Conference finals with a 91-88 victory over the defending champion Phoenix Mercury, closing the game with a 15-0 run.

"I know I didn't want to play Phoenix in Game 3, that would have been very, very hard, even on our home court, it would have been very difficult," Bird said.

"So the best part about that shot, the best part about winning this game, is the series is over and we have a week to prepare, and to rest."

Diana Taurasi, who finished with 28 points, missed a contested 3-pointer at the buzzer for Phoenix.

The Storm earned their seventh consecutive win and advanced to the finals for the first time since they won it all in 2004. They will meet the winner of the Eastern Conference finals between New York and Atlanta, which won 81-75 in Game 1 on Sunday night.

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WNBA 2010: Lauren Jackson wins WNBA MVP

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Seattle Storm center/forward Lauren Jackson on Thursday was named the WNBA's most valuable player for the third time and Seattle coach Brian Agler the league's coach of the year.

"The award itself, I never would have got it if we hadn't achieved what we had," Jackson told the Seattle Times. "And I know for a fact that if Sue [Bird] wasn't my point guard, I would have never got the award. Everybody played such a huge part and I'm really fortunate I got to play with these guys this year and that everyone is so focused on winning."

Jackson, who also won the MVP in 2003 and 2007, helped the Storm to the conference finals. She averaged 20.5 points and 8.3 rebounds a game this season.

The Storm finished with a 28-6 record, the best in the league. They were 17-0 at home.

Jackson scored 20 or more points in 16 of her 32 games this season, sitting out twice simply for rest as the Storm raced to a 22-3 start and coasted to the finish. Jackson finished fourth in the league in scoring.

Jackson was previously league MVP in 2007 when she averaged a career-best 23.8 points, and in 2003 when she was the first international player and youngest player to ever receive the award.

Jackson is the youngest player, and fastest, in WNBA history to score 3,000 and 4,000 career points and was voted to the WNBA's All-Decade Team. She has averaged 19.5 points and 7.9 rebounds over her nine-year career.

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