Minneapolis, Atlanta mayors make a bet on Lynx-Dream series

Mayors R.T. Rybak of Minneapolis and Kasim Reed of Atlanta have made a friendly wager on the outcome of the WNBA championship series between the Lynx and the Atlanta Dream. The best-of-five series begins Sunday night at Target Center.

Mayor Rybak, according to a news release from his office, is wagering SweeTango apples from Pepin Heights Orchards in Lake City, Minn., against Mayor Reed's peaches from Farmer D Organics Garden Center in Atlanta.

Mayor Rybak said, "The Lynx are just three wins away from bringing the championship home to Minneapolis, and we as a city are united in cheering them on as they close out an exciting and historic season."

"Mayor Rybak knows that there is more than one way to skin a cat, so we'll put up our peaches against their apples any day," Mayor Reed said. "The Atlanta Dream are on a hot streak right now, winning all but three games since August 13. They have just three more wins before they bring home the championship.

"If Mayor Reed thinks he's going to get to taste our apples, he's really Dreaming," Mayor Rybak said.

ATLANTA HURTING

Nine of the Dream's 11 players have suffered through injuries this season. Only four Alanta players appeared in all 34 regular season games (Harding, Price, Castro Marques, Bales) and Harding and Price played through injuries.

Iziane Castro Marques: Appeared in all 34 games but limited by nagging Achilles injury early.

Angel McCoughtry: Missed all of preseason and the first game (she played 3 minutes in the second game) with a sprained knee. She didn't feel 100% until after the All-Star break.

Sancho Lyttle: Missing six games playing for the Spanish national team. Returned to Atlanta with a lower back injury, which led to her missing six more games (returned to action on 7/28).

Courtney Paris: Not in uniform one game because of hamstring injury (7/20 against Washington).

Coco Miller: Missed two games (7/19 and 7/20) due to high ankle sprain.

Armintie Price: Appeared in all 34 games but played limited minutes in two games due to sprained left ankle (suffered 8/7 against Seattle).

Lindsey Harding: Appeared in all 34 games but suffered hip injury (8/9 against Washington).

Erika de Souza: Missed two games late in the season with a high ankle sprain (suffered 8/30 against Indiana). Missed last two playoff games while competing for Brazilian national team.

The Lynx's injury list is a lot shorter:

Amber Harris: Missed last two games of regular season with a concussion.

ETC.

* Atlanta will probably be down to nine players Sunday. It's doubtful de Souza, who will be traveling, will get to Minneapolis in time. She will play for Brazil on Saturday against Argentina in the gold-medal game of the 2011 Americas Championships for Women in Colombia.

Guard Shalee Lehning is out with a torn ACL in one of her knees.

* Forward Angel McCoughtry lost the WNBA scoring title to Diana Taurasi of Phoenix by .05 of a percentage point.

* The Dream forced Indiana into 20, 19 and 18 turnovers in their three-game series.