On Tuesday night, in one of the most intense, epic, back-and-forth games in WNBA history, Sue Bird solidified her status as a Seattle sports legend — scoring 14 of her 22 points in the fourth quarter as the Storm came from behind to clinch a WNBA Finals berth for the first time in eight years.
Wearing a face mask to protect her nose, which was accidentally broken by the elbow of teammate Breanna Stewart just 48 hours prior, Bird had gone 0-for-8 shooting in the second and third quarters. That’s the beauty of sport — it doesn’t matter what you did earlier in the game, it matters how you close it out.