Lynx-Fever Preview

By CLIFF BRUNT
Posted Oct 20 2012 5:56PM

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Tamika Catchings hasn't forgotten how close she came to clearing the biggest hurdle of her basketball career.

Catchings is a seven-time All-Star, five time defensive player of the year and the 2011 WNBA MVP. She also has won three Olympic gold medals, but is still seeking her first league championship.

That almost changed in 2009. The Fever led Phoenix 2-1 in the best-of-five WNBA Finals and hosted Game 4 at home. The city was fired up and ready to celebrate, but the Mercury beat the Fever 90-77, took the series back to Phoenix and won the title at home in Game 5.

Indiana is again on the cusp of the championship after beating Minnesota 76-59 in Game 3 of the finals on Friday to take a 2-1 lead. Once again, the Fever can clinch at home. This time, Catchings will take a different approach.

``Don't let your highs get you too high and let your lows get you too low,'' she said Saturday. ``I felt like we celebrated too much after Game 3 in 2009 and we came out in Game 4 and had an opportunity and we let it slip away.''

The Fever are in position to win the title, in part, because of Shavonte Zellous' career-high 30 points on Friday. Indiana led 70-33 late in the third quarter, the largest lead ever for a team in a finals game.

Catchings expects a tougher contest on Sunday.

``I think that, for us, it's going to be a 40-minute game,'' she said. ``We're going to have to come out and play Fever basketball for 40 minutes. We talked about that as a team, just not getting content with where we're at. We're 40 minutes away, so we have to come out and stay focused and stay ready.''

A win by the defending champion Lynx - vying to become the first team to win consecutive titles since Los Angeles in 2001 and '02 - would send the series back to Minneapolis for a decisive Game 5 on Wednesday night.

Minnesota was embarrassed by its play in Game 3, but is focused on the fact that they can still win the title.

``We are disappointed with yesterday,'' Minnesota forward Rebekkah Brunson said. ``That is done and over with. We can't do anything about that. We have to be optimistic about tomorrow and being able to do what we have to do. We haven't lost any confidence we still know what we are capable of doing. So we are just going to step on the court tomorrow and prove it.''

Catchings knows how talented the Lynx are - she played with Seimone Augustus, Maya Moore and Lindsay Whalen on the U.S. Olympic team at the London Games during the summer. Anything less than absolute focus could extend the series.

``We've talked about defense, we've talked about offense, making a few changes, but really I think the biggest thing is just intensity,'' Catchings said.

Fever center Erlana Larkins has had 15 rebounds in each of Indiana's wins in the series. Larkins said team rebounding will play a role in whether the Fever can end the series on Sunday.

``We have to come out and continue to be in attack mode,'' she said. ``We have to rebound most importantly and then, secondly, continue to take care of the ball.''

Minnesota took the intensity to the Fever in Game 2, but Indiana was more assertive in Game 3. Whalen said that needs to change in Game 4.

``We need to be coming out with a little more aggressive mindset and mentality,'' she said. ``You wish you weren't saying that in the finals, that you have to get up there and be more intense and be more on the ball, but we need to have that. Good thing for us because we have another game tomorrow night to come out here and do better.''

Minnesota outscored the Fever 21-6 in the fourth quarter on Friday. Minnesota hopes to draw from the strong finish, even though the game was clearly decided at that point.

``What we do want to bottle up is the energy and intensity that the second group, the bench players, came in and played with,'' Augustus said.

Indiana will be without reserve guard Jeanette Pohlen for the rest of the series. The Fever announced that she tore the ACL in her left knee during Game 2 in Minneapolis. Fever guard Katie Douglas has missed the whole series with a sprained left ankle.

Minnesota didn't seem concerned about either situation.

``Them being down two players has nothing to do with anything,'' Brunson said. ``They have been playing well without them. So it's not like this is something new that just happened for tomorrow night. They have been playing extremely well with the team that they have and they are going to play that way tomorrow.''

Catchings and Fever beat Lynx for first WNBA title

By CLIFF BRUNT
Posted Oct 22 2012 9:24AM

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) The Indiana Fever made it their mission to get Tamika Catchings a WNBA championship.

Catchings had won three Olympic gold medals and an NCAA championship at Tennessee in 1998, but never one in the WNBA. She scored 25 points to help the Indiana Fever win their first WNBA title with an 87-78 victory over the Minnesota Lynx on Sunday night.

While Catchings was impressive, Erin Phillips and Erlana Larkins played the best basketball of their careers in the Finals to help their leader complete the circle.

``Everybody talks about the missing piece in Tamika Catchings' career, and our players took that personally,'' Indiana coach Lin Dunn said. ``I really believe that was an incentive.''

Even Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve, public enemy No. 1 in Indiana for her outbursts and interactions with the fans, felt Catchings deserved to win a title.

``There's not anybody that cannot be happy for Tamika Catchings to finally get a championship,'' Reeve said. ``We were trying to keep her from getting it, but it didn't happen, and now that she's got it, she's easy to be happy.''

Catchings, who was the MVP of the Finals, averaged 22.3 points in the series, which the Fever won 3-1 over the defending WNBA champions.

She had been in a position to clinch at home before. The Fever led Phoenix 2-1 in the best-of-five WNBA Finals in 2009, but the Mercury beat the Fever 90-77, took the series back to Phoenix and won the title at home in Game 5.

This time, Catchings took it home with Pat Summitt, her coach at Tennessee, looking on in the crowd. The two shared a long hug after the victory. She shed a lot of tears in the postgame celebration.

``When you come into this league, your goal and dream is to win a WNBA championship,'' said Catchings. ``Twelve years later . it's so sweet right now.''

Phillips had 18 points and eight rebounds, while Shavonte Zellous and Briann January each had 15 points.

The Fever won even though No. 2 scorer Katie Douglas missed most of the series with a severely sprained left ankle. Douglas checked in for the first time in the series with 3.2 seconds left in Game 4 to a loud ovation.

Minnesota was trying to become the first team to repeat since Los Angeles in 2001 and 2002.

``It was hard being the hunted, as we all know,'' Reeve said. ``There's a reason this hasn't been done in over 10 years. I really felt like if there was a team that could do it, it was our team.''

Indiana held Minnesota below 40 percent shooting in all three wins.

``They played good defense,'' Minnesota guard Lindsay Whalen said. ``They contested shots and they made it tough for us to get in the lane a little bit. I think that was the theme of the whole series. They were just tough, and give them credit for the way they played.''

Indiana led 63-58 at the end of the third quarter. Minnesota cut Indiana's lead to 70-67 on a jumper by Maya Moore, but Phillips scored on a drive past Moore, got a defensive rebound, then found Zellous for a 3-pointer from the left corner to give the Fever a 75-67 lead with 4:58 remaining.

Indiana led by at least five points the rest of the way. A 3-pointer by January gave Indiana an 80-72 lead with 1:18 to play. Reeve was called for a technical with 57.6 seconds remaining, Catchings made the free throw and the Fever took an 81-74 lead. Zellous made two more free throws with 27.2 seconds to play, and Fever fans began celebrating.

Seimone Augustus, Minnesota's leading scorer in the playoffs, was held to eight points on 3-for-21 shooting. She shot 6-for-30 in the final two games of the series after the Fever switched January over to guard her.

Catchings said January, who was on the WNBA first-team all-defense squad, did her job.

``I think she set the tone,'' Catchings said. ``All (Augustus') baskets were hard. She used up all her energy in the first quarter.''

Whalen scored 22 points and Moore added 16 points for the Lynx, who were vying to become the first team to win consecutive titles since Los Angeles in 2001 and 2002.

Moore picked up her third foul with 6:13 left in the second quarter. Reeve, who was fined for her jacket-tossing tantrum in Game 2, became animated again while disagreeing with the call. As the crowd erupted, Reeve waved hello and made the motion for a technical foul.

This time, Reeve's antics didn't help much as in Game 2, when her team pulled away from a tight contest for a convincing win. Minnesota tied the game three times in the second quarter, but the Fever closed with a 7-2 run, including a 3-pointer by Phillips, to take a 47-42 lead at halftime. Whalen scored 14 points in the first half to keep the Lynx in the game, often scoring on uncontested drives. Minnesota hung tough, despite Augustus shooting 2 for 13 in the first half.

It was right there for the Fever.

``Coming into halftime, we said we have 20 minutes and we're not trying to go back to Minnesota to close this thing out,'' Zellous said.

Indiana started the second half on a 9-4 run, including two buckets by Catchings, to take a 56-46 lead.

Minnesota came right back. A driving layup by Moore cut Indiana's lead to 56-54 and forced the Fever to call timeout.

Minnesota tied the game on another drive by Moore, but the Fever responded with a 3-pointer by Catchings and a basket by Jessica Davenport to push the lead back to five by the end of the quarter.

Indiana then closed the deal at home in front of a sellout crowd.

``They made some huge runs at us and gave it everything at us, and I'm just relieved more than anything because we deserve this,'' Phillips said. ``We've been through so much as a team, we've lost in crucial times and we've stuck together. I'm just so proud right now.''

• Lynx: --
• Fever: --

• Lynx: Reeve
• Fever: Phillips

• Lead Changes: 3
• Times Tied: 5

• Arena: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
• Officials: #4 Sue Blauch, #39 Michael Price, #42 Roy Gulbeyan
• Attendance: 15213
• Duration: 2:13