Recaps: Sue Bird now second all-time in made threes

The trio of Breanna Stewart, Jewell Loyd and Sue Bird combined for 55 points as the Seattle Storm defeated the Indiana Fever 87-70 on Tuesday night at Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis.

Stewart led the Storm with 20 points and 12 rebounds while adding five assists. Loyd had 18 points and four assists and Bird was good for 17 points, four helpers and three steals. Bird led the team with three triples on four attempts and is now averaging a career-high 2.4 made threes per game. She is also shooting a career-best 48.4 percent from beyond the arc.

Bird’s 1.6 made twos per game is tied with 2020 as a career low, but her overall field goal percentage of 53.6 is by far a career best.

“If you think of years past, my role has had to be to look to score more, to be more aggressive,” Bird said. “I think still now I try to be at times. But I don’t have to take bad shots. We have so much offensive power, we move the ball so well. Nobody really ever has to take bad shots. So I think it just lends to more efficiency.”

Kelsey Mitchell (game-high 26 points) did her best to keep the Fever in the game, but every time she made the Fever’s deficit somewhat manageable, the Storm had an answer to make their lead more comfortable.

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Las Vegas Aces (9-3) over New York Liberty (6-5), 100-78

Kelsey Plum scored a career-high 32 points to pace the Aces, who trailed by four after one. Vegas won the second by seven, the third by 10 and the fourth by nine.

Dearica Hamby added 16 points, six rebounds and four assists to the winning cause while teammate Liz Cambage chipped in with 14 points and 11 boards. Jackie Young contributed 11 points, A’ja Wilson had 10 and Chelsea Gray was good for nine to go along with five assists.

Jazmine Jones followed up her 14 points in the fourth quarter on Sunday with a Liberty-high 17. Betnijah Laney added 15 points and a game-high six helpers while Kylee Shook notched 12 points and nine rebounds in defeat.