You guys (and girls, you’re not exempt) who keep discrediting the WNBA are truly missing out. We had two spectacular games last night to close out the Conference Finals and one had an extremely dramatic ending. Sue Bird, the oldest player in the WNBA, showed no signs of aging as she led her team to a comeback late in the 4th quarter to send the Storm to the Finals and send the Mercury packing.
Bird left Game 4 in the 2nd quarter after an inadvertent elbow from teammate, Breanna Stewart, broke her nose. The Storm went on to lose that game without her veteran leadership down the stretch. Jewel Loyd said that the Storm struggled without Bird on the floor. “She’s a veteran player,” Loyd said. “And it helps a lot when she’s out there. Down the stretch, we just didn’t execute.” Diana Taurasi did Diana Taurasi things and the Mercury were able to force a do or die Game 5. That didn’t bode well for the Bird and the Storm as Taurasi, arguably the greatest women’s player ever, has never lost an elimination game in her WNBA career.
Game 5 looked like business as usual for Taurasi and the Mercury as they took a 4 pt lead into the 4th quarter. Then Sue Bird happened. She scorched the Mercury (pun intended) in the final minutes of the game scoring 14 pts and leading the Storm to a 35 pt final stanza and the series clinching victory.
Ironically the last time Bird broke her nose in the playoffs she led the Storm to a championship. That was 14 yrs ago. Apparently old habits die hard. Flip the page to see highlights from last night’s game.