Alexander Shun

Web Editor Associate | @alexpshun 

2015 WNBA FINALS | LYNX LEAD SERIES 2-1

Minnesota Lynx (2-1) at Indiana Fever (1-2) | 7:30 P.M. CT

WHERE TO WATCH: ESPN

WHERE TO LISTEN: 106.1 BOB FM

Winning any game in any professional sport can be difficult, particularly the WNBA. It can be made easier though when you have the greatest player in the league.

Lynx forward Maya Moore is proving to the world this postseason, this Finals series in particular, why she is the greatest player in the WNBA. Moore is averaging 26.1 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 2.6 steals and one block in eight postseason games thus far, including 23.3 points, nine rebounds, 2.6 steals and two blocks in the Finals alone.

Aside from pacing the Lynx throughout the playoffs, Moore’s perhaps biggest play of the postseason came on Wednesday night. With 1.7 seconds left in the game and tied at 77, Lynx guard Lindsay Whalen inbounded the ball to Moore who quickly pump-faked, slid to her right and put up the straight-on three-pointer that rattled home as time expired, giving the Lynx the 80-77 road win and the 2-1 advantage in the series.

“That was a great player making a great play at the end of the game,” Fever coach Stephanie White said.

“[1.7] seconds is a lot of time,” Moore said. “Everything fell on the line, did what I could. It was a basketball move, and I was able to get it off. Fortunately, I have a pretty quick release and it worked out. I haven’t seen the replay yet. When I let it go, I knew I got it off.”

The Lynx now enter tonight’s game with an opportunity to knock off the Fever and clinch their third championship in five seasons. With the series being do-or-die for the Fever, Minnesota knows they will get Indiana’s best tonight.

“It’s a long series. No one’s won anything yet,” Moore said. “Looking forward to Sunday, but glad we were able to do it with this game being ours.”

The Fever played a great game three but fell just one play short of forcing overtime and potentially flipping the series in their favor. Indiana shot 30-of-60 (50 percent) from the floor and had four of their five starters score in double-figures, but it just wasn’t enough; and history says that may have doomed them.

Indiana is trying to become the first three-seed to ever win a WNBA championship and their loss Wednesday night may have sealed their fate with the team wining Game 3 going on to win 70 percent of the titles since the WNBA went to a best-of-five format in 2005.

“We have our backs against the wall but we’re going to come out fighting and give em everything we got,” Fever guard Shenise Johnson.

LAST MEETING

The Lynx and Fever last met in what was an epic game three on Wednesday night that saw a three-pointer by Moore at the final buzzer cap a 80-77 Lynx win, giving them a 2-1 series lead and an opportunity to clinch their third title in five seasons with a win over Indiana tonight.

After the game, both coaches agreed that the game was one of the best in WNBA Finals history and was a hard-fought game between two very good teams.

“It was an unbelievable basketball game,” Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve said. “Might be one of the best WNBA Finals games in our history. That one’s got to be up there. Two teams that had great offense and just delivering blows to each other.”

It was a close game the entire way with the teams swapping leads and runs through the entirety of the game. With 2:08 left in the game, Minnesota trailed by three only to see guard Renee Montgomery come off the bench and nail a three-pointer to tie it. The defenses exchanged stops before the Fever claimed control with just 25 seconds left. After the Fever could only manage a tipped shot from Johnson, the Lynx took over with just 1.7 seconds left and a chance to steal the road win.

Whalen inbounded the ball to Moore who calmly faked, side-stepped a defender and nailed the three-pointer as time expired before being mobbed by her teammate. Although the refs had to review the shot to ensure she got it off before time expired, Moore and her teammates seemingly knew the shot was good and the game was over.

What’s most impressive about Moore’s performance is that she was able to hit the shot after missing so much of the game due to foul trouble. Moore played only 22 minutes after picking up her third foul early in the second quarter yet still managed to come back in the game and nail the game-winning shot.

Minnesota also got a huge game from their bench, registering a combined 28 points, two rebounds, six assists and three steals.

The Fever were led by a 17 point, four assist performance from Johnson and a 15 point, eight assist performance from guard Briann January. Guard Marissa Coleman chipped in 14 points in the game three loss.

KEY MATCH-UP: MAYA MOORE VS. MARISSA COLEMAN

Moore and Coleman have been two of the best shooters, not only in the Finals, but in the entire postseason, and they will ultimately decide their team’s respective fates tonight.

Coleman enters tonight’s contest averaging 12.7 points in nine postseason games, including averaging 13.4 points in the Finals. Moore s averaging 23.3 points and nine rebounds in the Finals and, after hitting the buzzer-beating shot to win game three for Minnesota, has her team one win away from another title.

Moore, making her fourth Finals appearance in five years, is looking to win her third championship after being a key factor on Minnesota’s 2011 and 2013 title runs, both over the Atlanta Dream.

Everyone knows that both Coleman and Moore are very good scorers, but it could very well be their defense that will make the biggest difference in tonight’s match-up seeing as how they will be forced to defend one another almost the entire night.

If Coleman goes off, Indiana will be able to force a decisive game five and send the series back to Minnesota, however, if Moore goes off, the Lynx and their fans will take to the streets of Minneapolis next week to celebrate another title.

PROJECTED STARTERS

Lynx: PG – Whalen, SG – Augustus, SF – Moore, PF – Brunson, C – Fowles

Fever: PG – January, SG – Johnson, SF – Coleman, PF – Catchings, C – Larkins