Seattle ? Lauren Jackson had 26 points and 10 rebounds, and Sue Bird scored 17 points as the Seattle Storm won its second straight game Friday, 82-53 over the Phoenix Mercury.

Seattle (13-9) won a team-record fifth straight home game and moved into a tie with Houston for second place in the Western Conference. The Storm improved to 3-0 against Phoenix this season.

Tamicha Jackson scored 13 points to lead Phoenix, which lost for the seventh straight time and has the league’s worst record at 3-18.

Seattle came out firing, hitting four of its first five shots to go ahead 10-0. The Storm kept the pressure on, leading by as many as 16 points in the first half and taking a 43-29 lead into the intermission.

For the game, Seattle shot a season-high 54.7 percent from the field, 7-for-10 on three-pointers.

Jackson, the WNBA scoring leader, had 20 points for the fifth consecutive game and 12th time this season.

Lisa Harrison, Anna DeForge and Adrian Williams had 10 points each for the Mercury.

Lynx 81, Silver Stars 54

Minneapolis — Katie Smith scored 23 points, and Janelle Burse had a career-high 21, leading Minnesota to an easy win over San Antonio.

Burse, in the starting lineup because of a left knee injury to center Michele Van Gorp, surpassed her previous high of 13 points, set in June against Sacramento. She also had five rebounds.

It was the largest margin of victory in Lynx history. Minnesota (12-10) trails Seattle by one-half game for the third playoff spot in the Western Conference.

San Antonio (6-16) suffered its second straight blowout loss after an 81-47 thrashing by Indiana Wednesday.