Fever-Sun Preview

By MATT BEARDMORE
Posted Oct 04 2012 2:35PM

The Connecticut Sun made quick work of their first-round opponent. The Indiana Fever are hoping the Sun's lengthy layoff heading into this best-of-three Eastern Conference finals series will play to their advantage as they were just pushed to the limit.

Meeting in the postseason for the first time in five years, Connecticut and Indiana will play Game 1 on Friday night at Mohegan Sun Arena as both teams continue their bid for a first WNBA title.

Making their second consecutive playoff appearance, the top-seeded Sun swept New York in the semifinals for their first postseason series win since defeating Washington in the opening round of 2006.

Tina Charles, the league MVP and top rebounder with 10.5 per game, averaged 21.0 points and 8.5 boards against the Liberty, while Asjha Jones totaled 30 points and 17 boards and Kara Lawson added 23 and 15, respectively, while making six 3-pointers in 14 attempts.

"Our three All-Star players stepped up," Connecticut coach Mike Thibault said after Saturday's 75-62 Game 2 victory. "It was terrific, but we had great performances from a lot of people."

The Fever, the No. 2 seed, are well aware of the Sun's talent after losing three of four meetings in the regular season, including both in Uncasville, but they're hoping Connecticut won't be able to carry over the momentum.

"They're a fine team," Indiana coach Lin Dunn told the team's official website. "They're going to start at home. They're going to be rested. Let's just hope that they are over-rested.

"I think, at the end of the day, if we can defend at a high level, continue to do what we've done on the boards and be balanced in our scoring, then we have a chance to steal this series."

The Fever make their second consecutive conference finals appearance - and fifth in eight years - after knocking off Atlanta, the two-time defending East champs. The only home team to lose its playoff opener, Indiana ended the Dream's five-game home winning streak in Game 2 on Sunday before advancing with Tuesday's 75-64 victory.

Seven-time All-Star forward Tamika Catchings, the defensive player of the year, will likely be a key to this series, as will former Sun Katie Douglas, but the Fever will need contributions from others if they're going to reach their second WNBA finals and first since 2009.

Dunn said Briann January is playing as well as she's ever seen after the fourth-year guard averaged 16.7 points and 5.0 assists in the opening round. Fever forward Erlana Larkins, who hadn't started until two games left in the regular season, also picked a good time to step up her game, totaling 43 points and 32 rebounds against Atlanta.

"In the years past, it's always been Tamika having to spearhead that blue-collar mentality," Douglas said after Larkins totaled 16 points and 20 boards in Game 3. "And I think it takes a little pressure off of Tamika. (Larkins) can go down there and bang. It really loosens things up for us."

Having former Sun guard Erin Phillips in the starting five could do the same thing. A 43.8 percent 3-point shooter in the regular season, Phillips was added to the starting lineup after Game 1 - as was Larkins - and hit 3 of 5 from long range in the series while scoring 20 points.

Lawson averaged 18.3 points and hit 10 of 27 from beyond in the arc against Indiana in the regular season, while Charles scored 12.3 points and 10.5 rebounds per game in those contests.

Jones scored 30 in the first three games against Indiana in 2012 before chipping in with four off the bench in a 73-67 home win Sept. 19 - her first game after missing 14 with a strained Achilles' tendon.

This is the third postseason series between these clubs, and first since Indiana won the 2007 conference semifinals.

The Sun swept the Fever to reach the WNBA finals in 2005 to make their most recent finals appearance.

Sun beat Fever 76-64 in Eastern finals opener

By PAT EATON-ROBB
Posted Oct 05 2012 11:40PM

UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) A pair of Olympians took control on both ends of the court in the second half to help the Connecticut Sun pull away from Indiana in the opener of the Eastern Conference finals.

Tina Charles scored 18 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and blocked four shots to lead Connecticut to the 76-64 win Friday night. Meanwhile, Asjha Jones played lock-down defense on Tamika Catchings, holding the Fever's star to just two field goals and seven points.

``Defense is always my priority,'' Jones said. ``Guarding her was my main focus, trying to stay between her and the basket.''

Charles, the WNBA's MVP, had just four first-half points but came alive in the third quarter, scoring 10 points and grabbing six rebounds as the Sun broke open a 30-30 game.

She brought the crowd into the contest with an offensive rebound, putback and free throw to highlight a 14-2 run that gave the Sun control. Connecticut led 54-43 after three quarters and by as many as 16 in the fourth.

``In the second half, I just wanted to set the tone, just getting on the `O' boards as much as I could to score,'' Charles said.

Kara Lawson had 16 points and Tan White added 13 for the Sun, who swept New York in the opening round and have now won eight of their last nine games.

Katie Douglas, who spent five years with the Sun and her first seven years in the WNBA with the franchise that moved from Orlando to Connecticut, had 27 points to lead the Fever. She hit 11 of her 19 shots, including 5 of 10 from 3-point range.

``I like it here in Connecticut,'' she said. ``I played here for five years, so I'm very comfortable with the rims, the floor, the lighting, you know everything that a shooter kind of needs.''

But it was a struggle for Catchings. She had a blocked shot, a rebound, an assist and a 3-pointer in the game's opening minute, but had just one more field goal all night, missing her next 11 shots.

``We just made her work to catch the ball, and made her uncomfortable when she caught it,'' said Sun coach Mike Thibault. ``Asjha, I thought, did a terrific job tonight. You know that's a classic battle. You're talking about two of the best power forwards in the league going head-to-head. It was a key matchup.''

Connecticut outrebounded Indiana 30-25 and had 15 second-chance points, overcoming a strong start from Indiana.

Douglas had 10 first-quarter points and the Fever closed that quarter on a 9-0 run to take a 22-14 lead.

Charles began to assert herself on defense in the second. She had all four of her blocked shots as the Sun limited the Fever to just eight points, and held Douglas scoreless.

The Sun won the season series 3-1 but only one of those games took place after the Olympic break - and Connecticut needed overtime to win that one.

In addition to playing lock-down defense, Jones had 11 points. She had missed 14 games in the second half of the season with a strained left Achilles' tendon before returning in the final week

``I'm hanging in there,'' she said. ``No letdown in the second half so (the Achilles) has been holding up pretty well.''

Erlana Larkins, who didn't break the starting lineup until two games before the playoffs, had nine points and eight rebounds after averaging just over 14 points and just under 11 rebounds against Atlanta in the first round.

The Fever, who also lost the opener of their series with the Dream, is in their third conference final in four years. Indiana had won four of five coming in after a three-game slide that knocked them out of contention for the East's top overall seed.

The series moves to Indiana on Monday with the third game, if necessary, back in Connecticut on Oct. 11.

``We're going to take away five of those second-chance points,'' said Fever coach Lin Dunn. ``We're going to get four or five more of our shots. We're going to get to the free-throw line two or three more times and we're going to win the second game.''

• Fever: --
• Sun: --

• Fever: Douglas
• Sun: --

• Lead Changes: 9
• Times Tied: 3

• Arena: Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, CT
• Officials: #4 Sue Blauch, #38 Lamont Simpson, #7 Clarke Stevens
• Attendance: 7599
• Duration: 2:00