Minnesota Lynx and Indiana Fever draw first blood – WNBA Conference Finals Game-1 Review
On Thursday, 22 September, game-1 of the three game conference finals series took place in both the conferences. Here is a roundup of these games.
Indiana Fever 82 – Atlanta Dream 74 : Eastern Conference
At Conseco Fieldhouse, Tamika Catchings recorded a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds as Indiana Fever cruised past Atlanta Dream 82-74 in the Game-1 of the Eastern Conference finals. Catchings, who was announced as the league's most valuable player (MVP) earlier Thursday, also stole the ball twice and pinned 8 of 10 free throws.
However the star of the night was Tangela Smith. The 6 ft 3 in centre forward, who did not score more than 16 points in any regular-season game this season, played one of the best games of her career, and ended with a game-high 25 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots against the Defending Conference Champions. Her assault was particularly severe from the long range as she finished the night with a 5 for 7 shooting from downtown.
Katie Douglas and Shavonte Zellous posted 11 points each while Tammy Sutton-Brown had 10 points and eight rebounds for Fever.
Atlanta were led by Lindsey Harding, who scored 17 points, seven assists, six rebounds and two steals. Sancho Lyttle contributed 14 points and seven rebounds while Armintie Price punctuated 13 points in the loss. Angel McCoughtry has another off night and finished with only 11 points, about 10.5 points below her playoff average.
Smith pounded 12 points in the first half, but the game remained close and the team went into the break with Fever ahead by 42-40. In the third quarter, Dream limited Indiana to 15 points tied the game at 57.
Fever however got off to a very good start in the fourth quarter and went ahead by 63-59 early. Castro Marques then pinned a free throw and McCoughtry hit a jumper to trim the deficit to one, 63-62. However Indiana scored seven points without reply in the ensuing passage raced to a 70-62 lead. Atlanta did not get any closer than five points for rest of the period.
Minnesota Lynx 95 – Phoenix Mercury 67 : Western Conference
Seimone Augustus racked up a team-high 21 points and dished out seven assists as Minnesota Lynx defeated Phoenix Mercury 95-67 at Target Center.
Five Lynx players reached double figures on the night. Maya Moore added 15 points, including 13 in the opening quarter, and grabbed seven rebounds while Candice Wiggins came off the bench with 14 points. Taj McWilliams-Franklin also totalled 14 points while Rebekkah Brunson recorded a double-double in the victory with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
Phoenix’s guard Diana Taurasi topped all scorers with 22 points and pulled down five rebounds. Marie Ferdinand-Harris had 12 points off the bench while DeWanna Bonner contributed 11 points, eight rebounds and three blocks in the loss.
Minnesota shot 50 percent (36 for 72) from the field and limited the visiting team to only 35.7 percent (25 for 70).
Lynx opened the game on a 15-3 run and held a 28-11 lead at the end of first period. Mercury outscored Lynx 25-19 in the second quarter to slash their lead to 11 points, 47-36, at halftime. However Minnesota maintained their lead throughout the third quarter and stretched it to 74-55, heading into the fourth.
Lynx continued to play solid basketball in the last quarter, keeping Mercury in a double-digit hole all the way to take a 1-0 lead in the Western Conference finals.
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