Three keys to beating Phoenix on its home floor.

1. A fast start. The Lynx had the Mercury in trouble in the first quarter last Thursday, taking a 28-11 lead. Typically, the first quarter is Phoenix's best. They average 23 points.

But in their 95-67 loss to the Lynx in the first game of the Western Conference finals, they were three for 17 from the field the first 10 minutes, the Lynx 11 of 19.

Maya Moore was expecially deadly. She was four for five, including two three-pointers, and made two three-pointers. So by the end of the quarter she hd 13 points and four rebounds. Even when she picked up a second foul, coach Cheryl Reeve kept her in.

This was quite a contrast from the San Antonio series. In those three games, the Lynx fell behind 7-2, 7-2 and 10-2. Getting that second basket seemed to be a problem.

2. Turn Wiggins loose. When guard Candice Wiggins makes four three-pointers or more in a game, the Lynx are 6-0. She made four against the Mercury. She is a much needed spark off the bench at times and is a pest on defense, too.

In beating the Mercury at US Airways Center in the last regular season game, the Lynx got 42 points from the bench. That was a season high. The Lynx are 2-1 in that desert oasis. In the one loss, the bench went scoreless.

One reason the Lynx had trouble against San Antonio the first two games was Wiggins had only two points in the whole series. She had 14 against Phoenix and Reeve caller her the X-factor.

3. Win the battle of the boards. The Lynx have outrebounded their opponent in every playoff game and have average 15 more rebounds in the last three games. The actual margin was 42-26 against Phoenix on Thursday. Teams that get extra shots on the offensive end or can limit their opponents to one shot, usually win.

Reeve has said she wants the Lynx to hold the Mercury to one shot, one difficult shot. Good strategy.

* Seimone Augustus is averaging a league-high 21.5 points per game in the playoffs and shooting 52.2 percent; Rebekkah Brunson is averaging a league-high 13 rebounds.

* The Mercury was four for 20 on threes at Target Center last week. They rarely shoot that badly, considering they averaged a league-high 10.4 three-pointers during the regular season. ... Forward Candice Dupree was averaged a team-high 19 points in the Mercury's opening playoff series against Seattle but had two points against the Lynx.

* Crowds at Target Center averaged 8,447 during the regular season this year, that's up 11 percent. They drew more only during their first year.

HOME SWEETHOME

Home teams advance in the playoffs. Memories seem to support that supposition, statistics actually do.

Since 1999, when the current format was first used in the WNBA playoffs, home teams have won the conference finals 19 of 24 times. That's 79.2 percent of the time, or close to four out of five times. The Lynx are 17-3 at home this season, counting three playoff wins.