SEATTLE — Sue Bird scored 20 points, Sheryl Swoopes added 16, and the Seattle Storm beat the Los Angeles Sparks 64-50 Sunday to force a decisive Game 3 in the Western Conference semifinal series.
The final game in the best-of-three series will be played Tuesday in Seattle. The Storm will try to avoid losing in the opening round of the playoffs for the fourth straight year.
Seattle had a WNBA-best 16-1 record at home in the regular season, including 10 consecutive wins since a loss on June 16 to Connecticut.
Lisa Leslie had 11 points and 11 rebounds to lead Los Angeles. DeLisha Milton-Jones scored 11 points and rookie Candace Parker had 10.
Los Angeles shot 16-for-52 (31 percent) from the field, but entered the final quarter shooting only 24 percent. Seattle went 21-for-58 (36 percent).
The Sparks cut a 21-point deficit down to seven with 3:06 left when Shannon Bobbitt hit a 3-pointer from the left corner.
But two free throws by Swoopes and three free throws by Camille Little gave Seattle a 60-48 lead with 1:14 left. Little finished with 13 points, including seven in the fourth quarter.
Leslie received a technical foul at 1:14 after officials called a personal foul on Parker.
The Storm outscored the Sparks 24-14 in the third quarter to lead 50-29. Swoopes had seven points, Tanisha Wright scored six and Bird added five in the frame. Wright finished with eight points, seven rebounds and four assists.
Swoopes had seven points and three steals in the first four minutes of the second half to help give the Storm a 35-17 lead as the crowd’s chants of “Beat L.A.” grew louder.
Bird had 10 points and Swoopes seven to give the Storm a 26-15 halftime lead.
Leslie missed all five of her shots in the opening half and finished 3-for-9. Parker shot 1-for-4 in the first half and 4-for-9 for the game.
Seattle center Lauren Jackson sat out again as she recovers from ankle surgery in late August. Jackson is expected to be out until the league championship series, if the Storm advance that far.
The Sparks beat Seattle 77-69 on Friday in Los Angeles.
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