Alexander Shun

Web Editor Associate | @alexpshun 

Minnesota Lynx (19-10) vs. Phoenix Mercury (17-12) | 6:00 P.M. CT

WHERE TO WATCH: ESPN 2

WHERE TO LISTEN: 106.1 BOB FM

It’s good to be home.

After spending seemingly the entire month of August playing on the road, the Minnesota Lynx return home to Target Center tonight to take on their Western Conference foe Phoenix Mercury in a rivalry game that will, in many ways, decide who wins the conference.

The Lynx enter tonight’s game holding a two game lead over the Mercury and, with a win tonight, can extend their lead to three games with just four games remaining for each team. Winning tonight will not be an easy task, for either team.

The Mercury enter tonight’s contest having lost four of their last six games while the Lynx enter having lost four of their last five games. However, the Mercury have won three of the four contests this season between these teams and will look to make it four out of five with a win tonight.

The key to Phoenix’s success has been the play of forward DeWanna Bonner. In their previous two wins, Bonner has averaged 23.5 points, five rebounds and 2.5 assists, while in their previous four losses Bonner has averaged just 11.2 points, five rebounds and 2.5 assists. If the Mercury hope to keep their dreams of the Western Conference crown alive, they are going to need a big game from Bonner.

On the other side, the Lynx have been led of late by center Sylvia Fowles. Fowles, acquired by Minnesota immediately after the All-Star break, has been playing fantastic basketball for the Lynx, even in the team’s losses. In Minnesota’s past five games, Fowles has averaged 15.6 points, 10 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game. Fowles will definitely need some help from one of her teammates for the Lynx to beat Phoenix tonight; forward Maya Moore is a prime candidate to help.

Moore has averaged 16.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists in her last five games, including a 25 point, nine rebound performance in her last game against the New York Liberty.

Tonight is going to be a tightly contested, highly emotional and physical game between two of the league’s very best teams featuring some of the league’s very best players and fans are going to watch one heck of a game.

LAST MEETING

These two teams are extremely familiar with each other, having met four times already this season, the most recent being just last Sunday down in Phoenix.

The game was close…until the second quarter, then Phoenix really turned on their defense and held the Lynx to just nine points in the quarter, pushing their lead to 37-22 at halftime before cruising to a 79-67 victory and clinching their spot in the 2015 WNBA Playoffs.

DeWanna Bonner led Phoenix, scoring a team-high 21 points to go with her four rebounds, two assists and three blocked shots. Center Brittney Griner had a great game for the Mercury as well, contributing 10 points, 11 rebounds and six blocked shots in the Mercury victory.

Forward Maya Moore led the Lynx with a team-high 17 points, added to her four rebounds and two blocked shots. Center Sylvia Fowles pitched in 16 points and 12 rebounds while guard Anna Cruz added 15 points and seven rebounds. Despite the loss, guard Renee Montgomery added 11 points off the bench for Minnesota.

KEY MATCH-UP: MAYA MOORE VS. DEWANNA BONNER

Two of the games best scorers will go head-to-head tonight in Minneapolis and people across the country will get to enjoy the match-up.

Lynx forward Maya Moore, the WNBA’s second-leading scorer (20.7 points per game), will look to move the Lynx one game closer to wrapping up first place in the Western Conference. To do so, Moore will need to help stop Mercury forward DeWanna Bonner, the league’s fifth-leading scorer (16.8 points per game).

These two have provided some great scoring duels thus far this season, including their match-up last Sunday during which Moore dropped 17 points and Bonner poured in 21 points.

Moore’s success has been synonymous with Minnesota’s success and the same goes for Bonner. With both teams jockeying for playoff positions, both Moore and Bonner can be expected to put out huge performances for their team tonight. For fans, they can simply sit back and wait and see which player can guide their team to victory.

PROJECTED STARTERS

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

Mercury: PG – Casademont, SG – Bonner, SF – Currie, PF – Dupree, C – Griner