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Liberty-Lynx Preview

Aug 8, 2010 - 12:05 AM By KATE HEDLIN STATS Writer

New York (16-11) at Minnesota (9-16), 7:00 p.m. EDT

Neither the New York Liberty nor the Minnesota Lynx looked like a playoff-caliber team when the teams met in late June.

Since then, both have rebounded nicely to get into playoff position and come into Sunday night's game at the Target Center looking to extend their respective winning streaks.

These clubs got off to slow starts and when the Lynx beat the Liberty 75-68 on June 22, it was New York's third straight defeat and Minnesota (10-16) lost star Candice Wiggins to a season-ending Achilles' tendon injury.

Each club has recovered, however, and New York (16-11) heads into the Target Center as one of the league's hottest teams. The Liberty have won five in a row, including an 85-77 victory over Washington on Friday, to move into a tie with the Mystics for third place in the Eastern Conference - one game behind Atlanta and Indiana.

"At the beginning of the season we came in with a bunch of new personnel and a new coaching staff for a full season, so there was a lot of transition and a lot of changes that occurred," coach Anne Donovan said. "The team has worked on their defense and we have become one of the best teams in the WNBA in my opinion."

New York, holding opponents to 73.7 points per game to rank among the league leaders, now tries to win six in a row for the first time since May 23-June 5, 2004.

Starting guards Cappie Pondexter and Leilani Mitchell each hit four 3-pointers and combined for 38 points Friday. While Pondexter is among the league leaders with 20.5 points per game, Mitchell has gone 10 of 17 from 3-point range in the last three games as she's averaged 13.0 points - about four above her season average.

The Lynx, meanwhile, have won three straight to move a half-game ahead of San Antonio and Los Angeles for third place in the Western Conference and within 3 1/2 games of second-place Phoenix.

Minnesota overcame a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter in an 87-82 overtime victory over Chicago on Saturday.

Seimone Augustus hit the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 26.9 seconds left in overtime and finished with 27 points. She's averaged 24.0 points in the last three games.

The Lynx's winning streak matches their longest of the season, but it hasn't been easy. They blew a 30-point lead before defeating Connecticut in overtime Tuesday and beat league-leading Seattle by one point last Sunday.

Minnesota hasn't won four in a row since a five-game winning streak to open the 2008 season.

The Lynx have won their last two home games against the Liberty.