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Fever-Sky Preview

May 21, 2010 - 4:24 PM By MATT BECKER STATS Senior Writer

Indiana (0-2) at Chicago (0-2), 8:00 p.m. EDT

The Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky are off to sluggish starts, but one will come away with their first win of 2010 on Saturday night.

That's when the Eastern Conference's only two winless teams kick off a home-and-home series at Allstate Arena in the Sky's first game at their new suburban home.

Following a season-opening loss to Washington last Saturday, the defending conference champion Fever (0-2) posted a disappointing 66-62 defeat against Atlanta on Sunday. Indiana entered the fourth quarter with a four-point lead, but only made one basket until the closing seconds, and the Fever committed 11 turnovers in the final period.

"It looked like we hit a mental wall," coach Lin Dunn said. "We had way too many turnovers and just couldn't do anything. I've never had a team struggle like that."

Although Dunn can't be pleased with the team's sloppy play, the Fever have proven they can rebound from a slow start. Indiana also opened last year with back-to-back losses before rallying to win 11 straight and finish the regular season with the East's best record.

The Sky (0-2) ended last season tied for fourth in the conference, and are off to another rough start. After losing at Connecticut in last Saturday's opener, Chicago fell to New York 85-82 a day later.

Sylvia Fowles finished with a career-best 23 points, but had the potential tying layup blocked with 1:07 remaining. She averaged 12.0 points on 9 of 11 shooting in two games against Indiana last season.

The Sky have never opened a season with three consecutive losses, and hope to turn things around in their new home.

After spending their first four seasons playing at the UIC Pavilion on Chicago's West Side, the Sky have moved to the Allstate Arena in nearby Rosemont.

Chicago hopes the change of scenery will attract larger crowds. The Sky ranked last in the WNBA in attendance last season, averaging fewer than 4,000 per game.

"It's a great arena, and we're looking forward to a big crowd opening night, and hopefully everyone can come and support us," guard Jia Perkins told the Sky's official website.

Despite playing in front of sparse home crowds last season, Chicago managed to go 12-5 at the UIC Pavilion. The Sky split two home games against the Fever, but are still 4-11 in the all-time series.

Indiana's Katie Douglas averaged 13.3 points in four games against Chicago last season. The Fever guard is struggling early this year, totaling 17 points on 7 of 19 shooting.

The teams will meet again Sunday in Indianapolis.