Atlanta win on the road, Minnesota claim their first one

Atlanta Dream dominated Indiana on defensive end as they took game one of the series on the road. Lindsay Harding scored at will, finishing the game with 23 points. Most important points from her came with 74 seconds remaining in the game, when she made a three pointer with Dream up only 3 points (that was Atlanta’s only made three pointer in the game). Prior to that Fever were on a 13-0 run. Dream had a 16 point lead in the fourth quarter. Briann January sat out one and a half quarter due to taking a hard elbow from Angel McCoughtry in her stomach. League’s top three point shooting Fever were 3 from 13, during regular season they averaged almost 8 makes per game.

Minnesota Lynx led from the opening tip as they claimed their first win of the playoffs. Lindsay Whalen led all scorers with 20 points. Minnesota lead was as much as 17 points. Seattle Storm point guard Sue Bird was a non factor in this game. It’s believed that she’s struggling with hip injury, which might make her opt for a surgery after the season ends. Minnesota were not able to build on double digit leads, always allowing Seattle get back in the single digits. Most of Seattle offense was sparked by Shekinna Stricklen and Ann Wauter coming off the bench, while the starters struggled to get any flow to their offense.

Next games of these two series will be on Sunday.

Atlanta Dream – Indiana Fever 75-66
Dream: Harding 23, McCoughtry 16, Lyttle 12
Fever: Douglas 13, Larkins 11, Catchings 10, January 10, Phillips 10

Atlanta Dream lead the series 1-0.

Seattle Storm – Minnesota Lynx 70-78
Storm: Stricklen 13, Smith 12, Jackson 12
Lynx: Whalen 20, Augustus 19, Moore 16, Brunson 12 (11 reb)

Minnesota Lynx lead the series 1-0.