Image via WikipediaATLANTA -- 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.
