Lynx-Storm Preview

By MATT BEARDMORE
Posted Aug 20 2012 2:47PM

The Minnesota Lynx have already secured their spot in the postseason, but coach Cheryl Reeve said they are looking past that.

However, there's a good chance the defending WNBA champions have looked back at what happened in their last game in Seattle.

The Lynx go for a fifth straight victory Tuesday night when the Storm try to avoid back-to-back home losses for the first time in three seasons.

Led by Maya Moore's 22 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and four steals, Minnesota (17-4) clinched a playoff spot at the earliest point in franchise history with Sunday's 83-59 win over Tulsa.

"(Making the playoffs) means absolutely nothing to us. That's not the mission," Reeve said. "We know it's part of the process."

The Lynx have plenty of reason to stay focused as San Antonio and Los Angeles - the league's two hottest teams - are on their heels for the Western Conference lead. Minnesota can leave Seattle with at least a 1 1/2-game edge in that race if it defeats the Storm for the third time in 2012.

The Lynx, though, had their league-record 10-0 start snapped with a 65-62 loss at Seattle on June 17 in the teams' most recent meeting.

The Storm (10-11) could have a hard time repeating that effort with their depleted roster. Seattle had eight players available in Saturday's 82-71 home loss to the Sparks.

"Honestly, respectfully to our team I don't want to even talk about being short-handed because that disrespects the people in the locker room," said coach Brian Agler, whose team last dropped two in a row at KeyArena on July 12 and 15, 2009.

Backup point guard Tanisha Wright had a nice effort with 21 points, but the Storm would probably be better off if Sue Bird returned - she sat out Saturday with a stomach flu - to match up with U.S. Olympic teammate Lindsay Whalen.

Whalen has averaged 7.0 assists during Minnesota's four-game win streak and is second in the league with 5.5 per game. Bird is next at 5.4.

The Lynx likely won't have to face center Lauren Jackson, who has yet to play for the Storm this season after training with the Australian team that won bronze in London. The three-time MVP was scheduled to return to Seattle on Monday and it's uncertain when she'll make her season debut.

"I'm so excited to finally get to meet her. The team is ready for her to be back," rookie Shekinna Stricklen said Saturday after Seattle was outrebounded by 12. "We're excited to have another post player with size."

Having 6-foot-4 center Ann Wauters could help the Storm, who are among the league's worst with 30.4 rebounds per game, but it's uncertain when she'll return after missing the last seven games with an Achilles' injury.

Even with Wauters in the lineup, the Lynx outrebounded the Storm by an average of 9.3 in the first three matchups of 2012.

Minnesota, though, is scoring 75.0 points per game in those contests - 12.0 less than its league-leading average.

Moore has a team-best 45 points in those games.

Augustus, Moore, Brunson lead Lynx past Storm

Posted Aug 22 2012 1:29AM

SEATTLE (AP) Seimone Augustus scored 22 points, Maya Moore had 20 and Rebekkah Brunson had 20 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Minnesota Lynx past the Seattle Storm 86-73 on Tuesday night for their fifth consecutive win.

Moore and Augustus each hit four 3-pointers for defending champion Minnesota (18-4), which has the league's best record and has already clinched a playoff berth. Lindsay Whalen had nine assists and Moore added eight rebounds and a season-high seven assists.

``I love the balance of this team,'' Brunson said. ``I think that's something that makes us so good is we have such a complete team. There are so many people who can do it on any given night you don't really know where the points or rebounds are going to come from.''

Camille Little scored 20 points to lead Seattle (10-12), which has lost two in a row at home for the first time since July 2009. Sue Bird added 17 points and Tanisha Wright 11.

Little scored seven to help the Storm cut the lead to five early in the fourth quarter before Moore, Augustus and Brunson combined to score 15 straight points to make it 84-64.

``I think that was a point where we started to get a little bit lax and we definitely started to play like it was over,'' Brunson said of the large lead that dropped to five. ``For a while we started to let up and they started to go on a run but we huddled up and we got together and said we've got to play until the end of the 40 minutes and that's what we did.''

Seattle coach Brian Agler watched his team get back in the game only to see the Lynx pull away again.

``I don't think we guarded Augustus real well in that stretch and we didn't get to Maya Moore a couple of times,'' Agler said. ``It would have been nice to get stops defensively, but they're a good team.''

Monica Wright, who finished with 15 points, hit back-to-back 3's to give Minnesota a 64-47 lead midway through the third quarter. The Lynx matched a season high with 11 3's.

Moore and Brunson scored 12 apiece and Augustus added 10 to help the Lynx to a 52-43 halftime lead. The Lynx led by 11 in the second quarter.

Minnesota constantly moved the ball to find the open players.

``We had 27 assists out of 35 field goals and that's just fun,'' Moore said. ``We do that night after night. Everybody walks away for the most part feeling good and that they contributed.''

Moore scored five during a 12-2 run to help give the Lynx an 18-10 lead before Seattle used a 14-6 run to tie it at 24-24 early in the second quarter. But Augustus and Wright scored five each to start a 15-4 run to put the Lynx up 39-28.

The Lynx clinched a playoff berth with an 83-59 win over Tulsa on Sunday and continued to roll against the Storm.

``Clinching a playoff spot is just part of the process,'' Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. ``I can tell you it's not anything that our players think about. We've got a lot of games to play and we've got some big goals as do the teams that we're fighting with.''

The Storm played without Ann Wauters (strained Achilles), Tina Thompson (sprained knee) and three-time MVP Lauren Jackson, who watched from the bench after flying in Monday from Australia. Jackson has yet to play this season after playing for Australia in the London Olympics.

``I'm looking forward to playing with her again,'' Bird said about Jackson. ``She's someone who has been a partner in crime for the last 11 seasons. Whenever we're back on the floor together, it's very comfortable. I think she puts us at ease.''

• Lynx: --
• Storm: --

• Lynx: --
• Storm: --

• Lead Changes: 2
• Times Tied: 4

• Arena: Key Arena, Seattle, WA
• Officials: #4 Sue Blauch, #44 Felicia Grinter, #38 Lamont Simpson
• Attendance: 6169
• Duration: 1:50