Shock-Lynx Preview

By MATT BEARDMORE
Posted Aug 18 2012 1:09PM

The Olympic break was unable to slow down the league-best Minnesota Lynx.

It's unlikely that the WNBA's worst team will do so.

The Lynx go for a fourth straight victory Sunday night when the Tulsa Shock try to end a 10-game losing streak in this series and a road slide that's lasted nearly a year.

After sweeping a home-and-home set with Tulsa leading into the league's month-long hiatus - and ending the club's first three-game skid since 2010 - Minnesota (16-4) returned Friday with a 98-69 victory over Washington.

The Western Conference leaders scored a season-high 32 points off turnovers and had their best assist output of 2012 with 29.

"I told our players it was really fun to watch," coach Cheryl Reeve said after the Lynx improved to 10-1 at home. "It was everything I hoped it could be in that game coming back."

The Lynx have won the first three meetings with Tulsa this season by an average of 18.7 points and are undefeated in this series since a 92-79 road loss June 4, 2010.

There's little reason to believe that will change Sunday as Minnesota fields one of the league's most balanced teams with Rebekkah Brunson, Taj McWilliams-Franklin, Candice Wiggins and U.S. Olympians Maya Moore, Seimone Augustus, and Lindsay Whalen.

Moore has posted her three highest scoring games (26, 24, 28) of 2012 against Tulsa.

"They're so deep. With Maya, she's the `X' factor, because she moves around so well," Shock coach Gary Kloppenburg said after Moore matched a career high in scoring in an 89-74 home win July 12. "She's just a complete player. To me, that's the difference, what gives them that edge."

Tulsa (3-16) has dropped 10 in a row away from home since a 77-75 victory over Los Angeles on Aug. 26.

The Shock begin a stretch of six of eight on the road following an 89-79 loss to San Antonio on Friday in their first game back from the break. They tied it at halftime after trailing by 14 but were outscored by 11 in the fourth for their third straight defeat.

"They are a good basketball team. They will beat people," Silver Stars coach Dan Hughes said. "Until the fourth quarter, we had a tough time. Defensively, (Tulsa) forces you to play faster than you want to."

Still, the Shock are giving up the second-most points per game in the league with 84.3.

Minnesota is scoring a WNBA-best 87.3 per game, 9.0 less than its average against Tulsa.

Whalen has been a big part of that effort with 25 assists. She needs three more to pass Katie Smith for the franchise record with 497.

Lynx beat Shock 83-59, clinch playoff berth

Posted Aug 19 2012 10:57PM

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) After sputtering for most of the first three quarter, the Minnesota Lynx picked up their intensity in the fourth and pulled away from the league-worst Tulsa Shock.

Maya Moore scored 22 points, Lindsay Whalen had 15 and Seimone Augustus 14 as Minnesota beat Tulsa 83-59 to win its fourth straight and clinched a playoff spot at the earliest point in franchise history. The defending champion Lynx (17-4) didn't clinch a postseason berth until their 26th game last season.

``It means absolutely nothing to us. That's not the mission,'' coach Cheryl Reeve said. ``We know it's part of the process.''

Whalen also had four assists to pass Katie Smith for the franchise lead with 498.

Glory Johnson led Tulsa (3-17) with 17 points. The Shock have lost four straight overall and remain winless in eight road games this season. Five of Tulsa's next seven games are away from home.

Minnesota, which has beaten the Shock four times this year by an average of 20 points, shot 50 percent from the field and had a 38-27 edge in rebounding. This was the third meeting in four games between the teams, who also played a home-and-home series before the Olympic break.

The Lynx were nearly flawless in beating Washington 98-69 Friday, but struggled to put this game away until the final period when it outscored Tulsa 25-7.

``It was one of those nights where shots weren't going in and we had some turnovers (13) in the first half,'' Whalen said. ``I really have confidence in the team that we're going to make the plays and kind of share the ball when we need to and make a defensive play.''

Up 58-52 entering the fourth quarter, Moore made a 3-pointer and Whalen converted a three-point play to give the Lynx its first double-digit lead since the first quarter and bring the sellout crowd of 10,223 to its feet.

Moore later had another 3-pointer and added two more free throws to make it 75-54 before back-to-back jumpers by Amber Harris capped an 18-0 run for a 79-54 lead with 2 minutes to play.

Besides going 11 of 13 from the free-throw line, Minnesota was 6 for 11 from the field in the final quarter; Tulsa 3 for 19.

Reeve said the Lynx did a much better job contesting shots, while Augustus noted the team's defensive intensity picked up.

``We were able to get out and get easy baskets and set the tempo in the fourth quarter maybe like we didn't do in the first half and even a little bit in the third quarter,'' Augustus said.

It was the second straight game that Tulsa faded down the stretch. The Shock were outscored by 11 in the fourth of Friday's 89-79 loss to San Antonio.

``We need to go back to the drawing board and figure out why we're giving up so easy in the second half,'' Johnson said. ``Once they had a run we let them make another run and we tried to pick it up a little bit, but when they start hitting 3s you know there's not much you can do if you're not scoring.''

Whalen scored nine of the first 16 Lynx points, including a fast-break layup to cap a 9-0 run to make it 16-7, but Ivory Latta made a pair of 3-pointers as Tulsa finished the first quarter on a 14-5 run to get within 24-23.

A couple of layups by Amber Holt put the Shock up 32-30 midway through the second quarter, but Rebekkah Brunson scored on a fast-break layup in the final second to give the Lynx a 42-39 halftime lead.

The Lynx wore commemorative uniforms with pink lettering and numbers in honor of the team's Breast Health Awareness Week.

• Shock: --
• Lynx: --

• Shock: --
• Lynx: Reeve, Thorn

• Lead Changes: 5
• Times Tied: 5

• Arena: Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
• Officials: #39 Michael Price, #49 Kevin Sparrock, #62 Jeff Wooten
• Attendance: 10223
• Duration: 1:50