What To Expect:

This series is a best of 5 featuring the Minnesota Lynx against the Indiana Fever.  Because Minnesota had a significantly better record during the regular season, they will have home court advantage for three of those 5 games (if the series gets to 5 games- the last 3 championships have been sweeps).  At home during the playoffs, the Lynx are 19-2.

Most people, myself included, never thought that Indiana would make it to the Finals this year.  In both of their playoff series this year, they started out with a loss and came back to win the next two, first against Elena Delle Donne and the Sky, then against Tina Charles and the Liberty. Now that they’re in the Finals, however, the question remains: Can they pull off another upset against Maya Moore and her Lynx?

Personally, I think it’s unlikely, but that’s what I said about Indiana in its last two matchups.  The answer depends largely, not on Maya Moore, but on her teammates, namely Sylvia Fowles, Lindsay Whalen, Seimone Augustus, and Rebekkah Brunson.  Everyone knows Moore, last year’s MVP, is good for around 30 points a game and a bunch of statistic-defying hustle plays.  Fowles has gotten into more of an offensive flow as of late as she becomes more accustomed to her new team, and Brunson has been unstoppable at her go-to job of cleaning up the rebounds.  Whalen and Augustus, weirdly enough, are the big problems, as they are both recovering from recent injuries that left them completely unable to play until the playoffs began, and neither is playing with the usual intensity and high-scoring mentality that we’ve come to expect.

On the other end, Tamika Catchings is never going to go down without a fight.  Like Maya, she can and will do anything asked of her by her team and has been known to carry them through nearly impossible situations (for instance, when they came back from a 15-point deficit to win Game 2 of the series against New York).  Marissa Coleman is a dangerous sharp-shooter from 3-point range when she gets going.  Erlana Larkins is always an active rebounder and often an active put-backer from those rebounds.  Shenise Johnson has shown huge improvement this year and was a strong candidate for most improved as she has become much more comfortable creating her own shots.  Their main point guard, Briann January, is a multiple time member of the all-defensive team and a competent assister.

So basically, look for another defensive battle and a Finals round like nobody expected!  We’ll see how this one goes. :)

Game 1: Indiana 75, Minnesota 69

Key Players (Lynx):

Maya Moore- 27 points, 12 rebounds, 2 steals, 3 blocks, 6 turnovers

Sylvia Fowles- 21 points, 11 rebounds, 2 steals, 3 blocks, 5 turnovers

Seimone Augustus- 9 points, 4 assists

Lindsay Whalen- 4 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists

Key Players (Fever):

Briann January- 19 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals

Marissa Coleman- 16 points

Tamika Catchings- 12 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals, 2 blocks

Shenise Johnson- 10 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists

Both teams prize themselves on their defense, so it’s not surprising that it took a while for either to get going offensively.  The opening quarter was particularly stagnant, with Minnesota shooting only 4/19 and committing 7 turnovers, while Indiana fared little better with 5/16 shooting and 4 turnovers.  4 of Minnesota’s turnovers came from Sylvia Fowles, who seemed to be continually surprised that Indiana wasn’t putting more pressure on her and thus couldn’t capitalize on a few open looks.  Going into the second, the score was tied at an abysmal 10-10.  

Maya was the majority of Minnesota’s offense, hitting difficult shot after difficult shot, while Indiana spread its point production out a little more evenly.  Augustus and Whalen looked battered and slow on offense, and Rebekkah Brunson wasn’t as dominant on the boards as she usually is.  Briann January scored 7 in a row, starting a 14-3 run for Indiana which put them up 35-29 at halftime.

January continued the assault in the third quarter and the best answer that Minnesota had for her was Sylvia Fowles, who scored 8 points despite some questionable defensive decisions. (She kept her hands down as guards drove in around her.  Weird.)  The Lynx went on a 5-0 run to start the fourth quarter that made the score 54-51.  The Lynx repeatedly got to within 3 points of the Fever, but Indiana responded with a basket time after time.  With Seimone’s 7 points in the final period (most of them from the free throw line), the Lynx went on a 7-0 run that gave the Lynx a 62-61 lead.  Their lead was short-lived, however, and the Fever finally won 75-69.

A big reason for the loss was Minnesota’s poor free throw shooting.  The entire team was only 65% from the line compared to their season average of 82%, while Indiana, by contrast, hit all 16 of their 16 attempts.