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Fever-Sparks Preview

Aug 9, 2010 - 4:31 PM By MATT BEARDMORE STATS Writer

Indiana (18-10) at Los Angeles (10-18), 10:00 p.m. EDT

Facing the league's highest-scoring team in their last game, the Indiana Fever had one of their most impressive defensive efforts of the season.

The Eastern Conference-leading Fever now look for another solid defensive performance and a sweep of the season series against the Los Angeles Sparks on Tuesday night at Staples Center.

Coming off Friday's 95-93 victory over Atlanta that pushed them past the Dream for the East lead, the defending conference champion Fever (18-10) won 104-82 at Phoenix on Sunday in a rematch of last season's WNBA finals.

Indiana shot 58.3 percent from the field, and made 12 of 14 shots in the fourth quarter when it outscored the league's top-scoring team 30-12. The Fever, who are limiting opponents to a league-best 73.2 points, held the Mercury to more than 15 points below their season average.

Indiana was just as impressive in a 76-57 victory over Los Angeles (10-18) on July 22, limiting the Sparks to six field goals and 21 second-half points.

"It was energy on defense," coach Lin Dunn said following the Fever's fourth straight home win against Los Angeles. "We forced them into some bad shots, we got some turnovers, they were struggling scoring."

That has been a problem all season for the Sparks, who are averaging a Western Conference-low 76.6 points.

While the Fever are trying to maintain their one-half game lead in the East, Los Angeles is just trying to secure a playoff spot. Despite Tina Thompson scoring 23 points and passing Lisa Leslie to become the league's all-time leading scorer, the Sparks fell one-half game behind Minnesota for the fourth and final playoff spot Sunday following a 92-83 loss to visiting San Antonio.

"I just think (Thompson's pursuit of the scoring record) was a distraction," said coach Jennifer Gillom. "There's been a lot of talk about it. I'm just glad that it's over with so we can get that out of our heads and start focusing on winning games."

Los Angeles has won two straight at home against Indiana, including 75-63 on Aug. 10, 2009. Katie Douglas led the Fever with 16 points while teammate Tamika Catchings added 15 and six rebounds.

Catchings, who leads Indiana with 17.7 points, 6.8 boards and 3.9 assists per game, had 11 points, six rebounds and six assists in the July 22 victory.

Thompson scored 19 points with eight rebounds to pace Los Angeles.

Indiana has won four of five on the road, but the home team in this matchup has won the last five times since the Fever's 57-56 victory July 5, 2007.