The Seattle Storm beat the Atlanta Dream 87-84 Thursday to complete a three-game sweep in the WNBA Finals and an undefeated march through the postseason. It was Seattle's second championships and Sue Bird admitted that, after losing in the first round of the playoffs five years running, this title was sweeter than the first. “I'm going to be smiling for a long time,” Bird said. “Losing in the first round has been terrible. It's something I took personally and something a lot of us took personally. ... I judge myself by winning, so to not win in five years really, really hurt.” The Storm made up for the long gap between titles by dominating the 2010 season. Seattle was 28-6 during the regular season - tying the league record for wins - before sweeping each of its three postseason series. Bird and WNBA MVP Lauren Jackson are the only players remaining from the Storm's 2004 title team. “The roads have been completely different,” Jackson said of the two championships. “After the last six years, it definitely has taken a long time to get here.” 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. Swin Cash scored 18 points to lead a balanced offense. Atlanta's Angel McCoughtry scored 35 points. The Dream star, who set a WNBA playoff record with 42 points in the Eastern Conference finals-clinching win over New York, 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. The Dream rallied in the final minute after trailing 82-70. McCoughtry's 3-pointer 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. 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 which cut the gap to a single point. 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. “I felt like the game was slipping away,” McCoughtry said. “I felt like I needed to do something about it. “I wish I had made all three of those free throws. That might have made a difference.” Atlanta reached the Finals in only its third season and only two years after setting a WNBA record with 30 losses. “We have grown up quite a bit this season,” said Atlanta coach Marynell Meadors. “Maybe another minute on the clock might have made a difference in the outcome of this game and the same thing with the two games in Seattle.”
