Storm beat Dream 87-84 to complete undefeated postseason with second WNBA championship

Storm hold off Dream 87-84 to win 2nd WNBA title

ATLANTA — The Seattle Storm are champions again.

Seattle completed its undefeated march through the postseason, beating the Atlanta Dream 87-84 on Thursday night for a three-game sweep in the WNBA finals.

The Storm won each of its seven postseason games for its second WNBA title. The Storm also won the 2004 championship.

Swin Cash scored 18 points to lead a balanced offense as Seattle overcame 35 points by Atlanta’s Angel McCoughtry. Lauren Jackson, who had 26 points in each of the Storm’s first two wins in the series, had 15 points and nine rebounds and was selected MVP of the finals.

McCoughtry, who set a WNBA playoff record with 42 points in the Dream’s Eastern Conference finals clinching win over the New York Liberty, tried to rally Atlanta with nine points in the final 2:30. But McCoughtry and Coco Miller missed 3-pointers in the final 6 seconds, setting off a celebration by Seattle’s players.

McCoughtry’s three-point play with 46 seconds remaining cut Seattle’s lead to 85-80. Seattle’s Tanisha Wright missed two free throws and McCoughtry was fouled by Cash while missing a 3.

McCoughtry made two of three free throws to cut the lead to three points with 31 seconds remaining.

Seattle’s Sue Bird dribbled away the shot clock before missing a shot to set up a basket by Atlanta’s Iziane Castro Marques with 6.9 seconds left. McCoughtry immediately fouled Camille Little, who made two free throws to give Seattle an 87-84 lead.

McCoughtry missed a 3-pointer but the rebound went to Atlanta before Coco Miller also missed a last-second 3.

Each of Seattle’s starters scored in double figures.

Bird, who along with Jackson are the only players remaining from the Storm’s 2004 title team, had 14 points and seven assists. Little had 15 and Wright had 13.

The Storm became the first team to win the championship without a postseason loss since the Los Angeles Sparks went 6-0 in 2002, when the finals were a best-of-three series.

The sweep wasn’t easy. The Storm won the first two games in Seattle by a combined margin of five points and struggled at times against Atlanta’s relentless defense in the decisive Game 3.

The Dream led 59-53 late in the third quarter before Seattle took control with a 16-1 run, including the first basket of the fourth.

Castro Marques scored 21 points for Atlanta, Coco Miller had 12 and Erika de Souza added 10 points and 14 rebounds.

A fastbreak basket by McCoughtry gave the Dream the six-point lead before the Storm scored 14 of the last 15 points of the third quarter.

Wright’s 3-pointer sparked Seattle’s 10-0 run to open the game. The Storm kept the lead until Kelly Miller’s 3-pointer with 2:02 remaining in the first half gave Atlanta a 41-39 lead.

The Dream made 6 of 9 3-pointers in the half, including a long jumper by McCoughtry that gave the Dream a 44-43 halftime lead.

Assistant coach Carol Ross and McCoughtry drew technical fouls for separate incidents in the first period.

The finals attracted attention from Atlanta’s other professional team.

The NBA Atlanta Hawks had a large turnout for the game, including Joe Johnson, Al Horford, Marvin Williams, Jeff Teague and Jordan Crawford. Also attending the game were John Abraham of the Atlanta Falcons and former Falcons coach Dan Reeves.