Basketball On The Internet.

BOB'S CORNER: Let's be blunt. Having our US correspondent BOB CRAVEN based in Seattle is great news for Aussie WNBA fans as it is the home of the Storm, LJ's "alma mater" and has Opals Olympians Ezi Magbegor and Steph Talbot on the current roster. Plus, this week they were setting records. 

ON Wednesday, the Seattle Storm in Chicago no less, blistered the Sky, the #1 team in the league, and set a couple of records doing it in a 111-100 win. 

Seattle set a WNBA record by dishing out 37 assists in the game and jumped out to a big lead with a 38-point first quarter and a 66-point first half, a franchise record for a half. 

Seattle’s scoring, for once, was very balanced, led as usual by Breanna Stewart’s 25 points, nine rebounds and five assists.  Six players scored in double figures, including Ezi Magbegor off the bench with 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting in only 16 minutes. 

Seattle led by as many as 22 points in the second half and hit the century mark with almost five minutes left in the fourth quarter. 

The 111 points was the most scored by a Seattle team since Lauren Jackson’s days 12 years ago.

The win also put Seattle in the driver's seat to finish in the top four in the league, which would guarantee it hosting a first-round playoff series.  The Storm need to win one of their two remaining games to seal the deal. 

A loss by the Washington Mystics in either one of their two remaining games would also put Seattle in the top four.  It the two teams end up tied, Seattle gets the nod as it owns the tiebreaker, based on head-to-head games.

The Sky’s loss to the Storm combined with the Las Vegas Aces win over the Atlanta Dream cut the Sky’s lead for the overall #1 seed to one game over the Aces, and the two play each other this week.

FORMER U. of Oregon All-American and current New York Liberty star, Sabrina Ionescu, is making WNBA history—again. 

Just a few days ago, she became just the sceond player in WNBA history with 500 points, 200 rebounds and 150 assists in a season.

She no longer has to share that spotlight anymore with Candace Parker, becoming the first player to score 500 points, grab 200 rebounds and dish out 200 assists in a single season. 

It’s been an incredible campaign for Ionescu as she is playing free and healthy for the first time in her short three-year pro career and the dividends are paying off big time.

EARLIER, it was a big day for WNBA and Seattle Storm fans when a record attendance of 18,100 packed the Climate Pledge Arena (I hate that name) for the Storm’s game against the Las Vegas Aces.

Coming into this game, Seattle was in second place in the WNBA’s Western Conference and the Aces were in first place, two games clear. 

Seattle had to win to stand any chance of catching Las Vegas with only have three games left in the regular season.

This was also the Storm’s final home game of the regular season, and the retiring Sue Bird was being honoured with an on-court tribute pre-game.  Highlight videos from her 21-year career and Seattle’s four league championships were shown, plus there were tributes by former teammates and coaches in attendance. 

However one thing didn’t go as planned - the 89-81 victory by the Aces.

Balanced scoring was the key, as the Aces had four players score 15 or more points, led by superstar forward, A’ja Wilson with 29.

Seattle only had two players in double figures:  Breanna Stewart had a season-high 35 points, along with 10 rebounds, while post player Tina Charles added 19 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two blocks. 

Charles arrived at the game wearing Bird’s high school jersey from their shared alma mater (Christ the King in Brooklyn, New York).  Bird added nine points, four rebounds and six assists.

After the game, Bird commented that, “Outside of the outcome, it was a wonderful day for me.” 

She also noted that Seattle lost in her first game more than 20 years ago. The Storm next headed out for their final road trip, hoping to come back home to play in the playoffs. 

Seattle is currently tied with the Washington Mystics for fourth place in the league, and if they remain tied through the end of the season, as mentioned, they hold the tiebreaker. 

That would mean Seattle would host for the first round of the playoffs, a best of three series against the fifth-place team.

Seattle hit this road trip with its record-smashing win at Chicago but finishes it against Las Vegas in a rematch.

Washington, on the other hand, has two games with the Indiana Fever, the worst team in the league.  Indiana has lost a record 16 consecutive games (and counting) going into this final week of the regular season.