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Cambage facing suspension as Wings face off against Fever (Aug 01, 2018)
The Dallas Wings might be without star center Liz Cambage when they battle the hapless Indiana Fever on Thursday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis.
Cambage picked up her seventh technical foul of the season on Tuesday in a 92-91 loss to Chicago and faces a possible suspension. According to the WNBA rule book, a seventh technical will result in an $800 fine and a suspension for the ensuing game unless the league rescinds the technical foul.
"The refereeing is horrible," Cambage said. "That's my thoughts."
The Wings fought back from a 24-point second-quarter deficit to take a lead in the final seconds but couldn't hold on. Cambage had 33 points and 13 rebounds in the defeat, but missed the first of two free throws with 13.6 seconds to play that would have given the Wings a two-point lead.
Chicago won when Cheyenne Parker hit a put-back basket with 5.3 seconds left and Dallas' Skylar Diggins-Smith committed a costly turnover on the ensuing possession that denied the Wings a shot to win.
Diggins-Smith poured in 15 points and Allisha Gray had 12 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds for the Wings, who also got 11 points and 14 rebounds from Glory Johnson and 10 points from Kayla Thornton.
The loss was the third straight for Dallas (14-12). Prior to the past three contests, the Wings had won seven of eight games.
"We didn't want to be embarrassed on our home court, so we got it together and came out at halftime," Cambage said about the comeback.
Thursday's game is the first for the Fever (3-23) since July 24. They are the only team in the WNBA that has already been eliminated from playoff contention.
But Indiana can't be taken lightly, as its three wins have come against three of the top clubs in the league -- Atlanta, Minnesota and, most recently, Los Angeles on the road on July 20.
Indiana's duo of Candice Dupree and Kelsey Mitchell pose the biggest scoring threat, with each averaging better than 13 points per game. As a team, the Fever averages 75.1 points on 40.7 percent shooting from the floor, with both those rankings at the bottom of the league.
Despite 26 points from Mitchell and a double-double by Dupree, the Fever lost to first-place Seattle 92-72 on July 24 in their final game before the All-Star Break. The Storm led wire-to-wire, though Indiana cut the deficit to eight points (80-72) with 2:05 to play. Down the stretch, however, the Fever missed four shots and committed a pair of turnovers as Seattle scored the game's last 12 points.
"We didn't finish, we fizzled, and that's extremely disappointing in terms of where we are and what we need to do," Indiana coach Pokey Chatman said. "I'm not talking about moral victories, I'm just talking about being responsible and finishing things at a higher level. We didn't, and we can't do that against any team in this league, let alone a team that's in first."
Thursday's game is the third and final meeting between the two teams this season. The Wings beat Indiana 89-83 in Indianapolis on June 8, and won a 90-63 decision in Arlington on July 5. The Wings have won three straight against the Fever overall.
The Fever lead the overall series with Dallas 30-26 and have won 19 of the 27 games played in Indiana.
