Indiana Fever Defeat Minnesota Lynx 76-59, Go Up 2-1 in WNBA Finals


The Fever handed the Lynx their worst loss of the season, winning 76-59 Friday night, to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series. The Fever can win their first WNBA championship by winning Sunday’s Game 4 at Indianapolis. Here’s a recap of Game 3, courtesy of the Indy Star: “This was easy. Or E-Z. Or ‘E’ and ‘Z’ as Lin Dunn put it. ‘E’ is Erlana Larkins. She has re-introduced herself to the women’s basketball world. ‘Z’ is Shavonte Zellous. She left her mark on the Minnesota Lynx as the fictional Zorro did on the Spaniards. They contributed to a dazzling night that had Brad Stevens and Eric Gordon — a couple of Indianapolis’ basketball celebrities — tweeting about it. The Fever crushed the Lynx 76-59 in Game 3 of the WNBA Finals on Friday, moving within one victory of their first championship. The Fever lead the best-of-five series 2-1. Game 4 is Sunday night back at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The Fever are trying to become the city’s first pro basketball champions since the Pacers won the last of three ABA titles in 1973. A sellout crowd of 18,165 was silenced in some moments because of the jaw-dropping margin the Fever built against a team being compared to the greatest in league history. Zellous had 30 points, outscoring the Lynx by herself 13-11 in the second quarter. Larkins, signed as a free agent after she was out of the league for two years, had 10 points and 15 rebounds — one off the WNBA Finals record. Tamika Catchings scored 17 points and needed only 23 minutes to do so. The Fever’s 37-point lead (70-33) was the largest by any team in the history of this league’s finals. ‘The fans were super, screaming, hollering,’ said Dunn, the Fever coach. ‘I was getting dizzy.’ The Lynx know the feeling. Through three quarters — which was all that mattered — the Fever led 14-0 in fast-break points. Afterward, Dunn and Fever players said their defense led to offense. Miffed that they let a 12-point lead slip away in a Game 1 loss at Minnesota, the Fever attacked early and often. In a 13-minute span bridging the first and second quarters, the Fever outscored the Lynx 31-8.”