Sue Bird's last regular home game was spoiled by Aja Wilson's 29 points
Seattle- The Storm's late comeback wasn't enough as the Aces pulled out the victory, 89-81.
On Sunday, Sue Bird closed out her finally regular season home game with a large crowd at the Climate Pledge Arena. Despite all of her emotions she was feeling,, Bird knew that the Storm could make things interested in the top three standing if the Storm could stop the Aces in their tracks. If they could squeeze out a win, the Storm would only be a game and half behind for the third seed. If Seattle lost, they would be in a dog fight with the Mystics for the fourth seed with only a handful of games left.
The first quarter, Seattle got out to to a 10-6 lead early on and was sticking to their game plan with getting quality shots and not forcing the issue. However, the Storm had problems containing Aja Wilson. Wilson had 11 points in the quarter and had the Aces up three at the end of the quarter. Tina Charles started to heat up in the second. She hit a couple of baskets to start a 6-0 run for the Storm. Each time it seem like the Storm would go on one of those runs, Wilson would shut it down and hit some off-balance shots to extend the Aces' lead. After it was all said and done, the first Storm was down one at the end of break, 44-43.
Seattle came out a little flat at the start of the second half, but picked it up midway in the third. Charles once again stamped her name on a quarter. She was very active on both sides of the floor with a few scores and a couple of blocks to keep the Storm within striking distance. With .24 seconds left in the third, the Storm put Kelsey Plum in foul trouble with four fouls. At the end of the quarter, the Storm was trailing 68-63.
Bird and Breanna Stewart themselves went on a 6-0 run themselves to cut the Aces' lead to two with seven minutes left in regulation. Down by six with under five minutes to go,, the storm had crucial turnovers that lead to four Aces' fastbreak points. Stewart tried to put the Storm on her back and make something happen late. Stewart kept Seattle in striking distance, but it was not enough as the Storm dropped the game.
