![]() Last season Ashley Battle and her teammates created their own version of the Michael Jackson classic "Thriller" video.
Photo courtesy of Ashley Battle
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Radios around the world have been playing the best of the Michael Jackson catalogue since his sudden death on Thursday afternoon in Los Angeles.
In honor of the King of Pop, we present our Friday night WNBA preview set to an all-Michael Jackson playlist.
"Thriller"
The San Antonio Silver Stars and Sacramento Monarchs meet tonight for the first time since last year's thrilling first-round playoff series. The teams went to overtime in the decisive Game 3 with San Antonio prevailing to advance to the Western Conference Finals.
"Don't Stop Til You Get Enough"
Exactly one year ago today, the Liberty and Fever met at Madison Square Garden and gave us a triple-overtime classic with the Liberty prevailing, 102-96. The three overtime periods became a new regular season first for both clubs and also tied for the second-longest game in overtime periods in WNBA history.
"Billie Jean"
It was at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens where the Liberty and Fever met last season at Arthur Ashe Stadium for the Liberty Outdoor Classic, the first regular season outdoor game in professional basketball history. The two teams meet again tonight.
"Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"
Atlanta's Sancho Lyttle is averaging 17.8 points, 10.8 rebounds since being inserted into the Dream starting lineup on June 14. Lyttle and the Dream face the Shock tonight.
"Bad"
Rick Mahorn, one of the Detroit Pistons' Bad Boys, looks for his first win as a WNBA head coach tonight against Atlanta.
"PYT (Pretty Young Thing)"
Atlanta rookie Angel McCoughtry is coming off of her best game as a pro (26 points, 8 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block) on Tuesday against the Sky. Can she have another strong performance tonight against Detroit?
"Smooth Criminal"
Indiana's Tamika Catchings currently ranks third in the WNBA with 2.67 steals per game and will look for more thievery tonight against New York.
"The Girl is Mine"
The two most sought after free agents of the past offseason are playing tonight. Seattle was able to re-sign Lauren Jackson after she flirted with the idea of playing in Phoenix. Meanwhile, the Sparks lured Tina Thompson back to her hometown of Los Angeles and signed her to a multi-year contract.
"Jam"
Los Angeles Sparks stars Lisa Leslie and Candace Parker - both out for tonight's game against Seattle - are the only two players to dunk in a WNBA game.
"You Rock My World"
San Antonio guard Becky Hammon has played around the world in the last two weeks. After playing in the first two games for the Silver Stars, She headed to Latvia to play in the European Women's Basketball Championships with the Russian National Team. She returned to San Antonio for the Silver Stars win over the Mercury on Tuesday and will be in uniform when the Silver Stars host the Monarchs tonight.
"We are the World"
Not only do the majority of WNBA play internationally during the WNBA offseason, the league also features a number of international stars from around the world. Tonight we will see:
Seattle vs. Los Angeles
Suzy Batkovic-Brown (Seattle by way of Australia)
Lauren Jackson (Seattle by way of Australia)
Kristi Harrower (Los Angeles by way of Australia)
San Antonio vs. Sacramento
Edwige Lawson-Wade (San Antonio by way of France)
Belinda Snell (San Antonio by way of Australia)
Hamchétou Maïga-Ba (Sacramento by way of Mali)
New York vs Indiana
Tully Bevilaqua (Indiana by way of Australia)
Tammy Sutton Brown (Indiana by way of Canada)
Atlanta vs. Detroit
Iziane Castro Marques (Atlanta by way of Brazil)
Erika Desouza (Atlanta by way of Brazil)
Bonus: We take a quick look back at last night's Phoenix-Washington matchup with a pair Michael Jackson classics.
"Dirty Diana"
Diana Taurasi had 23 points and eight rebounds in the Mercury's 93-87 win over the Mystics last night.
"Beat It"
The Mercury became the first team to beat the Mystics at home this season. The Mystics won their first two games at the Verizon Center this season, as well as their lone preseason home game.
Alanna LeGall and Derek Davis contributed to this report