“It’s going to be hard, but if I was to, like I said, I’d want to do it in the Target Center”. “Especially when you’re in tense situations, to be able to calm yourself”. Lots of great things happening, players making plays.
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OK, that explains January’s mindset.
The Fever fought together shooting 86% from the charity stripe and kept away from careless turnovers, as they travel to Minnesota with five 2012 Championship stars and a handful of remarkable bench teammates. Hey, it’s just the Fever way.
Six years have passed since the last Game 5 in a WNBA Finals.
“Indiana played great, played like a team that didn’t want their season to end”, Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said. The Lynx’s previous two WNBA championships were clinched on the road – 2011 in Atlanta and again in 2013 in Atlanta….
Going into last night’s game, the Indiana Fever were 4-0 in this postseason when facing elimination. Indiana had just one basket in the final quarter allowing Minnesota to rally within four behind Maya Moore. By and large, Indiana has had the best of this series, and had Moore not hit that game-winner in Game 3, this could very well have ended tonight. Her two free throws started a 20-8 run to end the quarter that put the Fever up 12 entering the fourth.
Then, the Fever defense stayed fumed as they committed turnovers on shot-clock violations for the Lynx. The Fever have averaged five 3-pointers per game so far this series and the deep ball could be the great equalizer for the road team. It’s not so much that the Fever play as one as it is that they all play like Catchings: they are infused with the spirit of the moment.
Over the game’s final 11 1/2 minutes, the Lynx got no closer than four points, 73-69 with 16.9 seconds left. Sylvia Fowles is the third double-digit scorer and Lindsay Whalen is dishing 3.4 assists.
Minnesota Lynx fans can get up to two free tickets to Wednesday’s deciding game of the WNBA championship series.
The Fever got scoring from all angles. It’s only fitting that we go to Game 5. “Not only here in New York but at home in Indiana”. “Everybody has helped bring us up a level each step along the way”.
“We have the heart of a champion – and Tamika Catchings”, Fever coach Stephanie White said. It’s been fun playing this series. But it’s not done. “Even though we made only one field goal in the fourth quarter, our players responded to the challenge”.
Johnson, Zellous, January, Catchings and everyone else in the Fever locker room acknowledged that it was tough to put their 80-77 loss on Friday behind them right away. They are also an astounding 11-2 all-time in elimination games at home.
But by Saturday morning, they regrouped and refocused.
Well, not really, she said.
It was a Tuesday night, and 10,120 people would show up to see her at Madison Square Garden; the game would be nationally televised, and Spike Lee would be on hand. Now they will try to spoil a celebration for Minnesota at Target Center.
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“Whatever it takes”, said Catchings. “Every time I come out, I want to play my best”. Moore was dribbling near the top of the key, about to make a few sort of move, when Catchings had had enough and darted toward Moore, knocking the ball loose and pouncing on it and calling timeout before Moore could force a jump ball. Maya has turned into the most fascinating figure in this series – a true superstar in her prime with a chance to already stamp her place among women’s basketball’s all-time greats.
