Lynx-Phoenix game preview

August 22, 2017 at 3:55AM
Minnesota Lynx forward Rebekkah Brunson, center, guards Phoenix Mercury center Brittany Griner during game 3 of the WNBA basketball semifinals in Scottsdale, Ariz., Sunday, Oct. 2, 2016. (Cheryl Evans/The Arizona Republic via AP) MARICOPA COUNTY OUT, NO SALES
Brittney Griner, going against Rebekkah Brunson. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

7 p.m. vs. Phoenix, Xcel Energy Center (FSN Plus, 106.1-FM)

Preview: The Lynx will be trying to sweep the four-game regular-season series against their Western Conference rival. They are 3-0 against Phoenix this season, with an average margin of victory of 13.3 points. Mercury center Brittney Griner missed the last game between the teams — an 81-66 Lynx victory in St. Paul on July 16 — because of knee and ankle injuries. She has returned, but the Lynx will be without injured starters Lindsay Whalen and Rebekkah Brunson.

Players to watch: Griner, whose injuries sidelined her for eight games, returned Aug. 12 and leads the WNBA in scoring (21.5 points per game) and blocked shots (2.4). Lynx C Sylvia Fowles is fourth in scoring (19.9) and second in rebounding (10.3), but her two lowest point totals of the season — seven at New York last Sunday and six at Indiana on Aug. 6 — have come in the past six games.

Numbers: The Lynx have won nine of the past 15 meetings between the teams and are 24-11 against Phoenix at home. … Griner scored more than 30 points four times this season.

Injuries: G Whalen (hand) and F Brunson (sprained ankle) are out. Mercury F Angel Robinson (knee) is questionable.

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WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert
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The WNBA and its players' union weren't able to agree to a new collective bargaining agreement by the Friday night deadline, and now the league enters a ''status-quo'' period with no new extension reached.

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