Mercury-Lynx Preview

By KATE HEDLIN
Posted Sep 21 2011 7:07PM

Diana Taurasi and the Phoenix Mercury are in the Western Conference finals for a third straight season. Rookie of the year Maya Moore and the Minnesota Lynx are coming off their first playoff series win.

While their experience levels differ, both clubs are confident heading into Game 1 of the best-of-three series on Thursday night in Minnesota.

The Lynx advanced to their first conference finals after eliminating San Antonio in three games in the opening round this week.

After dropping Game 2, the league's No. 1 overall seed defeated the Silver Stars 85-67 on Tuesday to wrap up the series. Seimone Augustus scored 22 points while Moore added 14 and six rebounds.

"I'm extremely happy that we were tested in the first round because you want to have an attitude of urgency throughout the playoffs," said Taj McWilliams-Franklin, who scored 16 points. "I think this put us back on our heels, the first two games, and now we can be prepared for the level that each team is going to play with against us."

Augustus heads into the conference finals on a tear. She averaged 21.7 points in the first round, up from the 16.2 per game she scored during the regular season.

"She's been an absolute stud," coach Cheryl Reeve said. "She has this look about her that just makes me feel so good knowing that she's on my side.

Despite the Lynx's confidence in Augustus, they will need more weapons to compete with Taurasi, the league's leading scorer at 21.6 points per game.

Moore averaged 13.3 points in the series, but she shot 38.5 percent in the first two games. She was closer to her regular-season average (43.9) on Tuesday, going 5 for 12.

The bigger concern may be defending Taurasi, who averaged 23.2 points during the season series against Minnesota and leads a veteran squad into her third straight conference finals and fourth in five years.

The Mercury were swept by Seattle last year after winning the WNBA title in 2009.

However, Taurasi is coming off an uneven series against the Storm during which she averaged 18.7 points on 36 percent shooting. In Game 3's 77-75 win Monday, she had 19 points before fouling out with 6:38 to go.

However, Candice Dupree came up big again. After scoring 29 points in Game 2, she finished with 20 on Monday, including a putback with 1.9 seconds left to complete a comeback from an 18-point deficit in the first half.

"I'm extremely proud to be a part of it," Dupree said. "We've got to keep pushing from here."

While the Mercury have been here before, there may be concerns about fatigue. Phoenix averaged a league-best 89.0 points during the regular season, but was held to 76.7 points in the playoff series.

"We'll enjoy this tonight," coach Corey Gaines said. "After that, back to work."

Minnesota won three of five regular-season meetings against Phoenix, splitting two games in Minneapolis. It was a high-scoring series, with the Lynx averaging 95.4 points and the Mercury 91.6.

Augustus, Lynx roll to Game 1 win over Mercury

By JON KRAWCZYNSKI
Posted Sep 23 2011 2:04AM

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) The points were expected to come in bunches in the Western Conference finals, which featured two of the top three offenses in the WNBA.

They did - for the Minnesota Lynx.

Seimone Augustus had 21 points and seven assists to lead the Lynx to a 95-67 victory over the Phoenix Mercury in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals on Thursday night.

Maya Moore scored 13 of her 15 points in the first quarter and Candice Wiggins added 14 off the bench for the top-seeded Lynx, who held the highest scoring team in the league 22 points below its regular season average.

``Phoenix is a very difficult team to guard,'' Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. ``And we made it look pretty easy.''

Diana Taurasi had 22 points and five rebounds for the Mercury, who were outrebounded 42-26 and shot just 35.7 percent from the field.

The Lynx opened the game with a 15-3 run and Phoenix never got closer than six points the rest of the way.

``Lose by one or lose by 30, it's a loss,'' Mercury coach Corey Gaines said. ``I learned that a long time ago. We'll get back home and regroup.''

A victory in Game 2 on Sunday in Phoenix would put Minnesota in the franchise's first WNBA finals.

Rebekkah Brunson had 13 points and 13 rebounds for the Lynx, who had five players score in double figures.

Taurasi didn't have nearly as much help, with DeWanna Bonner scoring 11 and Marie Ferdinand-Harris finishing with 12. Candice Dupree, who led the team with 19 points per game in its first-round win over Seattle, finished with two points and two rebounds before fouling out with eight minutes to play.

``It probably looked easy, but it wasn't,'' Augustus said. ``We know when we go to Phoenix, Arizona, it's going to be a different story.''

These two high-flying teams have engaged in some epic shootouts over the last few years, but the Mercury left their offense in Phoenix.

With UConn coach Geno Auriemma doing the broadcast, Moore came out like gangbusters with three pull-up jumpers to get the Lynx off and running. She had 13 points in the first quarter, playing so well that Reeve left her in the game even with two early fouls.

The Mercury looked a little shell-shocked by the aggression. They made just 3 of 18 shots in the first quarter to fall behind by 17 points. Taurasi was 1 for 5 and Bonner, Dupree and Penny Taylor were nonexistent.

Gaines got a technical for arguing after Brunson knocked Taylor to the ground on a blocked shot and Moore scored the last five points of the quarter for a 28-11 lead.

The Mercury run the wide-open, Loyola Marymount offense, and have led the league in scoring six straight seasons. They chipped away with a 16-5 run in the second quarter to pull within eight.

Taurasi hit a 3-pointer and scored on a steal to make the score 47-41 early in the third, but the Lynx closed the period with a 20-8 surge to blow the game wide open.

Wiggins, filling in after Lindsay Whalen picked up her fourth foul, hit two 3s, the last one from well behind the right elbow and the Lynx led 74-55 to turn the fourth quarter into garbage time.

``I'm really happy we were able set the tone with our defense,'' Wiggins said. ``When you're dealing with a team like Phoenix and Diana and Penny Taylor, they're just so offensively gifted. When you're able to win with your defense, it feels good.''

These two teams have played some break-neck games over the past couple of years, including a 112-105 Phoenix win earlier this season that was the highest-scoring regular season game in league history. The Mercury also beat the Lynx 127-124 in double overtime last season, the highest-scoring game ithe league has ever seen.

Both teams needed the full three games to advance from the semifinals, with the Lynx beating San Antonio and the Mercury eliminating Seattle.

``Minnesota did a great job on defense taking away our easy buckets,'' Bonner said. ``I think we missed a couple open shots as well. We just couldn't get it going tonight, especially on our fast break, which is our bread and butter.

The Mercury were the only team to beat Minnesota twice during its dominant 27-7 regular season.

``We've just got to be prepared for wrath,'' Wiggins said of Game 2. ``They're going to be real upset.''

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Follow Jon Krawczynski on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/APkrawczynski.

• Mercury: --
• Lynx: --

• Mercury: Dupree, Gaines
• Lynx: --

• Lead Changes: 0
• Times Tied: 1

• Arena: Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
• Officials: #4 Sue Blauch, #38 Lamont Simpson, #45 Tom Mauer
• Attendance: 8912
• Duration: 2:01