Sep 20, 2008 - 12:49 AM
0 shoutsBy PA SportsTicker
DETROIT 81, INDIANA 72 ----------------------
INDIANAPOLIS (Ticker) -- It's a different year but the same old story for the Indiana Fever.
Deanna Nolan scored 22 points and Taj McWilliams-Franklin added 17 as the Detroit Shock turned aside the Fever yet again, 81-72, in the Game One of their first-round playoff series.
Plenette Pierson scored 11 points off the bench for Detroit, which has eliminated Indiana from the playoffs each of the last two postseasons. The Shock will get a chance to make it three in a row in Game Two of the best-of-three series in Detroit on Sunday.
The win was Detroit coach Bill Laimbeer's 21st playoff victory - the most in the 11-year history of the league.
Tamika Catchings and Ebony Hoffman each scored 19 points for the Fever, who have lost 10 of the last 13 meetings between the teams.
Nolan scored 11 in the first half in leading the Shock to a 39-29 advantage at the break. Detroit carried a 62-50 lead into the final period and never looked back.
Indiana, which won five of its last seven games to record a fourth straight playoff berth, trailed by double digits the entire fourth quarter until a late rally.
LOS ANGELES 77, SEATTLE 69 --------------------------
LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- The Seattle Storm desperately needed reigning MVP Lauren Jackson.
Sue Bird led all scorers with 23 points, but it was not enough as the second-seeded Storm dropped a 77-69 decision to the Los Angeles Sparks in Game One of their Western Conference semifinal series.
Jackson, who also was named league MVP in 2003, underwent surgery on her right ankle after suffering an injury while playing for Australia at the Beijing Olympics in August. She could return in time for the WNBA Finals, but judging from the way Seattle played in its playoff opener, the club will not make it that far.
Without Jackson in the lane, Sparks center Lisa Leslie and rookie forward Candace Parker both had strong performances. Leslie, a three-time MVP and 2008 Defensive Player of the Year, had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds while Parker, the front-runner for the Rookie of the Year Award, added 11 and eight.
Bird, who made 53 percent of her shots over the final five games of the regular season, continued her hot shooting, going 9-of-15 from the field. However, she recorded only one assist.
Tanisha Wright contributed 13 points and four boards for the Storm, who fell behind early and struggled to get back in the game.
The Sparks owned a 10-point lead at the end of the first quarter and stretched their advantage to 44-27 at the half.
Seattle trimmed the deficit to eight points with just over three minutes remaining in the third quarter, but Los Angeles closed the session on an 8-4 run to build a 60-48 lead.
The Storm opened the fourth on a 13-7 run, capped by four straight points from Wright, to narrow the deficit to 67-61. But Seattle failed to score over the next 2:45 and the Sparks recorded seven points over that span to seal the victory.
