Bird Back in Action in Spartak Win

Good news from Russia, where the injury that ended Sue Bird's day late in Spartak's loss Sunday to CSKA proved to be minor. Bird was not only back on the court for Wednesday's Superleague matchup with Dynamo Moscow, she played 30 minutes, second on the team to Diana Taurasi.

With Bird at the point, Spartak got back to winning ways, defeating Dynamo 94-78. Spartak built a 14-point halftime lead before the teams played even after intermission. Bird had seven points, six rebounds and five assists, while Lauren Jackson supplied plenty of offense. Jackson scored 28 points on 11-of-21 shooting despite having a tough time finding the touch from beyond the arc. The rest of the scoring Spartak needed came from Taurasi, who scored 24.

Dynamo, which played without Janell Burse, was led by 21 points and nine boards from Marina Kuzina.

Spartak has the weekend off before beginning the Euroleague Playoffs on Tuesday by hosting Swin Cash and ZVVZ USK Praha in Game 1 of their best-of-three series.