Fever-Linx preview

The Minnesota Lynx can set the WNBA record for most consecutive victories to start a season on Tuesday night. The Lynx (10-0-) will go for that victory against

The Minnesota Lynx can set the WNBA record for most consecutive victories to start a season on Tuesday night.

The Lynx (10-0-) will go for that victory against the Indiana Fever, their 2015 WNBA Finals opponent, at Target Center in Minneapolis. The game will be televised on ESPN2.

Minnesota tied the league record for best start -- set by the 2012 Lynx squad -- on Saturday night with an 83-76 victory at Washington on the back end of road games on consecutive nights.

"We just like to handle challenges as they come," Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said on WNBA.com after the game. "I just told them how proud I was. We don't make excuses. Nobody puts an asterisk next to a 'W' or an 'L' saying, 'Yeah, but...' Nobody cares about that.

"In the end, it's just the total. We take great pride and just take it one game at a time."

The closest game this season, by margin, for the defending WNBA champs came at Indiana on May 27. The Fever (4-6) trailed 29-6 after the first quarter but outscored the Lynx 44-24 in the second half to make it 74-71 at the end.

The rematch might not be as close if the Lynx can improve on their 3-of-20 shooting from 3-point range in that game.

Guards Lindsay Whalen and Seimone Augustus each scored 12 points for Minnesota in the first meeting against the Fever. Forward Maya Moore had nine points and eight assists.

Moore is having an MVP-type season, averaging 20.2 points, 4.9 assists and 4.8 rebounds, shooting 46.4 percent from the field.

Indiana is coming off a 90-88 home loss to Seattle on Sunday. Forward Tamika Catchings, who will turn 37 next month and is set to retire at the end of the season, scored 27 points for the Fever.

Rookie guard Tiffany Mitchell, a first-round pick out of South Carolina, leads a balanced Indiana attack with 13.6 points per game. Catchings is at 12.2 and guard Shenise Johnson averages 11.1.

Even if Minnesota gets the record, it will be looking over its shoulder at the Los Angeles Sparks, who are 9-0 heading into Tuesday night's home game against the Chicago Sky.

The Lynx and Sparks are potentially heading to an unbeaten showdown on Tuesday, June 21, in Los Angeles.


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