Basketball On The Internet.

BOB'S CORNER: Seattle is just as excited to see the return to the Australian Opals squad of 41-year-old Lauren Jackson according to locally-based US correspondent BOB CRAVEN, Loz having steered the WNBA Storm franchise to two championships while winning three league MVP awards.

WE were pleased, and I assume so were most basketball fans here in Seattle, to see that Lauren Jackson, a legend during her days here playing for our Seattle Storm, has been named to the Opals roster for the upcoming FIBA World Cup games—even at the ripe old age of 41. 

It’s been more than six years since she officially retired before the 2016 Rio Olympics due to knee injuries.

Those knees and other aches have now been dealt with, she’s rested (sort of), and she’s now playing again for her hometown team in Albury in the second tier pro league—and she’s been killing it. 

It’s a natural to have her coming back to the national team since the FIBA World Cup will be contested this year in Australia, and since she seems still to be able to play at that level, so good luck to her and the Opals.

Liz Cambage had been a major cog for the past few years for the Las Vegas Aces in the WNBA, but she decided to move on to the LA Sparks before this season.  The Aces were one of the top teams when she played for them, but this year, they don’t seem to be missing her. 

They are #1 in the league overall and have the best record.  The Sparks, on the other hand, are in the middle of the pack, and Cambage has missed games with “injuries”.

This past week, her old team hooked up in a remarkable game with the Chicago Sky in Chicago. 

The Sky are #2 overall to the Aces this season, and they are the defending WNBA champions.  The game was historic as it set a number of records or near-records.  The Sky are led by a local Seattle area girl, Courtney Vandersloot, the league leader in assists for the last five years running, and the assist leader again so far this season.

Las Vegas started off on fire and led after the first quarter 41-18.  Those 41 points were a franchise record for the Aces for points in any quarter. 

Early in the second period, they were up by 28, and then things really changed as the wheels fell off for the Aces. 

Chicago caught fire and pulled to within 11 points at the half.  Five Las Vegas players scored in double figures in that first half, a WNBA record.

In the middle two quarters, the Sky outscored the Aces 63-32 and took an eight-point lead into the final period.  Chicago continued the offensive pressure to start the quarter and that essentially was the game, and the Sky won out 104-95. 

With that, the Sky completed the biggest comeback in WNBA history, coming back from that 28-point deficit.  The old record was 25, which had been done three times, most recently by the Sky nine years ago.  The 28-point lead was also the biggest lead ever against a defending champion.

The Sky had 34 assists in the game, tied for third most in league history.  The two teams combined for 37 first half assists, another league record, and they also combined for 17 three-pointers which tied a league record for a half. 

The game ended with nine players scoring 15 or more points -  and, yes, that’s another league record.

THIS (above) is from last Thursday’s WNBA game between the Seattle Storm and the Washington Mystics, showing Ezi Magbegor shooting over Elena Delle Donne. 

The Storm won 85-71 and Ezi was a big part of the win.  She scored 20 points on 9-of-16 from the field and 2-of-2 from the line.  She added five boards, a steal, an assist, and two blocked shots.  Her 20 points, one off a career high, was second high on the team.