Article Author:
Reuters
Sue Bird will play the last regular season home game in Seattle on Sunday afternoon when the Storm hosts the Las Vegas Aces.
Bird, a four-time WNBA champion and her 13-time All-Star, has played her entire 19-year WNBA career in Seattle. She previously announced that she would retire at the end of the season.
This game is sold out and the top of the Climate Pledge Arena is open for her one day. The arena holds 18,100 fans instead of her usual 13,500. ABC will televise the game, and Storm will honor her WNBA icon before tipping.
"I'm looking forward to it. That's for sure," Byrd, 41, told reporters on Saturday. "I know it's going to be a really special day. Are you ready? I think you know. In all good ways, there will be a lot."
Bird told the crowd after the game I am planning to give a speech. A consummate pro, she will definitely be all business for the Storm (20-12). They finished the season on her three-game trip, with the final game being her August 14 in Las Vegas (22-10). Her 89-77 win in Seattle against the Minnesota Lynx on Wednesday. Stewart drained her 4 of her 3-pointers and Bird added her 3 for the Storm. The Storm shot her 50% from the floor and her 44% over the arc to record her sixth straight win at home.
"It's a lot of fun to watch and participate in basketball when we're enjoying our moments and playing at a high level," said Seattle's Noel Quinn said his coach. "That's what we've been doing historically. This franchise, this organization, this team that's moving the ball... (and) free flow. I thought they showed it [on Wednesday]." 30}
The Storm are fourth in the WNBA standings, half a game behind Washington Mystics.
Meanwhile, Ace will look to avoid his season-high three-game losing skid on Sunday as he wraps up his five-game road trip.
Las Vegas won seven of eight games before giving the Mystics an 83-73 decision on Tuesday and two nights later he gave the Dallas Wings an 82-80 setback. . The Aces are in second place alongside the Connecticut Sun, with him two games behind the Chicago Sky.
Chelsea Gray scored his 20 points against Washington and had a season-high scoring (28) and his 3-pointers (5) against Dallas. She's been 30-for-19 from the floor in her last two games, and she's been 12-for-7 from her three-point range.
"For a while, she was the only thing we were doing offensively," Ace coach Becky Hammon told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. 43} Kelsey Plum (20.0 points), Aja Wilson (19.2) and Jackie Young (16.1) have paced the aces all season. Wilson scored 20 points in his 85–74 win for the Aces against the Storm on May 8, and he scored 17 points in an 88–78 setback in Seattle on June 29. He added 16 rebounds.
– Field Level Media
