Alexander Shun

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Minnesota Lynx (8-2) at Chicago Sky (6-5) | 7:30 P.M. CT

WHERE TO WATCH: No TV

WHERE TO LISTEN: 106.1 BOB FM

In basketball, scoring is pretty important. If your team can score more points than the other team, your team will win. Fairly simple concept. The Chicago Sky are good at scoring points.

The Chicago Sky lead the WNBA in scoring, averaging 84.6 points per game. Such a statistic makes sense considering the Sky have the leading scorer in the WNBA in guard Ella Delle Donne (averaging 27.2 points per game) and another scorer in the top 10 overall (guard Cappie Pondexter, averaging 15.3 points per game).

Unfortunately for the Sky, the Minnesota Lynx have scorers of their own, in forward Maya Moore and guard Seimone Augustus.

Moore enters tonight’s game averaging 17 points per game (6^th in the league) while Augustus enters averaging 15.4 points per game (9^th in the league).

Even more unfortunate for the Sky, the Lynx are also quite good at stopping teams from scoring.

The Lynx enter tonight’s game allowing opponents 67.8 points per game, good for best in the league. A big reason for such great defense is the team’s ability to block shots.

The Lynx are averaging 5.8 blocks per game, second in the league.

Facing players like Delle Donne and Pondexter, the Lynx are going to need another stellar defensive performance to stop them and have a chance at leaving Chicago with a victory.

The Sky have struggled as of late losing two of their last three games but got back on track after defeating the Eastern Conference-leading Connecticut Sun 77-74 last Thursday night and will now look to put an end to the Lynx’s three-game winning streak.

LAST MEETING

Tonight’s game will be the first meeting between these two teams this season; however, the last time the Lynx and Sky faced off, the Lynx showed off some of their defensive prowess and came away victorious, beating the Sky 74-64.

The Sky actually led 64-63 with just under two minutes to go in the game, but the Lynx then went on an 11-0 run to capture their 11^th straight win.

Despite many defensive miscues, the Lynx did manage to shut down Sky star guard Ella Delle Donne, holding her to just two points on 1-of-7 shooting (14 percent) in just 16 minutes of playing time.

Lynx forward Maya Moore led the team, scoring 17 points while grabbing five rebounds, and guard Lindsay Whalen had 14 points and four assists.

Guard Allie Quigley had a game-high 20 points for the Sky off the bench, while guard Epiphanny Prince added 18 points, five rebounds and four assists in the loss.

KEY MATCHUP: ELLA DELLE DONNE VS. LYNX DEFENSE

Any time the WNBA’s leading scorer is playing, it’s safe to say she will be a part of the key matchup. Especially when she’s playing as well as Ella Delle Donne is currently playing.

Despite a season-low 12 points in her previous game against the Sun, Delle Donne is averaging 27.2 points per game and has already had two 40-point games this season, proving her ability to essentially score at-will.

The dynamic ability of Delle Donne makes her a factor both when she’s scoring and when she’s not. Focusing too much on her provides open shots for other players like Pondexter and Quigley, however, if she is left open, Delle Donne will drain baskets all night long.

As previously mentioned though, the Lynx are best in the league in opponent’s points per game (67.8) and second-best in the league in blocks per game (5.8). Minnesota is going to need all of that and probably a little more.  If Delle Donne goes off and drops 40 points on the Lynx, odds are, the Sky are winning the game.

Minnesota will need great defensive play from players like Rebekkah Brunson, Damiris Dantas and even Asjha Jones and Maya Moore at times, to continue to slow down Delle Donne and the other slew of Sky scorers.

It’s going to be a great game of strategy, a “chess match” of sorts, and it’ll be exciting to see what happens tonight.

PROJECTED STARTERS

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

Sky: PG – Vandersloot, SG – Quigley, SF – Pondexter, PF – Delle Donne, C – Breland