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Mercury-Storm Preview

Sep 9, 2009 - 11:23 PM By MIKE LIPKA STATS Writer

Phoenix (22-10) at Seattle (19-13), 10:00 p.m. EDT

The Phoenix Mercury and Seattle Storm will be forming a potential Western Conference finals preview when they meet Thursday night in Seattle, but the Storm are hoping they'll have a different lineup when the playoffs actually begin.

The team's top three scorers could all be out against Phoenix, which should have a good opportunity for a third straight win as it tries to secure home-court advantage throughout the postseason.

Former WNBA MVP Lauren Jackson is certain to miss another game with a stress fracture in her back and veteran Swin Cash will be out for the final two contests of the regular season after the death of her grandmother.

Seattle could also be missing Sue Bird, who is day-to-day after sitting out Saturday's 76-68 loss at Minnesota due to a sore neck. The Storm (19-13) are locked into the No. 2 seed in the West, so they're focused on getting as healthy as possible for a postseason run.

"We're going to get people back here for the playoffs," coach Brian Agler told the Storm's official Web site. "It's just a matter of getting through these next two games. Fortunately, it doesn't impact us. We want to go out and compete, we want to try and win, but we can't get first and we can't get third."

Phoenix (22-10) has guaranteed itself the top spot, but it is trying to beat out Indiana for the league's best record and the home-court edge if that were to be the finals matchup.

The Mercury and Fever are currently tied, thanks in part to Phoenix's 106-90 win in Indianapolis last Wednesday. The league's highest-scoring team followed that with a 100-82 win over Atlanta on Saturday, as rookie guard DeWanna Bonner scored 20 points off the bench.

"We need to keep our winning streak going to keep that No. 1 spot, be important later on down the line," Bonner said.

While Bonner has emerged as a key option, averaging 11.5 points, the two most important players in the Mercury's fast-paced attack are still Diana Taurasi and Cappie Pondexter, the top two scorers in the league. The duo combined for just 28 points against the Dream, but teamed up for 12 rebounds and 13 assists.

"It's always good to win a Western Conference championship, but the big title is definitely the championship, so we'll keep pushing and keep working," Pondexter said.

Phoenix leads the season series against the Storm 2-1, and the Mercury already won 101-90 in overtime at Seattle on Aug. 4. The Storm had their three stars healthy in that game, but they couldn't keep up with Phoenix in the extra session, when Penny Taylor scored seven of her 18 points in her second game back from ankle surgery.

Taylor, an Australian compatriot of Jackson, has averaged 11.0 points in 12 games off the bench since her midseason return.