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Originally published Monday, September 22, 2008 at 12:00 AM

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Notebook | Storm's Lauren Jackson tests ankle, but rules out early return

The Seattle Storm's Lauren Jackson tested out her surgically-repaired ankle Saturday for a possible early return for Sunday's game. But she woke up with swelling Sunday morning and knew she wouldn't be able to play.

By Jayda Evans

Seattle Times staff reporter

Player of the game: It probably wasn't good for ESPN2 ratings, as Storm guard Sue Bird noted, but the defense teammate Camille Little helped play on L.A. rookie Candace Parker was essential. Parker had two points at the half. Little finished with a playoff-high 13 points and four rebounds.

Digits: The Sparks' 50 points was a franchise low, including postseason games. The previous low for Los Angeles was 51 points in a 13-point loss to Connecticut in August 2005.

Next: Game 3 against Los Angeles at 6 p.m. Tuesday, KeyArena.

Lauren Jackson tried for an early comeback.

But waking up to a swollen ankle on Sunday morning, she knew she wouldn't be able to play. So, Los Angeles coach Michael Cooper was wrong as the Australian was inactive to play in Game 2.

Cooper predicted after his team's Game 1 win Friday that Jackson, who had arthroscopic right ankle surgery on Aug. 28, would suit up.

"I want to play, there's definitely no doubt about it, but I have a serious injury," Jackson said. "Even if I did play, I don't know what sort of help I'd be. It's not like I can run or I can move laterally. Maybe they could block my shot, which would not be hard to do at this point."

Jackson, a 6-foot-5 power forward, tested her ankle at the team's practice Saturday. She worked with trainers on an adjacent court and said she felt average, and was "disappointed" about her swollen ankle Sunday morning.

Jackson found it difficult to watch her team go down by 19 points in Game 1, ultimately losing by eight, which prompted the attempt. She's still not projected to be able to return until the WNBA Finals, should Seattle advance.

"I tried to get out there and have a go and see how my body would respond," said Jackson, the Storm's leading scorer (20.2) and rebounder (7.0). "It wasn't great. But I'm trying my hardest to get back. I want desperately to be out there and I hate watching it, especially when I know I could help if I was healthy."

Note

• For the first time in the league's 12-year history, all four of the opening round games are headed to decisive third games. Los Angeles is 4-3 all-time in those games, including 0-2 on the road. Seattle is 2-2 in such games in its nine-year history, losing in the opening round the past three postseasons.

"We've been knocked out of the first round way too much," Storm guard Sue Bird said. "It's not a good feeling, and right now we're in a good spot. It's going to be hard, but we're on our home floor."

Sunday's box

LOS ANGELES
min fgm-a ftm-a or-t a pf pts
Parker 36:28 4-9 2-2 2-8 1 3 10
Mltn-Jones 32:50 3-9 5-7 1-4 1 4 11
Leslie 30:13 3-9 5-9 3-11 0 4 11
Brown 9:52 1-4 0-0 0-0 0 0 2
Bobbitt 21:22 2-4 0-0 0-1 1 2 5
Johnson 17:38 0-6 0-0 0-2 3 3 0
Frdnd-Hrrs 20:07 1-6 2-2 3-4 3 1 5
Moore 10:09 0-1 0-0 0-1 2 2 0
Spencer 7:29 0-1 0-0 0-1 0 2 0
Page 2:51 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Masciadri 11:02 2-3 0-0 0-1 0 0 6
Totals 16-52 14-20 9-33 11 21 50
Percentages: FG .308, FT .700. Three-point goals: 4-14, .286 (Masciadri 2-2, Bobbitt 1-3, Ferdinand-Harris 1-3, Parker 0-1, Brown 0-2, Milton-Jones 0-3). Team rebounds: 8. Team Turnovers: 20 (22 PTS). Blocked shots: 10 (Parker 3, Leslie 2, Masciadri 2, Johnson, Milton-Jones, Page). Turnovers: 18 (Leslie 6, Parker 4, Bobbitt 3, Brown, Ferdinand-Harris, Johnson, Milton-Jones, Spencer). Steals: 4 (Parker 2, Leslie, Milton-Jones). Technical Foul: Leslie, 1:14 fourth.
SEATTLE
min fgm-a ftm-a or-t a pf pts
Wright 35:58 3-10 2-3 1-7 4 1 8
Little 32:07 3-6 6-6 2-4 0 5 13
Griffith 27:05 0-6 0-0 1-5 1 5 0
Swoopes 25:14 5-10 4-4 1-4 0 2 16
Bird 36:06 7-19 3-3 0-4 3 0 20
Cash 13:32 1-3 0-0 1-4 1 3 2
Gearlds 7:36 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 2
Robinson 14:29 1-1 1-2 3-4 1 2 3
Ely 1:55 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2 0
Beck 4:31 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Santos 1:27 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 21-58 16-18 9-32 10 21 64
Percentages: FG .362, FT .889. Three-point goals: 6-15, .400 (Bird 3-9, Swoopes 2-3, Little 1-1, Beck 0-1, Gearlds 0-1). Team rebounds: 8. Team Turnovers: 15 (11 PTS). Blocked shots: 0. Turnovers: 13 (Little 6, Bird 4, Swoopes 2, Griffith). Steals: 12 (Griffith 4, Swoopes 4, Gearlds 2, Bird, Wright). Technical fouls: None.
Los Angeles 7 8 14 21 — 50
Seattle 16 10 24 14 — 64
Attendance: 8,230 (17,098). Time: 2:02. Officials: Daryl Humphrey, Michael Price, Shelley Nakasone.

Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company

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