Sue Bird to play in deciesive Game 5 tonight despite broken nose

Sue Bird has been a Warrior for the Seattle Storm all season long. Case in point — she’ll play Game 5 with a mask to protect her broken nose.

Despite suffering a broken nose in the second quarter of Sunday’s Game 4, Sue Bird will play in the series deciding Game 5 tonight in Seattle.

After going through several tests, including a CT scan, it became clear that Bird’s injury, which occurred due to an inadvertent elbow to the face from teammate Breanna Stewart, was no more than a broken nose. It’s an injury Bird is well acquainted with as it is the fifth broken nose of her career. In fact, Bird, who is the WNBA’s all-time leader in assists, won a WNBA title in 2004 after suffering a broken nose and now she hopes to have similar success this season.

Without Bird in the lineup for the entire second half of Game 4, the Storm sacrificed a large first point lead as Phoenix stormed back and won the game on a putback from Britney Griner in the final minute.

The presence of 11-time All-Star Sue Bird certainly should be a boon for the Storm as they try to make the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2010. Seattle earned the best record in the WNBA this season at 26-8, led by All-Stars Bird and Jewell Loyd, alongside league MVP Breanna Stewart.

To advance, they will have to defeat a strong Phoenix Mercury team who have three All-Stars of their own in Diana Taurasi, Britney Griner, and DeWanna Bonner.

Game 5 promises to be a great game featuring several of the best players in WNBA history, and is a game all basketball fans should make sure to watch this evening. It will air at 10 p.m. ET tonight on NBATV and ESPNEWS following the also decisive Game 5 between the Atlanta Dream and Washington Mystics at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN2.