Alexander Shun

Web Editor Associate | @alexpshun 

MINNESOTA LYNX (67) – LOS ANGELES SPARKS (65) | Lynx lead series 1-0

Nobody said this was going to be an easy series; in fact, most were saying that it was going to be the closest of all first-round match-ups. Game one between the Minnesota Lynx and Los Angeles Sparks was a tough, back-and-forth game between two very talented and very motivated teams with the Lynx ultimately prevailing, winning 67-65 and snatching the 1-0 series lead. The series shifts to Los Angeles now where the Lynx will look to steal a game on the road and punch their ticket to the Western Conference Finals.

Lynx forward Maya Moore played well tonight…and by well, I mean she was on fire. Moore finished tonight with a career playoff-high 33 points, five rebounds and four steals, including an incredible 15-point third quarter during which she turned the game from a three-point Lynx deficit to a six-point Lynx lead. Guard Seimone Augustus played great as well, adding 17 points, two rebounds, four assists and two steals in her first game back from a sprained foot.

“No question, Seimone came through for us,” said Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve. “Her second-half was really good. She’s a shot-maker, that’s what the playoffs are about, great players making great plays and Seimone made some really big ones for us.”

“Seimone really played well coming off her injury,” praised Sparks head coach Brian Agler. “When you sit out for that long and come back and play like that, that’s impressive.”

The Sparks were led by forwards Candace Parker and Nneka Ogwumike. Parker finished the night 16 points, nine rebounds and four assists, while Ogwumike added 14 points, four rebounds and two assists in the loss.

“I don’t think we believe in moral victories, we lost,” said Parker. “So I think if you look at what’s glaring on the stat sheet, it’s the first quarter and the third quarter…You don’t know when in a game you’re going to lose a game, but at that instant, that’s where we lost the game.”

The Sparks may have lost, but they deserve credit for great post defense against two fantastic post defense in forward Rebekkah Brunson and center Sylvia Fowles. Combined, the two finished with just 11 points on 5-of-10 (50 percent) shooting to go with 15 rebounds, seven assists and four steals. They may have been rather quiet offensively, but defensively was where they came up huge and Reeve took notice.

“Brunson won that game for us,” said Reeve. “Brunson and her defense won that game for us. She was involved in every big play defensively.”

The Lynx jumped out to the early lead, dominating the first quarter in many ways, outscoring the Sparks 22-15 while shooting 10-of-18 (55.6 percent) from the floor. Los Angeles could only manage to shoot 6-of-15 (40 percent) while their All-Star forward Candace Parker was held to 0-of-3 shooting and just a single point. Forward Maya Moore led the Lynx early, scoring nine points in the first on 4-of-7 (57 percent) shooting, including nailing a three-pointer on her first shot attempt to put the Lynx on top early.

The second quarter was a much different story.

The Sparks came out shooting well and cruised to a 14-1 run to open the quarter and take a 33-32 lead, pushing their lead as high as eight. Minnesota played well to close the half though and ended the first half trailing just 36-33.

The third quarter defined this game for Minnesota.

Moore took over the game and showed everyone around the league why she should have been league-MVP. She dropped 15 points in the quarter on 5-of-7 (71 percent) shooting and steered the Lynx to a 56-49 lead to end the third. Minnesota, after being outscored 21-11 in the second quarter, locked down their defense and held Los Angeles to just 13 points on 5-of-11 (45.5 percent) shooting in the third. Offensively for the Lynx, they were able to shoot 8-of-14 (57.1 percent) in the quarter to capture the lead.

Of course, the Sparks would make their run in the fourth quarter.

Trailing by seven to start the final frame, the Sparks slowly cut into the Lynx lead and cut the deficit as low as a single point before, with just under 90 seconds left in the game, Brunson deflected a pass to paint and Moore streaked coast-to-coast, with a beautiful crossover I might add, and dropped in the easy lay-up, pushing the Lynx lead back to three and giving them just enough to close out the game.

Game two will be Sunday in Los Angeles and fans can expect another tough, defensive game like they saw tonight.

“I thought both teams executed a lot of their defenses well tonight, we just happened to make a couple more stops, get a couple more turnovers that led to easy offense for us,” said Reeve.

“Sunday’s game is going to be very similar to tonight’s and it’s going to be very defensive-oriented, which happens this time of year,” said Agler.

LEADER OF THE PACK: FORWARD MAYA MOORE

I will admit, I went back and forth with this decision.  Augustus, playing in her first game back from a sprained foot, played extremely well, scoring 17 points and giving the Lynx huge buckets at key moments, but…well, MAYA MOORE.

Moore had a performance and-a-half, dropping 33 points, a playoff career-high,  while adding five rebounds, one assist, four steals and a blocked shot to round out her stat-line and guide Minnesota to a game one victory.

For Moore, it was all about the third quarter. With her team trailing 36-33 at half, Moore came out and absolutely took over, dropping in 15 points and leading the Lynx to a 56-49 lead at the end of the quarter.

“I blacked out, what?,” Moore joked,when asked about her huge third quarter performance. “My teammates did a great job of trying to find me, I just continued trying to move for them…we’re just playing and whoever ends up putting it in the hole, our team doesn’t care.”

With an MVP-esque performance (yes, she has had a lot of those this season), Moore has given her team a 1-0 series lead and a chance to close out the Sparks on Sunday afternoon.

PLAY OF THE GAME

With just under 90 seconds left in the game and the Lynx clinging to a one-point lead, the Sparks took the ball and began to set up their offense. As an entry-pass to the paint was attempted, Brunson deflected the ball, knocking it back to Moore who scooped it up, crossed over Parker and laid it in to increase the Lynx lead to three.

“I was the beneficiary of an active post player,” said Moore. “I believe that lay-up was off of a steal that one of our post players poked away and I was just trying to be aggressive.”

QUOTEABLE

“I died in the first two minutes,” joked Seimone Augustus when asked how she felt after her first game back from a sprained left foot. Augustus finished the night with 17 points on 7-of-15 (46 percent) shooting to go with four rebounds and two steals.

UP NEXT

The Lynx will travel to Los Angeles for game two of the Western Conference Semifinals on Sunday afternoon. The game will begin at 2:00 P.M. CT and can be seen on ESPN.