Well, the big night's finally here, folks.
The offensive showdown so far of the WNBA season is just minutes away. Phoenix leads the league with a 49.9 field goal percentage and 85.9 points per game, followed by the Lynx around 48 percent and 83.8 points.
And while Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve has tried to downplay the hype of a matchup between the two best teams in the league, even she admitted the atmosphere in the Target Center was different.
"You can kind of feel the love," she said. "These are two teams that ware on pace to set records offensively. … Our media should be talking about us, not all the other stuff."
By "other stuff" she mentioned the long drawn-out Timberwolves Kevin Love trade and MLB happenings.
And it's a good time for the media to be at attention (including me, Megan Ryan, again taking over Kent Youngblood's blog). The Lynx have their full-strength line up back intact for the third game, with Rebekkah Brunson and Seimone Augustus returned from knee injuries. Reeve said Wednesday's practice was the first time all season the Lynx felt like the Lynx, as far as mentality, accountability, focus and preparation.
Mercury coach Sandy Brondello told me Wednesday her team was jazzed to play the Lynx, finally, at their best. And Reeve said she would feel the same way.
"You want to play a team when they're healthy because it's one of those things. You kind of want to shut up the Minnesota Lynx," Reeve said. "There's no question that we're better when we've got our starting five that has experienced a championship together."
