Storm beat Wings for sixth straight win; Mercury outlast Sun in overtime
Thursday 10 September 2020 08:01, UK
Betnijah Laney had 24 points and 10 rebounds while Courtney Williams added 20 points and 10 boards as the Atlanta Dream beat the Chicago Sky 97-89 on Wednesday night to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Chennedy Carter had 16 points, Blake Dietrich scored 15 and Elizabeth Williams added 11 points and 10 rebounds for Atlanta, which came into the night trailing Dallas by two games for the final playoff spot.
Courtney Vandersloot hit a jumper and then a three-pointer to give Chicago (11-10) an 18-point lead with eight minutes left in the third quarter but the Dream (6-14) scored 26 of the next 34 points to make it 73-all heading into the fourth after Shekinna Stricklen hit a three-pointer.
Laney and Monique Billings made back-to-back lay-ups midway through the fourth, sparking a 12-0 a run that gave Atlanta a 95-86 lead with two minutes left. The Sky missed seven consecutive field-goal attempts during that span.
Vandersloot finished with 22 points and 11 assists. Kahleah Copper and Allie Quigley added 17 points apiece for Chicago.
The Sky have lost four consecutive games and six of their last seven.
Jewell Loyd and Breanna Stewart scored 23 points apiece and the Seattle Storm used an 11-0 run to pull away for good in their 107-95 win over the Dallas Wings on.
Stewart added 11 rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocks to help the Storm wrap up one of the top two seeds in the playoffs and earn a double-bye to the semi-finals.
Natasha Howard had 16 points and eight rebounds, Alysha Clark scored 14 points and Sue Bird added 10 points and nine assists for the Storm before she left the game after banging knees with Satou Sabally midway through the fourth quarter.
Seattle (17-3) have won six games in a row and lead Las Vegas by one-and-a-half games for the No 1 seed in the playoffs, which begin September. 15. The Aces play the third-place Los Angeles Sparks on Saturday before closing the regular season against Seattle on Sunday.
Stewart made two free throws to break a 74-all tie, Sami Whitcomb hit a three-pointer and Stewart made a lay-up to close the third quarter before Jordin Canada and Stewart made back-to-back lay-ups to open the fourth and make it 85-74 with 8:22 to play. Marina Mabrey hit a three-pointer to pull the Wings within six about two minutes later but they would get no closer.
Sabally led Dallas (7-13) with 25 points before she left the game. Allisha Gray scored 17 points and Arike Ogunbowale, who leads the league in scoring at 21.9 points per game, added 15 on 4-of-15 shooting. She didn't score in the second half.
Dallas lead Washington by a half-game and Atlanta by a game for the eighth and final playoff spot. Dallas play Chicago on Friday before closing their regular season against New York on Sunday, live on Sky Sports.
Washington finish with three games in four days, playing on Thursday against Los Angeles, Saturday against New York and finally Atlanta on Sunday. The Dream face Connecticut on Friday before their regular season finale against the Mystics.
Skylar Diggins-Smith scored a season-high 33 points, including a tying 35-footer at the end of regulation and Diana Taurasi added 28 as the Phoenix Mercury gave up a 22-point lead before beating the Connecticut Sun 100-95 in overtime.
Brianna Turner had 10 points, a career-high 21 rebounds, five assists and four blocks for Phoenix (13-8). The Mercury have won seven of their last eight games to pull within a half-game of the fourth-place Minnesota Lynx.
Taurasi hit a three-pointer - her fifth of the game - with 1:46 to play to break a 91-all tie and give the Mercury the lead for good. Diggins-Smith added a jumper 55 seconds later and Taurasi made two free throws to cap a 7-1 spurt that made it 98-92 with 15.4 seconds to go.
DeWanna Bonner had 32 points and 10 rebounds and Alyssa Thomas added 18 points, 17 rebounds, five assists and three steals for Connecticut (10-11).
Second in the NBA in offensive rebounds at 9.7 per game, the Sun had a season-high 19 against Phoenix, including one by Thomas with 18.5 seconds left in regulation and the game tied at 84-all. But after Connecticut called a timeout, Kaila Charles threw the in-bound pass directly to the Mercury's Shey Peddy and Diggins-Smith made a lay-up.
Bonner answered with a three-pointer and then forced Taurasi out of bounds before hitting two free throws to make it 89-86 with 3.4 seconds to go. Diggins-Smith hit a runner to force OT.
The Sun beat Phoenix 85-70 on Monday to snap their six-game win streak.
Phoenix led 40-18 midway through the second quarter but the Sun used a 33-10 run to take a three point lead into the fourth.
