Insider Preview - Storm vs. Minnesota

Lauren Jackson

"I'm fine. Honestly, I'm fine," said Jackson. "It was a bit of a scare, and that's it. I had to make sure everything was on track so I could move forward, and that's pretty much what happened."

Asked whether she would start, Jackson was insistent, saying, "Heck yeah. I better."

"We'll still watch her," said Storm Head Coach Anne Donovan, "and if she goes backwards at all, we would change that, but she looks good."

Without Jackson, the Storm hung tight at Sacramento in a resilient performance that encouraged the team despite the fact that the Monarchs ultimately won 81-72.

"The biggest difference between last night's loss and the two against San Antonio was the way we played," explained guard Sue Bird. "You could tell we weren't going to give up, you could tell we were playing hard. We executed a lot of what our game plan was, which is something we didn't do against San Antonio at all."

"I think we feel really good about how we competed last night," added Donovan. "I think the chemistry, the togetherness in adversity is something where we didn't pass that test in San Antonio. We passed it in Sacramento. We didn't come out on the winning end of that, but we passed it."

The Storm got 21 points from Bird in her best offensive performance of the season, including 5-of-8 three-point shooting. Bird played through swelling in her left knee that caused her to miss a practice earlier in the week.

"There's still swelling," Bird said, "but I'm starting to find the more I warm up before practice, before games, the better I feel. Yesterday before the game, we did a lot of ultrasound and heat and a lot of warm-ups and it really helped. I felt better in the game than I have any time in practice the last couple of days, so I'll kind of stick to that plan."

Minnesota comes to Seattle for the second half of a back-to-back after losing Friday night at Los Angeles, 90-87. The Lynx got in the win column Tuesday at Phoenix, earning their first victory after starting the season 0-7.

"I'm glad that they got that win out of the way," said Bird, wary of playing a team due for a win. Before the victory over the Mercury, Phoenix's Diana Taurasi called the Lynx "the scariest 0-7 team you'll ever meet."

After going 10-24 in 2006, Minnesota traded Tangela Smith (taken second overall in the Dispersal Draft) to Phoenix in exchange for the top pick in the WNBA Draft, Lindsey Harding. The Lynx also added UCLA wing Noelle Quinn with the fourth pick.

The goal of the newcomers and new Head Coach Don Zierden was to reduce Minnesota's dependence on Rookie of the Year Seimone Augustus, who scored 29.5% of the team's points in 2006 and was the only Lynx player to average in double-figures. Through eight games, Minnesota has two other players scoring double-figures (Harding, 13.1 ppg, and Nicole Ohlde, 13.0). However, they, Augustus (22.5) and forward Kristen Mann (7.0) are the only Lynx players averaging more than four points per game. Minnesota's Offensive Rating of 93.3 still ranked 11th in the WNBA entering Friday's game.

While other Lynx players have been shooting the ball this season, making those shots has been a more challenging proposition. Only Augustus and rookie reserve post Kathrin Ress are shooting better than 36% from the field.

Minnesota found its offense in the Valley of the Sun on Tuesday, shooting 47.3% from the field in the 90-85 win. Four players scored at least 19 points in that game. Augustus' 28 points on remarkable 11-of-12 shooting powered another strong offensive effort against the Sparks, as the Lynx shot 47.9% from the field and 42.9% from three-point range. Four players scored double-figures in the game.

KEY MATCHUP
	It's been more than three years now since the Storm sent the No. 6 pick (used on Ohlde) and Amanda Lassiter to Minnesota in exchange for Sheri Sam and Janell Burse. Sam and Lassiter have long since moved on, leaving the two centers as the centerpieces (pun intended) of the deal. Passing up Ohlde looked like a high price to pay during her rookie season, as Ohlde averaged 11.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. Her development has stalled since then, however. Though Ohlde is averaging 13.0 points this season, she's shooting just 33.3% from the field. Burse, a reserve in 2004, has vaulted past Ohlde to become one of the West's top centers, averaging 10.6 points and 8.0 rebounds and shooting 47.4% from the field this season. Both players had success head to head last season, with Burse averaging 16.0 points on 61.5% shooting.

The Storm traveled to Minnesota Aug. 1 and started slowly, trailing most of the first quarter. The host Lynx led 56-50 in the third before the Storm used a Bird buzzer-beater to complete an 8-0 run and take the lead heading to the fourth. The game remained close and was tied at 72 in the final 20 seconds before Betty Lennox gave the Storm the lead with a 3-pointer. Minnesota missed two attempts to tie and Jackson hit two free throws as the Storm won 77-75. Bird led with 21 points, while Jackson had 20 for the Storm.

INJURIES

Storm - Guard Sue Bird (swelling, left knee) and forward Lauren Jackson (illness) are probable.

Minnesota - Forward Tamika Raymond (mild concussion) is questionable.