The league-leading Minnesota Lynx will go for their eighth win in a row when they visit the Indiana Fever on Sunday evening.
Minnesota (20-2) holds a three-game lead over the Los Angeles Sparks in the race for the best record in the WNBA. The Lynx have won six of their past seven games by double digits and they are 9-1 on the road.
Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve wants her players to maintain a sense of urgency with the playoffs about a month away.
"It means home stretch," Reeve told the team's official website. "It means sprint to the finish. It means you're seeing teams for the second or third time, in most cases. You move into a different phase of, you're not going to be able to run your stuff cleanly at this point. That moves you closer toward the playoffs. Being able to play when somebody takes something away is really important at this point."
Indiana (8-17) is tumbling in the opposite direction as it enters this weekend's showdown. The Fever have lost five games in a row, which matches their longest skid of the season, and need to post their first victory since July 19 to avoid a season-worst six-game losing streak.
The Lynx will play their first game since losing guard Lindsay Whalen due to a broken left hand. Whalen underwent surgery Friday to repair a fracture of the fifth metacarpal near her pinkie finger, and she is expected to be sidelined for the next few weeks.
In 22 starts this season, Whalen averaged 8.0 points and a team-leading 4.1 assists per game. The 35-year-old who played collegiately at Minnesota is in her 14th WNBA season.
Guard Renee Montgomery might come off the bench to start for Whalen. The 30-year-old Montgomery is averaging 7.0 points and 3.0 assists in 22 games off the bench this season.
Minnesota also expects to welcome back guard Seimone Augustus, who missed the previous two games because of personal reasons. Augustus was selected to the All-Star Game this year and is averaging 11.5 points and 3.9 assists per game.
Indiana forward Candice Dupree has scored in double digits in three consecutive games and will try to extend the streak to four against the Lynx. Dupree also has become a vocal leader for the Fever, calling on herself and her teammates to play better defense.
"We have to find a way to get back," Dupree told the team's official website after the Fever's most recent loss to the Chicago Sky. "Can't just let one person dribble all the way down and make a layup. I felt like the effort was there for the most part. We just have to be smarter."
