LOS ANGELES – In these star-studded Finals, which feature four of the last five
WNBA MVPs, 14 former All-Stars and five of the 10 All-Defense selections from
this year, every matchup is vitally important.
But there are a couple of individual battles – one on each side of the court –
that stand out. They involve the past two Defensive Player of the Year winners
guarding recent MVPs.
During the regular season, the team that held both Nneka Ogwumike and Maya Moore
to their lowest scoring averages was their current Finals opponent. Moore scored
just 10.7 points per game against L.A. in the regular season, while Ogwumike
averaged 12.7 points against Minnesota.
Alana Beard and company limited Moore to 39 percent shooting in their three
meetings. She never had more than 12 points or four field goals. Ogwumike had
one monster game against Minnesota – 27 points on July 6 – but Sylvia Fowles and
the Lynx held her to eight points and two points in the final regular-season
meetings. Those were Ogwumike’s only single-digit scoring outputs all season.
Knowing that, how are those two matchups panning out so far this series?
_ _ _ _
Ogwumike has been quiet on the offensive end, scoring 11 points in each of the
first two games. She’s shooting a combined 32 percent from the floor, and the
2016 MVP was held without a field goal in the first half of Game 2, as the Lynx
built an enormous lead.
In the regular season, Fowles posted the league’s best defensive rating and the
most total blocks. She has a four-inch advantage on Ogwumike, and that alone can
be the difference sometimes:
“It’d be great for Nneka to break out a little bit,” Sparks coach Brian Agler
said Thursday. “I think she’s really competing hard, though. I always expect big
and great things out of Nneka. It’s not one of those things you have to talk to
her about. She knows. She has high expectations of herself too.
“Sylvia definitely has the advantage around the basket because of her size and
athleticism. Nneka has the quickness advantage and the mobility advantage. So
like anything else, you just try to play to your strengths.”
While her scoring numbers are down, Ogwumike is still contributing in other
ways, averaging two steals and almost 10 rebounds per game. Plus, the Sparks
have proven they boast the talent to overcome an off night from their leading
scorer.
“She’s an amazing player, and she’s going to step up big for us, even just with
her activity,” Candace Parker said Thursday. “All of our starters are capable of
having the offense run around them. Just the simple fact of them being on the
floor makes them have to take certain things away. So whether I’m scoring points
or not, I feel like I’m a threat. Same thing with Nneka.”
_ _ _ _
Like the Lynx with Ogwumike, the Sparks view Moore as an assignment for the
entire team.
“You can’t guard Maya with one person,” Beard said Thursday. “Maya’s an
Olympian, an All-Star, a player that can score in numerous ways. You just have
to stay engaged in whatever she’s doing.”
After struggling against Beard in the regular season, Moore filled it up in Game
1 of these Finals with a team-high 27 points on 10-of-16 shooting. She scored
just 13 in the Game 2 victory, but Moore has also been getting to the line
often, making 10 of 13 foul shots so far.
Even for a Defensive Player of the Year like Beard, sometimes there’s nothing
you can do to stop her:
Wicked crossover and nothing but net for @MooreMaya!
With 4:15 to go, @minnesotalynx lead 66-57. #WNBAFinals pic.twitter.com/jhKRqejZPN
— WNBA (@WNBA) September 27, 2017
Moore has scored the most points in WNBA Finals history, and she’s not far from
passing Diana Taurasi on the all-time playoff scoring chart. In a recent piece
for The Players’ Tribune, Beard labeled Moore one of the toughest players she
has guarded in her 12-year career. She said Moore had her number in their first
few meetings when Beard first arrived in L.A.
Moore has found success in these Finals, but Minnesota knows it won’t be easy to
maintain.
“I’m happy with that matchup so far,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. “Alana’s won
some of the battles, and Maya’s won some of the battles. I think Maya’s doing a
lot of the things we’ve asked her to do to find success. Both of them are
incredibly prideful about what they’re doing, about their craft. And that’s what
makes it such an interesting matchup to strategize against.”
_ _ _ _
Through two games, the Finals have been everything the fans could have hoped
for, with the league’s best teams battling until the very last second. In
Friday’s pivotal Game 3 at STAPLES Center, these two matchups could be the
deciding factors.
