SEATTLE — The Seattle Storm couldn’t follow up a Friday win over Atlanta in which it broke a six-game losing streak with a win on Sunday afternoon. Seattle fell 85-82 to the Phoenix Mercury and trailed for most of a playoff-like game just hours after team Hall-of-Famer Sue Bird received a statue outside of Climate Pledge Arena.

Seattle fell to 17-18 with the loss and remains just a game ahead of the 16-18 Los Angeles Sparks for the final WNBA playoff spot with nine games to play.

Bird was recognized with heartfelt video tributes during timeouts throughout the game, but things weren’t so sweet for the home team on the floor.

Seattle didn’t lead until the 2:21 mark of the fourth quarter when Erica Wheeler (eight points) hit a timely three-pointer. The Mercury kept the Storm off the board

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