WNBA Finals: Chelsea Saves the Sparks in Game One

[burnspbesq]

Duke’s Chelsea Gray went off for a career-high 27 points, including the game-winner with two seconds to go, as LA squeaked out a one-point win over Minnesota in game one of the WNBA finals. Gray shot 10-16 from the field, including 3-5 from three.

The Sparks opened the game on a 26-2 run and led by 21 after one quarter, but the Lynx cut the lead in half before the break, and a late run gave them a one-point lead before Chelsea’s late heroics.

Alana Beard added 10 for LA.

Game two is Tuesday night in Minneapolis.

[drummerdevil]

Wow, is this the first time anyone has ever gone on a 26-2 run to start the finals, especially against minnesota? Please correct me if I'm wrong, as I'm not a WNBA follower and am stating this based on no actual fact, but aren't Minnesota like by far the best team? I seem to recall the Olympic roster being at least like 80% Minnesota.

[gadzooks]

Way to go, Chelsea! I completely forgot about the first game, gonna go set the TiVo for the next one.

[awhom111]

Wow, is this the first time anyone has ever gone on a 26-2 run to start the finals, especially against minnesota? Please correct me if I'm wrong, as I'm not a WNBA follower and am stating this based on no actual fact, but aren't Minnesota like by far the best team? I seem to recall the Olympic roster being at least like 80% Minnesota.

I would not say that the Lynx are by far the best team, especially since the Sparks are defending champions (thanks to Chelsea also), but they were expected to be the favorites for the championship this season. They did indeed have 4 of the 12 Olympians while the Sparks have none and also 6 of the top 29 all time scorers.

[Troublemaker]

Sparks are up 2-1 and need to finish the series at home today. Don't want to go back to Minnesota for a deciding Game 5.

Glad to see Chelsea and Alana starting for the possible champs. (I believe Chelsea came off the bench for the Sparks last year)

http://www.espn.com/wnba/boxscore?gameId=400981430

And I think I'll count Candace Parker as part of the Duke family, although Shelden did file for divorce.

[burnspbesq]

The story in game three was LA’s perimeter defense. Minnesota’s starting guards, Whalen and Augustus, were held to a combined 0-6 from the field. Renee Montgomery and onetime Dukie Alexis Jones gave the Lynx some quality minutes, but it wasn’t enough.

[CameronBornAndBred]

The Lynx took the championship, 85-76 in the deciding game.
Chelsea Gray was the Sparks second leading scorer with 15 points in the finale, but Alana Beard had only 2. (Both with over 30 minutes of play.)

[burnspbesq]

That was five games worth of extraordinarily good basketball. If you didn't see any of it, track it down on WatchESPN or YouTube.

From a Duke perspective, it's great to see Chelsea realizing her potential. Don't be surprised if she's the starting point guard for the USA in Tokyo three years from now.

And what can you say about Alana? Defensive Player of the Year at age 35, just a couple of years removed from a string of career-threatening injuries. If you have a daughter or a niece who plays, sit her down and make her watch all the tape you can find. Alana puts on a defensive clinic every night.