Insider Preview - Storm vs. Los Angeles (Game 3)

Indeed, the Storm's hard work will pay off Sunday, as the Storm plays host to the winner-take-all Game 3 between the two teams. It's the second straight year and third time in the last four postseasons the Storm and Sparks have needed a full three games to determine a winner.

The Storm found out last September why it is termed "home-court advantage" and not "home-court guarantee." Los Angeles controlled the first three quarters of a 71-64 win at the Key that ended the Storm's season. Road victories are the exception in Game 3, but not as uncommon as you might think. In best-of-three series in WNBA history, the home team is 27-10 (.729) in Game 3s.

Because of the quick turnaround between games, the Storm had little choice but to move forward instead of dwelling on the wild finish to Game 2, which saw the Storm get a steal and a Camille Little layup in the final 10.7 seconds left to come from behind and win.

"I believe Coach (Brian) Agler's exact words were, 'OK, you can enjoy this for about an hour,'" forward Swin Cash told reporters after the game. "We understand it's unfinished business. We're focusing on Sunday."

The interesting aspect of the Storm's miraculous comeback is that, despite coming in off a win, the Storm still feels it can play much stronger basketball than it did in its first home game of the series. The Storm trailed much of the first half, breaking down defensively in the second quarter, and needed a furious third-quarter rally to get back into the game.

"I think we can play better," Agler said afterward. "I know we can play better."

In particular, that relates to a pair of areas. The first is the turnovers that have, in spurts, plagued the Storm in this series. Seattle committed nine in the first half before having just seven turnovers after halftime. The other major problem area has been the defensive glass. That's no real surprise, as L.A.'s frontcourt towers over virtually any WNBA opponent. Still, the magnitude of the Sparks advantage in second chances has been dramatic. Los Angeles grabbed 12 offensive rebounds in the second half to just nine defensive boards for the Storm. Lisa Leslie finished the game with more offensive boards (eight) than the Storm had as a team (seven).

So how has the Storm been able to stay in both games? The first reason has been the way the team has defended L.A.'s first shots. The Sparks have hit 39.8 percent from the field despite going 11-of-15 (73.3 percent) in the second quarter of Game 2. Take away that period and L.A. is barely hitting 35 percent of its shots. That's a testament to the Storm's help defense. Double-teams on post players and the rotations behind them have also been strong, which helps explain why the Storm forced 19 turnovers in Game 2.

Beyond that, the Storm has gotten strong efforts on offense in both games from Cash and Suzy Batkovic-Brown. Cash appears spry after missing the last two games of the regular season to return home after her grandmother's funeral. She leads all scorers with 42 points in the two games and has been able to get into the paint against bigger L.A. defenders.

Batkovic-Brown has given the Storm a tremendous lift off the bench after playing sparingly most of the regular season and struggling to get into a rhythm. Batkovic-Brown's success in Europe, with the Australian National Team and during her other WNBA season with the Storm in 2005 indicated it was only a matter of time before she found a comfort zone, and that has happened in this series. Batkovic-Brown has 30 points in two games, making the Sparks pay for not respecting her ability to shoot the ball from beyond the arc.

The performance has been timely with starting center Janell Burse struggling with foul trouble in both games. Burse suffered a bruised hip in a hard collision late in the first half of Game 2 and did not play thereafter, though she would have been able to play. Jayda Evans of the Seattle Times reported that Burse went through practice Saturday.

"It jolted her pretty good," Agler said of the contact. "We just went with Suzy. Suzy played well - she hit a big shot for us and Ashley (Robinson) came in and gave us some good minutes."

Both coaching staffs will make some tweaks to their gameplan entering Game 3. The intensity will also be turned up, especially for a Sparks squad that knew it had two chances to win one game in Seattle to take the series. That's why Cooper was willing to make one guarantee that fans on both sides can get behind.

"There’s a third game to be played on Sunday," he said, "and I guarantee it’s going to be just as exciting as this one."

KEY MATCHUP
	Storm fans got a little déjà vu during Game 2 - the sight of Betty Lennox making big shots in a playoff game at KeyArena. The 2004 WNBA Finals MVP and Storm All-Decade Team selection led the Sparks with 17 points in just 21 minutes of action, shooting 7-of-12 from the field. L.A.'s worst quarter of basketball, the third period, came with Lennox watching from the bench. She was on the court for the heavy bulk of the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, former understudy Tanisha Wright delivered a virtuoso, complete performance. Wright scored 15 points, handed out a career-high nine assists and grabbed six rebounds.

Storm - Forward Katie Gearlds (torn left posterior cruciate ligament) is doubtful. Center Lauren Jackson (stress fractures, lower back) is out.

Los Angeles - None.