It was as if the regular season had been a prelude, and the Lynx's first-round playoff series with Seattle a warm-up.
For Maya Moore, the anticipation, the excitement had been building. So when the Lynx took the Target Center court last week for the first game in their Western Conference championship series with Phoenix, it was like Moore was being launched from a cannon.
"She'll tell you the first five minutes of that Phoenix game, she just blacked out," Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said, "because there was so much adrenaline.
"Now, she played like it," Reeve said, laughing. "That's why we had to take her out.''
After Moore worked through her adrenaline rush, she went out and spent the rest of the series taking it to the Mercury. She hopes that will continue against Atlanta, with the Lynx poised to begin play in the WNBA Finals on Sunday at Target Center.
In her third season, Moore's play at both ends of the court improved to the point where she finished second in the league's MVP voting. And after averaging a career-high 18.5 points during the season, she has upped that to 21.5 points in four playoff games. She is shooting more often and more accurately in these playoffs than at any time of her three-year WNBA career.
Good timing.
"The playoffs are the most fun time of the year," Moore said. "Everything you've worked for is wrapped up in the game you're playing at the time. From the minute September comes, you're waiting for the playoffs to come.''
