Dream - Fever Preview
By Associated Press
The Fever finally solved New York's Cappie Pondexter.
Now, Indiana faces another thorn in its side, Atlanta's Angel McCoughtry.
The Fever reversed their recent history against Pondexter in the Eastern Conference semifinals, holding her to 34 percent shooting and winning the series against New York 2-1.
If Indiana can have similar success against McCoughtry in the Eastern Conference finals, the Fever likely will advance to the WNBA finals for the second time in three years. If not, Atlanta would stand a good chance of reaching the finals for the second straight season.
Fever forward Tamika Catchings said defending McCoughtry will be a team effort, starting in Game 1 of the best-of-three series Thursday at Conseco Fieldhouse.
McCoughtry averaged 23.8 points and shot 49 percent from the field in four games against the Fever this season, all wins for Atlanta.
''I think the best thing for me or for Katie (Douglas) or for whoever's guarding her, it's really just going to be trying to keep her in front of us,'' Catchings said. ''Everybody's going to have to be consistently watching Angel.''
Atlanta coach Marynell Meadors knows that Catchings, a four-time WNBA defensive player of the year, will challenge McCoughtry.
''I think she's going to be a very physical defender, and always is,'' Meadors said. ''We'll have to match her intensity.''
Pondexter gave the Fever ideal preparation for facing McCoughtry. Douglas, among others, bothered Pondexter and kept her from getting comfortable.
''I thought they did a great job on her,'' Meadors said. ''They held her down, and if you hold Cappie down, usually, you're going to beat New York.''
McCoughtry, like Pondexter, was in a shooting slump in her conference semifinal series. She shot 9 for 33 in Atlanta's matchup with Connecticut, but the Dream still swept the Sun 2-0. That has given the third-seeded Dream an extra dose of confidence.
''When you looked at our wins, it was balanced scoring, a balanced attack, and that's extremely hard to defend,'' Atlanta's Lindsey Harding said. ''Definitely, we'd love to take Angel's 35 points, but you can't just look at her points. She does so many other things to help us win.''
Indiana is 15-4 at home including the playoffs, but 0-2 at Conseco Fieldhouse against the Dream. Even with the No. 1 seed in the East, Indiana has embraced the underdog role because of the regular-season results.
''The pressure's not really on us, the pressure's on them because everybody's expecting them to beat us,'' Catchings said. ''It's win or go home time. We really want to play for a championship and really feel like we have a championship caliber team.''
Atlanta considers the regular-season results irrelevant.
''It means nothing,'' Meadors said. ''Absolutely nothing. Right now we're 2-0 in the playoffs and that's the way we're looking at it.
Indiana was competitive with Atlanta during the season, losing the four games by a total of 25 points.
Catchings missed the final game between the teams, but she averaged 21.3 points and 6.0 rebounds in the three she played before resting in the regular-season finale against the Dream.
Douglas averaged 22 points in the series against New York.
''Katie is shooting extremely well,'' Meadors said. ''She's a crafty guard, and she's a tall guard. We'll have to do a really good job of defending her, too. She's deadly with that 3-point shot.''
The Fever turned the ball over a combined 36 times in the final two regular-season games between the teams, leading to 46 Atlanta points. Douglas said the Fever can't afford to have any more mistake-filled games against the Dream.
''We really need to keep them on their heels at all levels, all facets of the game - rebounding, transition,'' Douglas said. ''We need to really take care of the ball and get quality possessions.''
Atlanta has won a road game in its past three Eastern Conference playoff series, so the Dream are comfortable with their task.
''I think last year we were in uncharted territory,'' Meadors said. ''This year, we know what it's all about. Last year we went all the way to the finals and we just know what we have to do to get there. We may or may not be able to do that, but we're going to give it everything we have to get to that same position as last year.''
Mercury - Lynx Preview
By Associated Press
Diana Taurasi and the Phoenix Mercury are in the Western Conference finals for a third straight season. Rookie of the year Maya Moore and the Minnesota Lynx are coming off their first playoff series win.
While their experience levels differ, both clubs are confident heading into Game 1 of the best-of-three series on Thursday night in Minnesota.
The Lynx advanced to their first conference finals after eliminating San Antonio in three games in the opening round this week.
After dropping Game 2, the league's No. 1 overall seed defeated the Silver Stars 85-67 on Tuesday to wrap up the series. Seimone Augustus scored 22 points while Moore added 14 and six rebounds.
"I'm extremely happy that we were tested in the first round because you want to have an attitude of urgency throughout the playoffs," said Taj McWilliams-Franklin, who scored 16 points. "I think this put us back on our heels, the first two games, and now we can be prepared for the level that each team is going to play with against us."
Augustus heads into the conference finals on a tear. She averaged 21.7 points in the first round, up from the 16.2 per game she scored during the regular season.
"She's been an absolute stud," coach Cheryl Reeve said. "She has this look about her that just makes me feel so good knowing that she's on my side.
Despite the Lynx's confidence in Augustus, they will need more weapons to compete with Taurasi, the league's leading scorer at 21.6 points per game.
Moore averaged 13.3 points in the series, but she shot 38.5 percent in the first two games. She was closer to her regular-season average (43.9) on Tuesday, going 5 for 12.
The bigger concern may be defending Taurasi, who averaged 23.2 points during the season series against Minnesota and leads a veteran squad into her third straight conference finals and fourth in five years.
The Mercury were swept by Seattle last year after winning the WNBA title in 2009.
However, Taurasi is coming off an uneven series against the Storm during which she averaged 18.7 points on 36 percent shooting. In Game 3's 77-75 win Monday, she had 19 points before fouling out with 6:38 to go.
However, Candice Dupree came up big again. After scoring 29 points in Game 2, she finished with 20 on Monday, including a putback with 1.9 seconds left to complete a comeback from an 18-point deficit in the first half.
"I'm extremely proud to be a part of it," Dupree said. "We've got to keep pushing from here."
While the Mercury have been here before, there may be concerns about fatigue. Phoenix averaged a league-best 89.0 points during the regular season, but was held to 76.7 points in the playoff series.
"We'll enjoy this tonight," coach Corey Gaines said. "After that, back to work."
Minnesota won three of five regular-season meetings against Phoenix, splitting two games in Minneapolis. It was a high-scoring series, with the Lynx averaging 95.4 points and the Mercury 91.6.
ATLANTA (22 - 14) at INDIANA (23 - 14)
Top Trends for this game.
INDIANA is 33-20 ATS (+11.0 Units) as a favorite over the last 2 seasons.
INDIANA is 13-6 ATS (+6.4 Units) in home games this season.
INDIANA is 8-1 ATS (+6.9 Units) in home games on Thursday over the last 3 seasons.
ATLANTA is 33-18 ATS (+13.2 Units) as an underdog over the last 3 seasons.
ATLANTA is 12-4 ATS (+7.6 Units) in road games in August or September games over the last 2 seasons.
INDIANA is 52-76 ATS (-31.6 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record after 15+ games since 1997.
Head-to-Head Series History
ATLANTA is 10-2 against the spread versus INDIANA over the last 3 seasons
ATLANTA is 7-5 straight up against INDIANA over the last 3 seasons
10 of 12 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons
PHOENIX (21 - 16) at MINNESOTA (29 - 8)
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.
Head-to-Head Series History
PHOENIX is 7-6 against the spread versus MINNESOTA over the last 3 seasons
PHOENIX is 7-6 straight up against MINNESOTA over the last 3 seasons
9 of 13 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons
ATLANTA vs. INDIANA
Atlanta is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing Indiana
Atlanta is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Indiana's last 7 games
Indiana is 14-3 SU in its last 17 games at home
PHOENIX vs. MINNESOTA
Phoenix is 3-6 SU in its last 9 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 16 of Phoenix's last 20 games when playing Minnesota
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Minnesota's last 5 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Minnesota's last 10 games when playing at home against Phoenix