Dream-Fever Preview

By CLIFF BRUNT
Posted Sep 21 2011 7:17PM

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) The Fever finally solved New York's Cappie Pondexter.

Now, Indiana faces another thorn in its side, Atlanta's Angel McCoughtry.

The Fever reversed their recent history against Pondexter in the Eastern Conference semifinals, holding her to 34 percent shooting and winning the series against New York 2-1.

If Indiana can have similar success against McCoughtry in the Eastern Conference finals, the Fever likely will advance to the WNBA finals for the second time in three years. If not, Atlanta would stand a good chance of reaching the finals for the second straight season.

Fever forward Tamika Catchings said defending McCoughtry will be a team effort, starting in Game 1 of the best-of-three series Thursday at Conseco Fieldhouse.

McCoughtry averaged 23.8 points and shot 49 percent from the field in four games against the Fever this season, all wins for Atlanta.

``I think the best thing for me or for Katie (Douglas) or for whoever's guarding her, it's really just going to be trying to keep her in front of us,'' Catchings said. ``Everybody's going to have to be consistently watching Angel.''

Atlanta coach Marynell Meadors knows that Catchings, a four-time WNBA defensive player of the year, will challenge McCoughtry.

``I think she's going to be a very physical defender, and always is,'' Meadors said. ``We'll have to match her intensity.''

Pondexter gave the Fever ideal preparation for facing McCoughtry. Douglas, among others, bothered Pondexter and kept her from getting comfortable.

``I thought they did a great job on her,'' Meadors said. ``They held her down, and if you hold Cappie down, usually, you're going to beat New York.''

McCoughtry, like Pondexter, was in a shooting slump in her conference semifinal series. She shot 9 for 33 in Atlanta's matchup with Connecticut, but the Dream still swept the Sun 2-0. That has given the third-seeded Dream an extra dose of confidence.

``When you looked at our wins, it was balanced scoring, a balanced attack, and that's extremely hard to defend,'' Atlanta's Lindsey Harding said. ``Definitely, we'd love to take Angel's 35 points, but you can't just look at her points. She does so many other things to help us win.''

Indiana is 15-4 at home including the playoffs, but 0-2 at Conseco Fieldhouse against the Dream. Even with the No. 1 seed in the East, Indiana has embraced the underdog role because of the regular-season results.

``The pressure's not really on us, the pressure's on them because everybody's expecting them to beat us,'' Catchings said. ``It's win or go home time. We really want to play for a championship and really feel like we have a championship caliber team.''

Atlanta considers the regular-season results irrelevant.

``It means nothing,'' Meadors said. ``Absolutely nothing. Right now we're 2-0 in the playoffs and that's the way we're looking at it.

Indiana was competitive with Atlanta during the season, losing the four games by a total of 25 points.

Catchings missed the final game between the teams, but she averaged 21.3 points and 6.0 rebounds in the three she played before resting in the regular-season finale against the Dream.

Douglas averaged 22 points in the series against New York.

``Katie is shooting extremely well,'' Meadors said. ``She's a crafty guard, and she's a tall guard. We'll have to do a really good job of defending her, too. She's deadly with that 3-point shot.''

The Fever turned the ball over a combined 36 times in the final two regular-season games between the teams, leading to 46 Atlanta points. Douglas said the Fever can't afford to have any more mistake-filled games against the Dream.

``We really need to keep them on their heels at all levels, all facets of the game - rebounding, transition,'' Douglas said. ``We need to really take care of the ball and get quality possessions.''

Atlanta has won a road game in its past three Eastern Conference playoff series, so the Dream are comfortable with their task.

``I think last year we were in uncharted territory,'' Meadors said. ``This year, we know what it's all about. Last year we went all the way to the finals and we just know what we have to do to get there. We may or may not be able to do that, but we're going to give it everything we have to get to that same position as last year.''

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AP Sports Writer Charles Odum in Atlanta contributed to this report.

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Smith, Catchings lead Fever past Dream in Game 1

By CLIFF BRUNT
Posted Sep 23 2011 2:06AM

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Tamika Catchings finished her special day the right way.

After being announced as the league's most valuable player earlier Thursday, she had 12 points and 13 rebounds to help the Indiana Fever defeat the Atlanta Dream 82-74 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Catchings sealed the win with one of her signature late-game gems. She stole the ball from Atlanta's Angel McCoughtry, then drove more than half the length of the court, spun through contact and made a behind-the-head layup off the backboard that gave the Fever a 74-66 lead.

``I was just trying to drive the basket and get to the line,'' Catchings said. ``I was going in there with the intention of attacking Sancho (Lyttle) and get to the line.''

It was the kind of play that has earned Catchings a rare level of respect from her peers.

``She's just a hustle player, she just outworks everybody,'' Tangela Smith, who led Indiana with 25 points, said. ``We needed that stop at that time. That's what Catch does.''

McCoughtry, second in the league in scoring during the regular season, was held to 11 points - about 10.5 below her average. She played just 17 minutes and was in foul trouble throughout. Atlanta had swept the regular-season series with the Fever 4-0, and McCoughtry averaged nearly 24 points in those games.

McCoughtry had words for the officials as the game ended, and Atlanta coach Marynell Meadors wasn't happy with them, either.

``She had a lot of fouls called on her,'' Meadors said. ``I don't think she ever had a chance to get into her game, which really hurt us. So take it for whatever you want to take it. I just don't she had any chance out there tonight.''

Lindsey Harding scored 17 points for Atlanta, but she shot 1 for 5 from the field in the final 10 minutes with Indiana's Shavonte Zellous guarding her.

Lyttle scored 14 points, Armintie Price had 13 and Erika DeSouza had eight points and 13 rebounds for the Dream.

Game 2 of the best-of-three series is Sunday in Atlanta.

Catchings' late-game heroics were possible, in part, because of Smith's performance. She made 5 of 7 3-pointers and had nine rebounds and four blocks. She didn't score more than 16 points in any regular-season game this year.

``I was just doing it tonight,'' Smith said. ``It just seemed like everything was going in, except my first two missed layups. My teammates kept finding me and giving me the ball, and I was fortunate to knock down shots.''

It was the kind of game the Fever envisioned when they signed the 34-year-old Smith before the season.

``That's why we brought Tan here, because she can spread the floor and knock down threes, and she did exactly what we expected her to do,'' Dunn said. ``She has the green light. If she's open, we want her to shoot.''

Indiana balanced Smith's outside shooting with an aggressive approach. The Fever made 23 of 27 free throws while Atlanta made just 9 of 17.

``I thought the 27 free throws and us attacking the paint was really big for us,'' Indiana coach Lin Dunn said. ``We had a few too many turnovers, but I think we were able to overcome those just because of staying close in the rebounding and the free throws.''

The score was tied at 57 at the end of the third quarter.

A 3-pointer by Smith gave Indiana a 63-59 lead with 7:17 remaining.

McCoughtry was called for a charge with 5:35 left, her fifth foul of the game and the third time Catchings drew a charge from her. Moments after McCoughtry went to the bench, Smith made another 3 to put the Fever ahead 68-62 midway through the fourth quarter.

Later, Catchings drove and drew McCoughtry's sixth foul.

``I thought we did a really good job of defending her,'' Dunn said. ``When we put Catch on her in the second half, she just kind of lost her poise and composure a little bit, and that's okay with us.''

The Fever expect McCoughtry to be focused in Game 2.

``Now we go back to their place and play, and for us, we have to put this game behind us already and look at what she's going to do and what kind of mentality she's going to come out with,'' Catchings said. ``I feel like Angel is going to be a lot more aggressive.''

Atlanta remained confident.

``We've had our backs to the wall many, many times this season,'' Meadors said. ``We've faced adversity many times, and we've managed to jump over the hurdles, and this is one in front of us. We will come back strong on Sunday afternoon.''

• Dream: --
• Fever: --

• Dream: --
• Fever: --

• Lead Changes: 8
• Times Tied: 6

• Arena: Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
• Officials: #9 Denise Brooks, #31 Amy Bonner, #39 Michael Price
• Attendance: 8253
• Duration: 2:05