Silver Stars - Lynx Preview
By Associated Press
The Minnesota Lynx worked hard during the regular season to assure themselves of home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. They'll find out how valuable that is in a deciding Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals Tuesday night against the San Antonio Silver Stars.
The Lynx finished the regular season with the league's best record and easily cruised to the Western Conference title, finishing six games ahead of second-place Seattle.
But Minnesota - trying to win its first postseason series in franchise history - is in danger of bowing out in the first round after San Antonio evened the best-of-three series with an 84-75 win Sunday.
"San Antonio succeeded in putting the pressure back on us," coach Cheryl Reeve said. "We fought all season to have home-court advantage. Win the home games, and you're the WNBA champion."
The Lynx have struggled offensively in the series. After averaging 81.5 points during the regular season, they've been held below that mark while shooting under 40 percent from the field in both postseason games.
Minnesota needs more from WNBA rookie of the year Maya Moore, who has struggled to find her rhythm in this series. She's averaged 13.0 points in the two games - just off her season average of 13.2 - but is shooting 38.5 percent (10 for 26), well off her regular season mark of 43.9 percent.
After a disappointing loss, she and the Lynx will try to bounce back at home, where they have won 11 of 12 and are 15-3 overall.
The Silver Stars, however, feel like momentum may be in their favor.
San Antonio, which had lost seven in a row to Minnesota before Sunday's win, gained confidence in the 66-65 road defeat that opened this series.
"That game taught us we could beat this team, we could compete with them," said Jia Perkins, who scored 24 points Sunday.
Perkins scored 10 points in Game 1, but was sharp Sunday, making 4 of 6 3-pointers while shooting 9 of 18 overall. She also had four steals as San Antonio forced 17 turnovers.
"I think just getting in a rhythm before the game, getting some shots up, really helped me," Perkins said. "I knew in the game, I was going to have some open looks. I knew last game I had open looks, but I wasn't able to hit them down. Coming in, I had my mindset right, and I just wanted to knock them down for the team."
The Silver Stars, who have won four of five overall, are looking to advance out of the first round for the first time since reaching the WNBA finals in 2008. They lost in the semifinals each of the last two years.
The Silver Stars have lost four straight road games in the series, but two of the three losses this season have been by a combined three points.
SAN ANTONIO (19 - 17) at MINNESOTA (28 - 8)
Top Trends for this game.
SAN ANTONIO is 21-37 ATS (-19.7 Units) as a road underdog of 6.5 to 9 points since 1997.
SAN ANTONIO is 4-13 ATS (-10.3 Units) off an upset win as an underdog over the last 3 seasons.
MINNESOTA is 21-11 ATS (+8.9 Units) after allowing 75 points or more over the last 2 seasons.
MINNESOTA is 29-18 ATS (+9.2 Units) after scoring 75 points or more over the last 2 seasons.
SAN ANTONIO is 10-3 ATS (+6.7 Units) versus good offensive teams - scoring 77+ points/game after 15+ games this season.
SAN ANTONIO is 14-6 ATS (+7.4 Units) versus good offensive teams - scoring 77+ points/game this season.
Head-to-Head Series History
SAN ANTONIO is 8-7 against the spread versus MINNESOTA over the last 3 seasons
MINNESOTA is 9-6 straight up against SAN ANTONIO over the last 3 seasons
8 of 15 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons
SAN ANTONIO vs. MINNESOTA
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of San Antonio's last 6 games when playing Minnesota
San Antonio is 1-7 SU in its last 8 games when playing Minnesota
Minnesota is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games when playing San Antonio
Minnesota is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games when playing San Antonio