By Roman Augustoviz, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) –
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — The Road to Repeat — the Lynx’s slogan this season — hit a dead end on Sunday.
Indiana beat the defending champions, 87-78, at Bankers Life Fieldhouse with an inspired effort by a short-handed team.
Tamika Catchings, the 12-year veteran and team leader yearning for her first title, scored 25 points and had eight assists.
Indiana, which lost twice to the Lynx to the regular season and played with two key players injured, won the best-of-five WNBA Finals 3-1.
This is Indiana’s first title in pro basketball since the Indiana Pacers won the championship in the old American Basketball Association in 1973.
Lindsay Whalen kept the Lynx close most of the game with a team-high 22, but they faded late primarily because of Seimone Augustus’ nightmarish shooting night. The first team all-WNBA guard and the Lynx’s leading scorer was three of 21. Most of her shots clanked off the front end of the rim. She finished with eight points.
Indiana led most of the first half, but Jessica Adair’s rebound basket with about a minute left gave the Lynx a 42-all tie.
The Fever scored the last five points to go ahead 47-42 at the break. Aussie Erin Phillips made a three-pointer from the left wing and, after a charge on the Lynx, Briann January scored on a drive.
The Lynx had the final possession, but Taj McWilliams-Franklin and Augustus missed shots.
Indiana had its three-headed attack clicking. Catchings and Phillips had 13 points each and Zellous 10 at the break.
Whalen was carrying the Lynx with 14 points and had not missed in five shots. Next Augustus had six points, but she was 2 for 13 from the field and her night never got better.
The Fever built a 10-point lead early in the third quarter at 56-46, but the Lynx would not go away yet. They scored the next eight points to close with 56-54 on Moore’s fast-break layup — on a pass from Whalen — with 5:13 left in the quarter.
Lin Dunn had seen enough. The Indiana coach called timeout.
Neither team scored for seven possessions. The drought ended on Moore’s drive, which gave the Lynx 10 consecutive points and a 56-all tie with 2:34 left in the third.
Catchings answered with a three-pointer to put Indiana ahead 59-56. The Fever’s lead was 63-58 as the quarter ended on missed shots by Augustus and Moore.
The Lynx were still within five at 77-72 when January hit a three-pointer.
She had 15, as did Shavonte Zellous. Phillips also hit double figures with 18.
Besides Whalen, only Moore hit double digits with 16. Not enough firepower.
The Lynx opened this season with a league-record 10 consecutive victories and had a 13-game winning streak in the middle of the season.
Despite losing two of their last three games when they had little to play for — they had the top seed and the home-court advantage throughout the playoffs wrapped up — they finished 27-7. That mark was the same as last year’s record and was only one victory shy of tying the WNBA record.
Several rival coaches called the Lynx the best team in the league after losing to them. And they had the credentials to support those claims.
They set WNBA single-season records by averaging 20.8 assists per game and outrebounding opponents by an average of 6.8 boards per game. They shot 50 percent or better in 13 games, including five in a row. The season had other highlights:
— The Lynx overcame the largest deficit in league history, 25 points, in beating Atlanta on Aug. 7 in two overtimes.
— They shot a league record 69.5 percent July 10 against Tulsa.
— They had three players score over 20 points in beating Seattle on Aug. 21. Augustus had 22, Brunson and Moore 20 apiece.
Sunday was memorable, too — to someone in Fever red.
