Sparks lose to Seattle, 81-67

SEATTLE — A healthy Lauren Jackson scored 17 of her 23 points in the first half, and Seattle’s Sue Bird and Tanisha Wright hit key shots in the final minutes to help the Storm pull away for a 81-67 win over the Sparks on Sunday night.

Kicking off the season before a sold-out lower bowl at KeyArena, Wright scored 17 points, Bird added 14 and Seattle outscored the Sparks, 22-5, in the final eight minutes.

Less than 30 hours after tipping off the WNBA season at Phoenix with a one-point loss to the Mercury, the Sparks hung around for three quarters before the rested Storm pulled away. Tina Thompson, the lone player remaining from the inaugural WNBA season of 1997, led the Sparks with 19 points. Candace Parker was held to two points in the first half and finished with 10.

With Hall of Famer Bill Russell watching from one of the regular seats about 15 rows up, the Storm flustered the Sparks in the fourth quarter, holding them scoreless for nearly four minutes while Bird and Wright took control.

Bird’s three-pointer with 7:49 left pulled Seattle even at 62 and another three-pointer two minutes later pushed the advantage to six.

Swin Cash added 17 points for the Storm, which got all but two points from their starters.

DeLisha Milton-Jones added 13 for the Sparks but sat for nearly a quarter after picking up her fifth foul midway through the third quarter. With Milton-Jones out, Parker started to get her offense going, scoring four straight points, followed by a three-pointer from former Seattle guard Betty Lennox and Lennox finding Thompson for a layup. By the time the Sparks’ 13-7 spurt was done, they held a 58-57 lead, and the advantage was pushed to three on Parker’s basket to open the fourth.

Parker made just four of 11 shots, but grabbed 11 rebounds. Seattle outscored Los Angeles, 30-18, at the free-throw line.

It was the first time for Storm fans to see Jackson in a Seattle uniform since late August of last season. Jackson missed the final six games of the regular season and all of Seattle’s first-round playoff loss to the Sparks with stress fractures in her back.

Instead of playing in Russia as she has in the past, Jackson stayed in Australia during the off-season, playing for Canberra in the Women’s National Basketball League.

She looked healthy and refreshed, matching up with Parker. Living at the free-throw line, Seattle built a 43-36 halftime advantage despite shooting just 29% in the first half. The Storm was 19 of 22 at the line in the first half.