• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Fever-Shock Preview

Sep 22, 2009 - 6:48 PM By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO STATS Writer

Indiana (22-12) at Detroit (18-16), 8:00 p.m. EDT

For three years in a row, the Detroit Shock have earned trips to the WNBA finals after eliminating the Indiana Fever from the playoffs. Doing it a fourth consecutive time might be a lot tougher.

The red-hot Shock will host the top-seeded Fever to open the best-of-three Eastern Conference finals Wednesday night.

Detroit has won two of the last three league championships, including a three-game sweep of San Antonio last year. In reaching the WNBA finals the past three postseasons, the Shock have eliminated Indiana and they had the home-court advantage each time.

The Fever have that edge this year after cruising to their first regular-season conference title.

Detroit, meanwhile, needed a 9-2 season-ending run to overcome a slow start to the year and clinch a playoff berth as the East's third seed.

"We are playing good basketball," coach Rick Mahorn said. "We ended the season playing well and now we are in the playoffs doing things we are supposed to do. We just have to keep it going."

The Fever won three of four regular-season meetings with the Shock. The lone defeat, a 70-63 loss at Detroit, came on Sept. 4 during the Shock's late-season surge.

Detroit carried the momentum from that run into the playoffs, sweeping Atlanta in two games after a 94-79 victory Friday.

Indiana secured a playoff rematch with the Shock the following night by beating Washington 81-74 in overtime to sweep that semifinal series.

Despite the Fever advancing to their third conference finals in five years, they struggled offensively in Game 2 as they shot 32.4 percent from the floor and 3 for 20 from beyond the arc.

"We did not shoot as well as we have in the past, but we found a way to win," coach Lin Dunn said.

Tamika Catchings was dominant in the series. She had 24 points, 16 rebounds, five assists, four steals and four blocks Saturday after a 26-point, 12-rebound performance in an 88-79 win at Washington in Game 1 on Thursday. She averaged 15.1 points and 7.2 boards in the regular season.

"I'm a competitor," Catchings said following Saturday's victory. "You've got to do what you can do to win the game. The biggest thing for us was we picked up our defensive intensity."

The Shock could use another strong performance from Deanna Nolan, who had 22 points and five assists Friday after scoring 25 points while suffering a concussion in Wednesday's series opener against the Dream.

"She's tough," Mahorn said. "She got knocked pretty hard and took a good shot (Friday) as well. But she's very tough and wanted to get this game so we can move on."

Nolan had 22 points in the last meeting with Indiana after averaging 11.0 in the three previous - all losses. She was instrumental in eliminating the Fever in the first round last year, averaging 19.7 points.