Lynx-Sparks Preview

By PAUL DIGIACOMO
Posted Sep 19 2012 6:26PM

The Minnesota Lynx and Los Angeles Sparks have home-court advantage in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs and know who they'll be facing when the postseason begins next week.

Los Angeles, though, will be the better rested team.

The Sparks conclude their schedule Thursday night when they host a Minnesota team which still has to play three road games in the final four days of the season.

The defending WNBA champion Lynx (26-5) have secured the best record in the league for the second consecutive year and will begin the playoffs against No. 4 seed Seattle.

Los Angeles (23-10) clinched the second seed in the West with a 101-76 win over Phoenix on Tuesday night and is back in the playoffs after missing out in 2011 for just the fourth time in franchise history.

The two-time WNBA champion Sparks will face No. 3 seed San Antonio in the opening round. Their win over the Mercury on Tuesday was their ninth straight at home, where they are 15-1 and beat the Lynx 96-90 on July 5.

"Home court is huge," guard Alana Beard said. "We're 15-1 at home and 8-9 on the road. You can do the calculations and understand that this is where we want to be. I'm excited about this (first-round) series. I think it's going to be a competitive series, and having home-court advantage is huge for us.

"I think there's great energy in here. We have a great pregame routine here. We have to figure out a way to translate that to the road. But I think we're in our comfort zone here."

The Sparks' only home loss was to the Silver Stars and San Antonio took three of four meetings this season, so star forward Candace Parker is making it a point to remind her teammates that home-court advantage guarantees them nothing.

"I don't think you can ever breathe easy in the playoffs," she said. "I think it's like a win-or-go home, especially with the playoff format. You can't have any real time to stumble. So it just puts the pressure on us to win that first game at home.

"We have a lot of confidence going forward, but we still have a lot of work to do for the playoffs."

Minnesota will have plenty of chances to improve for the postseason - not on the practice court but in game situations. The Lynx, trying to match their team record for wins set last season, visit Phoenix on Friday night and San Antonio on Sunday.

In a stretch of playing six of their last seven on the road, the Lynx finished 16-1 at home with an 86-79 victory over playoff-bound Indiana on Monday night.

"You win your home games, and you're WNBA champions," coach Cheryl Reeve told the Lynx's official website. "That's something that is really dear to us. We've worked for this, to put ourselves in the best position."

Sparks beat Lynx 92-76 in playoff tuneup

By BETH HARRIS
Posted Sep 21 2012 1:54AM

LOS ANGELES (AP) Candace Parker is ready to make a run in the playoffs, if the Los Angeles Sparks can shed their inconsistency.

Parker and rookie Nneka Ogwumike had 22 points and 11 rebounds each, and the Sparks tuned up for the postseason with a 92-76 victory over the defending WNBA champion Minnesota Lynx on Thursday night.

``We knew this was a team we'd possibly have to go through to win a championship, so everybody laid it out on the court,'' Parker said. ``We wanted to wrap it up and make a statement.''

Alana Beard added 13 points and Kristi Toliver had 10 points and eight assists for the Sparks (24-10), who ended the regular season with their fourth straight win while splitting the four-game season series with the Lynx in front of Clippers teammates Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan. It was the biggest margin of victory by either team in their meetings this season.

``In spurts we were the best team in the league and in spurts we were the worst,'' Parker said in summing up the regular season. ``In the playoffs, hopefully we'll be the best.''

Monica Wright scored 19 points, and Devereaux Peters added 17 points and 13 rebounds for Minnesota (26-6), which had won six of its last seven games against the Sparks but fell to 3-19 all-time at Staples Center. Maya Moore had 13 points as the Lynx shot a season-low 35 percent.

``I thought we were getting great shots. We literally couldn't knock it in,'' Moore said. ``I know I had some open shots. Our 3-point shooters had some open shots. They just weren't falling. The more disappointing thing was our defense, and not making it hard enough for their team to score, which is not like us. We really want to get that out of our system and bounce back from that.''

The Lynx played without starting guard Lindsay Whalen, who didn't dress because of a cold. The West's top seed has two more games left before starting the playoffs. Coach Cheryl Reeve said she wasn't sure about Whalen's status for Friday's game at Phoenix.

``We'll have to see how she's feeling tomorrow,'' she said.

Asked if she would rest her starters until the playoffs, Reeve said, ``It looks like that happened today.''

The Sparks finished 16-1 at home where they outscored opponents by double-digits during the regular season under first-year coach Carol Ross. They open the playoffs at home against San Antonio on Sept. 27.

``We've got to get better on both ends. We're not great yet,'' Ross said. ``We've knocked on the door of greatness a few times and slammed our finger in it. We have lapses.''

The Sparks missed the playoffs last season, and in Parker's first four seasons in the league she has never gotten past the Western Conference finals. Ogwumike, a Final Four regular during her college career at Stanford, will be making her playoff debut.

``The level of play is going to boost up,'' she said. ``I hope we realize that and continue to realize that.''

Los Angeles outscored the Lynx 52-24 in the paint and was 15 of 19 from the free throw line in the game. The Sparks cruised through the fourth quarter after building a 21-point lead in the third.

``We didn't play well. We didn't defend. They came out and did everything they wanted,'' Reeve said. ``Parker and Ogwumike played great, and we provided very little resistance. We couldn't make a shot.''

The Sparks opened the third on a 13-0 run, with Beard scoring six points and Parker five. The Lynx hit three 3-pointers in the quarter, but trailed 74-55 heading into the final 12 minutes.

``We came in on a serious note,'' Ogwumike said. ``We wanted to play for each other and that showed.''

The Sparks led by 14 in the first half.

Parker scored 14 points, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer to end the first quarter, and Ogwumike had 12 in the half. Los Angeles opened the game on a 20-9 run, led by Parker with seven and Ogwumike with six.

The Lynx were limited to 15 points in the opening quarter, and they were 1 of 15 from the 3-point line in the half.

• Lynx: --
• Sparks: --

• Lynx: --
• Sparks: --

• Lead Changes: 0
• Times Tied: 0

• Arena: Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
• Officials: #18 Kurt Walker, #9 Denise Brooks, #62 Jeff Wooten
• Attendance: 10217
• Duration: 1:50