Fever-Dream Preview

By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN
Posted Sep 29 2012 1:01PM

Katie Douglas insists that all is not lost for the Indiana Fever now that they have blown home-court advantage in the first round.

The Fever were the only home team to lose their playoff opener, and now must win on the road Sunday against the Atlanta Dream to keep alive their season.

This series is a rematch of the Eastern Conference finals from last season, with Atlanta winning in three games. The Fever finished three games ahead of the Dream in the regular season this year.

Atlanta, which has reached the last two WNBA finals, again looked ready for the postseason as it led 25-15 after one quarter and was up 13 heading to the fourth in Friday's 75-66 victory. Lindsey Harding had 23 points as all five starters scored at least eight for the Dream, who outrebounded the Fever 40-29.

"Its playoff basketball," coach Fred Williams said. "I was glad the way we had balanced scoring and I thought we really took it to them physically in the second half."

Douglas was the top scorer for Indiana with 13, although she missed 8 of 12 shots. She insists, however, that the Fever are not headed for a quick exit from the playoffs.

"We don't need people on our bandwagon," Douglas said. "We just need 11 women in the locker room and the coaches, that's who we're going to Atlanta with. We're not going to pay attention, no disrespect to the media or the fans."

Indiana likely will need more from Douglas and former MVP Tamika Catchings on Sunday. Catchings made 2 of 11 shots and finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

"We need to regroup, bring our 'A' game and start with an energy and intensity," coach Lin Dunn said.

Dunn's team was only 2-3 on the road in September and that included a Sept. 5 defeat to Atlanta, which won its final five home games of the regular season.

Starting guards Briann January and Shavonte Zellous returned to the Fever lineup after missing the last three games of the regular season due to concussion-like symptoms.

January was hit in the chest with an errant elbow from Angel McCoughtry just before halftime. Although January returned at the 6:26 mark of the fourth quarter, the incident only highlighted the physical nature of Game 1.

"I do think we've had to go through some turmoil here with people being out, coming back, rotating the lineups and it can be disruptive but you can't let that bother you," Dunn said. "You can't make excuses."

Turmoil has been a problem for Atlanta this season, with the club replacing coach Marynell Meadors with Williams on Aug. 27. It's also included suspensions to WNBA leading scorer McCoughtry, but the Dream clearly look built for the playoffs.

"We definitely wanted to punch first," Harding said. "This is a team that usually has very good first and third quarters with running. We knew that we had to not just match it, but overpower (them)."

Now the Fever must avoid being overpowered out of the postseason.

"We'll be ready Sunday," Douglas said. "We need to go with more of a sense of urgency and start with more confidence."

Catchings, January help Fever beat Dream in Game 2

Posted Sep 30 2012 8:09PM

ATLANTA (AP) After losing the opener of the Eastern Conference semifinals at home against Atlanta, the Indiana Fever were determined to return the favor.

Tamika Catchings had 25 points and 13 rebounds, Briann January scored 24 points and the Fever beat the Dream 103-88 in Game 2 on Sunday to even the series.

``I can't say enough about Catchings and January,'' Indiana coach Lin Dunn said. ``They just willed this team to come back from the loss Friday night. . Now we're even.''

January scored 11 points in the third quarter to help Indiana extend a two-point halftime lead and Catchings had 18 in the fourth - one short of the WNBA record for a quarter.

The deciding Game 3 will be Tuesday in Indianapolis, where the Dream eliminated the Fever in Game 3 of the East finals a year ago. Indiana, which was 13-4 at home this season, won the previous four postseason games at home before losing the last two.

``It's always good to go home,'' January said. ``It's our home court and we want to protect it. We have given ourselves that opportunity by playing hard this season and getting home-court advantage.''

The Fever, who lost the series opener 73-66 on Friday in Indianapolis, outscored Atlanta 31-20 in the third quarter to pull away from a 47-45 lead at the break. Larkins, who got her first career start in the playoffs, had eight points in the quarter to back January.

The Dream scored 10 straight points to cut pull to 82-75 early in the fourth. However, Catchings hit back-to-back 3-pointers and then cut through the defense for a layup as the Fever regained control.

Catchings made five of six shots in the fourth quarter after making just one of her first 11 shots from the floor.

``I credit my teammates for constantly encouraging me,'' Catching said. ``They kept saying, `The next one is going to go in. The next one is going to go in. Don't stop shooting.'''

Erlana Larkins had 16 points, Shavonte Zellous added 15, Tammy Sutton-Brown 11 and Erin Phillips 10 as the Fever had six players in double figures for the first time this season. Indiana shot 53 percent from the field and had a 36-32 edge on the boards after being out-rebounded in the first game.

``I thought the way we shared the basketball was huge,'' Dunn said.

Angel McCoughtry scored 22 points to lead Atlanta. Lindsey Harding added 17 and Sancho Lyttle 15.

``Indiana came out firing and some shots they didn't hit in Game 1 they hit in this game,'' Dream coach Fred Williams said.

Catchings, who had missed her first seven shots, hit a 3 with 1.8 seconds left in second quarter to give Indiana the halftime lead. January and Sutton-Brown each had 11 points at the break.

After starting 1 for 8 and falling behind 14-6, Indiana made six straight shots. But Ketia Swanier banked in a 30-footer at the buzzer to give Atlanta a 24-22 lead at the end of the first quarter.

McCoughtry and Lyttle each scored 11 points in the first half for the Dream, who shot 41 percent.

A total of 50 fouls were called in the game. The Fever finished 28 for 41 while the Dream were 25 for 28.

``Even if we didn't win Game 3 last year we would still have the confidence going in there,'' McCoughtry said. ``We're going to go up there and just play like we did last game and do what we need to do to take this series.''

• Fever: --
• Dream: --

• Fever: --
• Dream: Williams

• Lead Changes: 14
• Times Tied: 7

• Arena: Philips Arena, Atlanta, GA
• Officials: #4 Sue Blauch, #8 Daryl Humphrey, #49 Kevin Sparrock
• Attendance: 6890
• Duration: 2:17