Fever - Liberty Preview
By Associated Press
The Indiana Fever literally limped through the final weeks of the regular season as they struggled to stay healthy.
They certainly looked plenty-rested in their playoff opener.
Late-game heroics from Erin Phillips have the Fever one win away from advancing to the Eastern Conference finals as they try to wrap up the best-of-three series against the New York Liberty on Saturday.
Phillips hit the go-ahead shot with 1.5 seconds left to help Indiana defeat New York 74-72 on Thursday after the team squandered a 15-point lead in the second half.
Phillips missed the Fever's final two regular-season games - both losses - with a sprained ankle.
"I really didn't think too much of it or put myself under pressure," said Phillips, who finished with six points and took only six shots.
She wasn't the only starter that was bothered by an injury late. Tamika Catchings has struggled with a sore knee the last few weeks and sat out the regular-season finale.
Despite missing several days of practice leading up to Thursday, she finished with 15 points, six rebounds and three steals while playing 37 minutes.
"We're just excited the rest got some of the soreness out," coach Lin Dunn said.
Catchings shot 6 of 12 in the victory. She was 2 of 8 for nine points in her last regular-season game, an 83-75 loss at New York last Friday.
The Fever, who lost in three games to the Liberty in the first round of last year's playoffs, have split two games at the Prudential Center this year.
"We didn't expect that just because we're playing at home that we're going to win, even if we did have a 15-point lead," said Katie Douglas, who had 25 points and six boards. "We have to be ready for the same type of atmosphere going to New York."
Douglas has averaged 23.3 points her last four games.
Indiana's defense on Cappie Pondexter may have been just as critical as having a healthy Catchings. Pondexter finished with 18 points, but was limited to four in the last quarter and committed two turnovers in the final three minutes. She missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer with Phillips guarding her.
Pondexter is shooting 25.7 percent in the last five games, although she made 6 of 15 Thursday, which is on par with her 40.2-percent shooting this season.
She said she'll be better Saturday.
"Conseco is one of the toughest places to play,'' Pondexter said. ''That we had the opportunity to win speaks volumes. I'm going to lead these guys to victory. I want to come back here."
A win by New York would force a decisive Game 3 in Indiana on Monday night.
Storm - Mercury Preview
By Associated Press
The Seattle Storm swept the Phoenix Mercury during the 2010 Western Conference finals en route to winning the second WNBA title in franchise history.
After quieting the league's leading scorer in Game 1 of this year's conference semifinals, the Storm are on the verge of ousting the Mercury from the playoffs for the second consecutive season Saturday night in Phoenix.
Second-seeded Seattle (21-13) entered this best-of-three series having won 10 of 11 against the Mercury (19-15), including playoffs. The Storm continued that dominance in Game 1 on Thursday with an impressive 80-61 victory, their fifth in a row including the regular season.
Tanisha Wright led Seattle with 21 points while Camille Little had 17 along with 11 rebounds. Lauren Jackson added 13 points, six boards and three blocks.
No Phoenix player scored more than 13. Diana Taurasi was held to 11 points, barely more than half her WNBA-leading 21.6 average.
Taurasi, who scored a season-high 36 during last Friday's 85-70 loss at Seattle, made just 3 of 11 shots - including 1 of 5 from 3-point range.
"Obviously, I didn't play as well as I wanted to," she said. "But I'm more worried about our team. You get 36 and you lose and it doesn't matter. You get 11 you lose, so it doesn't really matter how many points you score until we can find a way to beat this team. We'll see if we can find that answer."
Getting back home could be just what the Mercury need to avoid elimination. Third-seeded Phoenix, averaging a league-best 88.9 points, won six of its last eight regular-season games at US Airways Center.
"We get to go back to Phoenix for Game 2 and take care of our home court," Taurasi said. "That's all there is to really say. They played really well (Thursday). We expected that. So now we have to find a way to regroup, take the things we did well and do a little bit more of that on Saturday."
The Storm went 15-2 at home - tied for the best mark in the league - but dropped 11 of 17 on the road, including an 81-79 defeat in their last visit to Phoenix on Aug. 16.
While Seattle coach Brian Agler was pleased with his team's effort Thursday, his focus immediately turned to Game 2 following the one-sided result.
"Wipe the slate clean. We've already talked about that," Agler said. "We played well (Thursday) and had a lot of people that did a lot of good things, but that's one game. It's a series. We're in it to win the series.
"We're not thinking about anything else right now but Saturday."
INDIANA (22 - 13) at NEW YORK (19 - 16)
Top Trends for this game.
INDIANA is 75-111 ATS (-47.1 Units) as an underdog since 1997.
INDIANA is 26-45 ATS (-23.5 Units) as a road underdog of 3.5 to 6 points since 1997.
INDIANA is 51-75 ATS (-31.5 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record after 15+ games since 1997.
Head-to-Head Series History
INDIANA is 8-7 against the spread versus NEW YORK over the last 3 seasons
INDIANA is 9-6 straight up against NEW YORK over the last 3 seasons
10 of 15 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons
SEATTLE (22 - 13) at PHOENIX (19 - 16)
Top Trends for this game.
PHOENIX is 30-17 ATS (+11.3 Units) revenging a loss versus opponent over the last 3 seasons.
SEATTLE is 31-15 ATS (+14.5 Units) vs. division opponents over the last 2 seasons.
SEATTLE is 31-19 ATS (+10.1 Units) versus poor defensive teams - allowing 77+ points/game over the last 2 seasons.
PHOENIX is 7-15 ATS (-9.5 Units) vs. division opponents this season.
PHOENIX is 10-19 ATS (-10.9 Units) in home games after a division game over the last 2 seasons.
PHOENIX is 2-8 ATS (-6.8 Units) in home games when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
PHOENIX is 3-10 ATS (-8.0 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record after 15+ games this season.
Head-to-Head Series History
SEATTLE is 11-4 against the spread versus PHOENIX over the last 3 seasons
SEATTLE is 12-4 straight up against PHOENIX over the last 3 seasons
8 of 15 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons
INDIANA vs. NEW YORK
Indiana is 2-4-1 ATS in its last 7 games on the road
Indiana is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 5 of New York's last 6 games when playing Indiana
New York is 7-15 SU in its last 22 games when playing Indiana
SEATTLE vs. PHOENIX
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Seattle's last 5 games when playing Phoenix
Seattle is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Phoenix
Phoenix is 1-11 SU in its last 12 games when playing Seattle
Phoenix is 0-4-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Seattle