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LOS ANGELES -- Storm guard Sue Bird, the face of the WNBA, wore a mask Tuesday night. Two actually. A clear one protected her nose during the elimination playoff game against the Los Angeles Sparks, and she donned an opaque one afterward that projected a smile to reporters.
That one protected what was inside.
Bird had a chance to be a hero. She had an opportunity to answer her critics who call her overrated, who smirk about her exalted status -- WNBA All-Decade Team! -- being due to her all-American good looks and charm more than her basketball skills or accomplishments.
After the Storm mounted a stirring comeback from a 14-point deficit to start the fourth quarter, Bird three times in the final two minutes failed to convert on opportunities to knot the score.
She missed a layup on a break. That was excusable; she drew a touch foul. So the 87-percent free throw shooter had a chance to make amends and tie the game at 62-apiece with 1:33 remaining. She hit 1 of 2.
The screws tightened. The Storm ran an inbounds play with 19.4 seconds remaining, down 65-63. Bird took the ball near the top of the key, dribbled to her left and got an open look from 15 feet.
She missed.
"I got a very good look, a look that will haunt me a very long time," she said after the 68-63 defeat that sent the Sparks to the Western Conference finals against Sacramento.
Bird didn't lose this game for the Storm. She played aggressively and scored 15 points. There were plenty of misses to go around, considering the Storm shot 29.9 percent from the field.
But she didn't win it either, which is what great players -- all-decade players -- do in the playoffs. She gamely answered questions afterward, her winning smile repeatedly flashing. But that was for show.
Bird, who suffered a nose contusion in Sunday's loss, didn't want to talk about what boiled beneath the surface, but sometimes a mask can't cover up everything.
"It's very disappointing," she said when the cameras no longer rolled. "The way I feel now, I will feel for a long time."
This one hurt. And that's appropriate. Pain is the story of the Storm's 2006 season, which limped to a thrilling but ultimately excruciating conclusion in front of a sparse crowd at the Staples Center.
Decisively outplayed for three quarters, seemingly yielding to the sprains, tears, bruises and sundry wounds that had littered the season, the Storm nearly stole this one when Lauren Jackson scored 13 of her game-high 19 points in the fourth quarter.
There was plenty of will. But the way ultimately was just out of reach.
For the second consecutive year, the Storm heads home in the first round after winning the ostensibly critical game one of a three-game series.
The Storm opened the season with high hopes, pounding the Sparks in the season opener 90-67.
Of course, forward Wendy Palmer, the team's key free agent addition, scored 18 points and pulled down 13 rebounds in that game.
Five games into the season, she was lost to an Achilles tendon injury.
"That changed everything. From then, it's been one thing after another," coach Anne Donovan said.
That set the tone, with guard Shaunzinski Gortman joining Palmer on the injured list 15 games later.
Everyone knows about Jackson's stress fractures and plantar fasciitis. And there was Janell Burse's shoulder and ankle problems. Bird and fellow guard Betty Lennox also battled injuries. In total, 54 games were lost to injury.
"It's definitely been ... a very challenging year," Donovan said before the game.
Donovan, despite her best efforts, often showed that stress. Not only was she dealing with her toughest season with the Storm, but she also was handling her duties as the U.S. National Team coach. That team plays in the FIBA World Championships on Sept. 12-23 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
"My mind is never shutting off," Donovan said. "There is always something next."
That might be good. She won't want to look back at all the could-have-beens from this series, from a blown 15-point lead Sunday to a comeback that fell short Tuesday.
Donovan started the season announcing that Bird needed to be more aggressive on offense. At the end, she and Bird admitted that plan produced mixed results, including a career-low scoring average.
But Donovan was quick to defend Bird after the game, just as Jackson wouldn't stomach anyone blaming her fellow All-Star.
"It doesn't come down to the last shot (and) it never has," Jackson said.
It's pretty to think so, but so many sports moments say otherwise.
It was clear Bird knew that. No mask could hide it.
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