Breanna Stewart, Seattle Storm Barely Escape Diana Taurasi, Mercury's Rally Bid
The Seattle Storm moved to within one game of the WNBA Finals thanks to a 91-87 overtime win against Diana Taurasi and the Phoenix Mercury in Game 2 of the semifinals at KeyArena on Tuesday night.
The Mercury trailed by 13 points with 4:46 remaining in regulation, but a fierce rally spearheaded by the WNBA's all-time leading scorer allowed them to close the gap in a matter of minutes.
Taurasi went on to drop 14 of her game-high 28 points in the fourth quarter, and she drilled a fallaway three from the left corner to tie things at 79 with 3.6 seconds remaining:
At that point, Kobe Bryant, Joel Embiid and Bill Russell all chimed in with their thoughts on the living legend:
However, the Mercury ran out of steam in overtime.
Although Taurasi put the Mercury up four with 3:21 left in the extra session, she missed her next four shots and watched as Sue Bird and Jewell Loyd shouldered the load with a 2-0 series edge in sight.
Always one to stuff a stat sheet, Bird finished with 19 points (7-of-13 shooting) and six assists. Lloyd added 13 points, while newly crowned league MVP Breanna Stewart poured in 27 points on 10-of-22 shooting from the floor.
The Storm will look to secure a sweep when Game 3 tips off Friday at Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix. If they can do so, they will punch their ticket to the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2010.
