Phoenix led 7-6 in the first quarter, then played from behind the whole way until 82-82 at the end of regulation.
Then the Mercury led 87-84 in OT, but that was all.
I said earlier that if the Storm and the Mercury stay healthy, they’ll win 22 or 23 games each. Then we can say things like “the Western Conference final between Seattle and Phoenix will be the ‘real’ final”.
The Mercury Big Three are Taurasi, Taylor, Dupree. On Saturday, they got 39 points, 16 rebounds, and 5 assists from T. Johnson and Bonner.
The Storm Big Three are Jackson, Bird, Cash. On Saturday, they got 28 points, 17 rebounds, and 6 assists from T. Wright and Little.
Both teams would be scary good if they frequently got that kind of contribution from two players outside their Big Threes.
Another parallel in Saturday’s game was that one star on each team had a crappy shooting night. Taurasi’s 13, 4, and 2 on 4-for-16 shooting and 6 turnovers is just a miserable night. If Bird had been better than 3-for-16 to go with 8 rebounds and 8 steals, the Storm would’ve won by a bunch.
Washington at Connecticut -2.5, 149.5
The Mystics are shooting 50 percent in two road games. The Sun let the Dream shred them for 53 percent shooting Friday, but that was in Atlanta — Connecticut is a trying place to visit.
I think Washington can keep it rolling at least for another game; the Sun will spend a year or two establishing their identity, which won’t be ‘stifling defenders’.
Mystics might be favored on the road by -1, total is 155, I guess.
Pick: Washington
Atlanta at New York -2.5, 163.5
My first notion was that the Liberty are big enough to slow down the Dream, but so were the Sun. The difference is that New York’s bigs are veterans.
Atlanta gets out so well after a defensive stop (or it could be that Castro-Marques makes that impression for the whole team), and what the heck is it about the Liberty — they’re a crappy rebounding team no matter who’s on the roster. The Liberty could hire Dennis Rodman in his prime, and he’d become more interested in wearing a skirt than fighting for rebounds.
Is the oddsmaker really going to give us two road favorites on the same day in the same corner of the world? This one might go off at 0 with a total of 152.
Picks: Atlanta, under
Chicago at Indiana -7.5, 148
I said before the first game of this home-and-home series that Chicago demonstrates a bad team’s ability to do whatever it takes to lose. The Sky had their chances to put the Fever away in regulation Saturday.
I’m alarmed at the free throw and rebounding numbers for Tamika Catchings and Katie Douglas. Until those two get untracked, Indiana is going to be the ‘what the eff happened to that team?’ story of 2010.
I saw an early line for this game of Indy -7. For two years, Indiana’s been remarkably good in home-and-homes, but they were a very good team. I’m surprised these two teams made over 149 in regulation Saturday — more surprised that Indiana allowed 45 percent shooting than Chicago allowing 49. The spread probably didn’t change much; the total will probably be higher than Saturday’s; say 151.
No pick.
Tulsa at Minnesota -7, 162
I think both these teams are on the verge of getting it, but the potential for Lynx is much greater than for the Shock.
The Shock are coming around to new coach, new surroundings, new leaders on the floor and in the locker room. There’s just not much talent in Tulsa.
The Lynx remind me, in a good way, of the Long Beach State 49ers. The college team never knew when their best player was ever going to come back from a recurring injury — after two years of uncertainty, they adopted the attitude that she might be gone for good, this is who we’ve got, so let’s get after it. These Minnesota Lynx are starting to look good as a team that lost Seimone Augustus first, then Candice Wiggins … who might return someday.
Minnesota will be favored by 3 or 4, with a total of 154, maybe.
Huh. Lynx -7. Too bad; I was hoping to get a bargain at -3.5. 162 is a tricky total, too. Tulsa pushes it — if both teams play well, they’ll surely make 160s.
No pick.
Saturday 1-0
Season 9-3
