SEATTLE — Lauren Jackson was forced to watch the final minutes of Saturday’s 63-62 victory over the New York Liberty from the bench.
Thankfully for the Storm — and Jackson — it was six personal fouls that put her there and not the hip injury that has caused her to miss
the last 20 games.
Jackson made her much anticipated return to a previously struggling Storm team on Saturday night and aside from fouling out with four minutes to play, things couldn’t have gone much better. In just under 22 minutes of play, Jackson scored a season-high 20 points, grabbed seven rebounds and blocked a shot.
“I feel good,” Jackson said. “Before the game, even just today, I have been so excited. I don’t think I’ve like actually looked forward to playing basketball as much as I did before this game for probably 10 years. It just felt awesome to be back out there and I’m just happy. I’m happy that my hip held up and that we won, obviously.”
Storm head coach Brian Agler praised Jackson’s efficiency after the game.
“She got a lot out of her minutes didn’t she?” Agler said. “She played well. We are a different team, obviously. I’ve got to give everybody credit for keeping us competitive without her, but we can be much better with her, obviously. And she was a factor tonight.
The Storm needed every one of Jackson’s points as the game came down to the final possession. New York’s Kia Vaughn missed a short jump shot in the game’s final seconds and the robound was pulled down by Storm forward Swin Cash, who called timeout with three seconds remaining. The Storm got to make their inbounds pass on their side of the court, but the pass intended for Sue Bird was stolen by Essence Carson who drove the length of the court, only to have the ball knocked away by Bird as time expired.
“They got the steal and I was just chasing her down and you’re in a situation where you are trying to make a play and she held the ball out long enough for me to slap it away,” Bird said.
Liberty players and head coach John Whisenant pleaded with the officials for a foul call on Bird to no avail.
“They were trying to foul and (the official) choked,” Whisenant said. “There is not a whole lot you can do about that. We played the defending champs down to the last shot and our defense played well.
“… We got a steal at the end, we were going in for a layup, she had to foul and he didn’t call it. He missed the call, he absolutely choked.”
Bird, who was blocked in the final seconds of an Aug. 9 two-point loss to the Liberty, saw the last play a bit differently.
When asked if it was a bit of revenge for what happened in that game, Bird replied, “that would be if I fouled her, but I am pretty confident I didn’t.”
In order to get to that last play, the Storm needed a small fourth-quarter comeback. The Storm trailed 49-45 going into the final stanza, but tied the score quickly when Jackson scored the first four points of the period. The game remained close and the Storm trailed 57-55 when Jackson fouled out with exactly four minutes to play.
After the Storm tied the score at 57, the Liberty were able to re-extend the lead to 62-57 behind a Cappie Pondexter jump shot and a very unlikely 3-pointer by center Kara Braxton. Braxton held the ball at the top of the key, with the defense playing off daring her to shoot. Braxton finally did — and it went in.
Bird laughed about Braxton’s shot after the game.
“I don’t even know how to explain it, playing with the defense if you will,” Bird said. “She didn’t want to shoot it, she wanted to shoot it, she didn’t want to shoot it, she wanted to shoot it. She was smiling when she shot it.”
The Storm responded on the next possession, as Bird delivered a clutch 3-pointer from the baseline and Katie Smith followed that up with a 3 of her own just seconds later to set up the game’s dramatic final seconds.
It was the first game the Storm have won this year when trailing going into the fourth quarter.
After the game, Bird was certainly happy to have her sidekick Jackson back in the lineup.
“It’s huge,” Bird said. “You can see the impact that Lauren has in the game in the few minutes that she is in there and what she brings. She’s the best player in the world, so that is going to be evident immediately.”
Aaron Lommers covers the Seattle Storm for The Herald. Read his blog at www.heraldnet.com/storm and follow him on twitter @aaronlommers.
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