Fever-Lynx Preview

By DAVE CAMPBELL
Posted Oct 16 2012 6:56PM

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Midway through the fourth quarter of Game 1 of the WNBA Finals, Minnesota power forward Rebekkah Brunson rose in the lane toward the basket with her team trying to mount a rally.

Indiana center Erlana Larkins delivered the emphatic rejection.

Brunson was knocked to the floor as her shot was swatted, and Minnesota's chance to win the series opener essentially fell down with her. The Lynx were trailing 65-62 with about five minutes left, but they never came closer. The Fever quickly tacked on a layup on the other end and cruised to a 76-70 victory on Sunday night.

``It was what I call a thunder block,'' Fever coach Lin Dunn said. ``She is rising up and she just slides that ball, and it just kind of set the tone: `Hey, we're here for real, and we are ready to play.'''

The Lynx, looking to become the league's first repeat champion in 10 years, are at full attention.

``We want to make sure that we're not a team that gets out-hungered. That is really important,'' Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said, adding: ``We've got a lot to overcome, and we'll see if we're able to.''

Game 2 is Wednesday night at Target Center, before the best-of-five series shifts to Indiana for Game 3 on Friday night.

``We've got a lot of competitors on our team that really hate to lose, so I guess in Game 2 you'll see the difference,'' Lynx shooting guard Seimone Augustus said. ``You'll see us come out and be a little bit more aggressive from start to finish. We're going to play and give it all that we have.''

The Fever spent Monday getting massages at a spa before reconvening for practice on Tuesday. The two-day layoff between games probably wasn't enough for veteran shooting guard Katie Douglas, though. After spraining her left ankle in the last game of the Eastern Conference finals, Douglas was missing from Game 1. Dunn said she's improving but unlikely to play Wednesday.

``Hopeful for Friday,'' Dunn said.

So the Fever will continue to lean on their tallest ladies, with Larkins and Tamika Catchings inside. They combined for 36 points, 21 rebounds and five blocks in Game 1 and held Lynx post players Brunson and Taj McWilliams-Franklin to a total of 16 points and 14 rebounds.

``We had a great week of practice. We went over everything we could have possibly gone over, but they came out and they were ready to win,'' Brunson said. ``They played great.''

Catchings is still chasing her first WNBA championship at age 33. Larkins was out of the league the last two years before joining the Fever this season. No matter the perspective or the experience, the motivation is the same.

``When you've never won a title you approach it a little bit different than trying to defend a title,'' Dunn said. ``We've got players that had a taste of the finals in 2009, and they know what it was like and how close they came. It was almost like they had their hands on the trophy and it got snatched away.''

The Fever lost to the Phoenix Mercury in five games in 2009. So they're not comfortable by simply taking the home-court advantage.

``We know that they're going to come out Wednesday, and they're going to be a much different team and much better,'' Catchings said. ``And for us, we have to continue to get better too.''

Added point guard Erin Phillips: ``They're going to come in so hungry, so aggressive. They're the defending champions, and they're here for the second time for a reason. They're a great team. ... We can't just sit around and be satisfied that we won Game 1 and give ourselves a pat on the back, and that's it. It's going to be a much harder game.''

The Lynx pride themselves on their bounce-back ability, so they're expecting the same: a more aggressive performance.

``I'm hoping we won't lose two in a row,'' Augustus said. ``We've been good at that point, bouncing back in tough-game situations, and this is the perfect example, the perfect time for us to be able to bounce back and go to Indiana and steal one on the road or steal two on the road and pull this championship out.''

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Augustus, Lynx shake Fever 83-71, tie WNBA Finals

By DAVE CAMPBELL
Posted Oct 18 2012 12:28AM

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) These WNBA Finals are not for the feeble. Seimone Augustus and the Minnesota Lynx toughened up after a rare loss and a soft performance at home in the opener by wearing down the Indiana Fever.

Augustus scored 23 of her 27 points in the second half to help the Lynx surge past the Fever 83-71 on Wednesday night to even the best-of-five series at one game apiece.

``We're going all out. We don't want to look back on this situation and regret anything,'' Augustus said.

Maya Moore pitched in 23 points and the defending champion Lynx forced the Fever into 24 turnovers, 15 after halftime. Tamika Catchings led the way as usual with 27 points and eight rebounds, but the Fever's defense faded after a dominant start that forced the Lynx to miss 11 of their first 14 shots.

They let the Lynx score 29 points in the third quarter and bring an already-loud crowd into the game even more. Catchings offered an alternate theory, though.

``Seimone Augustus went against us. That's what happened,'' she said.

The series now moves to Indiana. Game 3 is on Friday, and Catchings predicted an even more physical match.

``It was pretty rough out there, and we're going to have to adapt to that,'' said Fever coach Lin Dunn, who called this the most physical game she's seen in 42 years. ``We'll go home and we'll be ready.''

The Fever played without shooting guard Katie Douglas for the second straight game, the sprained left ankle she suffered at the end of the Eastern Conference finals still not ready for action. Then in the second quarter of this one, backup Jeanette Pohlen hurt her left knee and was taken to the locker room for further examination. She didn't return, and the lack of depth hurt the Fever down the stretch.

Lynx reserve guard Monica Wright had five steals, and coach Cheryl Reeve said she changed the game with her defensive intensity. Inside, Rebekkah Brunson and Taj McWilliams-Franklin limited Erlana Larkins to three points on 1-for-6 shooting. She had 16 points and 15 rebounds in the opener. Dunn said she was disappointed in the effort.

``We just have to go back to Indy and regroup,'' Larkins said.

The Lynx held a 24-3 edge in second-chance points and 17-2 advantage in offensive rebounds.

But Augustus, named to the All-WNBA first team earlier in the day for the first time in her well-decorated career, was the primary difference maker. She swished a 3-pointer with about 6 minutes left to give the Lynx a 71-57 lead, their biggest to that point after the sluggish beginning. Augustus, who missed six of her eight shots in the first half, flashed a big smile toward her teammates as they retreated on defense.

``She has to have MVP-like performances in order for us to have a chance to be successful, and we saw that tonight,'' Reeve said.

Even Reeve showed some muscle in this one.

After Lindsay Whalen tied the game at 48 with a reverse layup, Moore picked up her third foul on the other end. Whalen's layup was blocked by Briann January when the Lynx got the ball back, and Reeve's game-long lobbying boiled over.

Screaming for a whistle after her miss, Whalen was slapped with a technical foul by official Michael Price, who quickly tacked one on for Reeve. Then the coach really lost it, tearing her suit coat off and trying to escape assistant coach Jim Petersen's long arms as he held her back from further confronting the refs.

``We've got a lot of league people here. It's the WNBA Finals. So we have to be really, really careful in the things that we say. Clearly, I wasn't happy in that moment. I'm not happy about how the game was officiated, period, but that's all I'm going to say about it,'' Reeve said.

Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, decked out in a black and green Lynx jacket, agreed with Reeve from across the court, dismissively waving his hand in disgust at the officiating crew.

Catchings made both free throws to give the Fever a two-point lead, but the Lynx were fired up after that. Rebekkah Brunson soared for a rebound she tipped to Moore to retain possession. Moore pump faked then dribbled in for a layup that drew a foul and swished the free throw for a 57-55 lead. Augustus added a 3-pointer near the end of the period for good measure.

``I thought as a team we didn't step up to the plate when we needed to when we should've rallied and come closer together. It's like we came apart a little bit, and we can't afford to do that, not with the defending champ,'' Catchings said.

Whalen had the look in her eyes that she wasn't going to let this one slip away, making a pull-up jumper early in the fourth quarter to stretch the lead to six and following that with a 3-pointer to put the Lynx up 66-57 with 7:21 left.

``It's the finals, so everyone is going at it aggressively,'' Whalen said. ``It's a lot of fun.''

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• Fever: --
• Lynx: --

• Fever: Dunn
• Lynx: Reeve, Whalen

• Lead Changes: 9
• Times Tied: 7

• Arena: Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
• Officials: #39 Michael Price, #42 Roy Gulbeyan, #43 Brenda Pantoja
• Attendance: 13478
• Duration: 2:02