Indiana Fever (8-17) vs Minnesota Lynx (20-2)

Date: Sunday, August 6, 2017
Time: 6:00 p.m. (EDT)
Site: Bankers Life Fieldhouse
TV: FOX Sports Indiana, NBATV
Live Stream: FOX Sports GO App

Probable Starters
Fever: F- Tiffany Mitchell, F- Candice Dupree, C- Natalie Achonwa, G- Erica Wheeler, G- Briann January
Lynx: F- Maya Moore, F- Rebekkah Brunson, C- Sylvia Fowles, G- Jia Perkins, G- Renee Montgomery

The Indiana Fever face the Minnesota Lynx for the first time this season when the Lynx come to Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Sunday night. The matchup is the first of three in the Fever’s next eight games.

Tiffany Mitchell has earned a start in the past four games, and has been a steady scoring presence for Indiana. The second-year pro has scored in double figures five straight games, averaging 11.6 points per contest over that stretch. She’s also among the league’s best at the free throw stripe. Her 91.6 conversion rate is sixth-best as of Friday night, and she’s been perfect at the line since entering the starting lineup.

Storylines & Promotion

• The Fever lost 81-70 to the Chicago Sky, Friday night. Candice Dupree led the team with 18 points and added six rebounds. Natalie Achonwa added 14 points and four rebounds for the Fever, who tied a season-high in assists with 21.

• Briann January had eight of the team’s 21 assists, which is a season-high for the veteran point guard. She has posted seven assists four times this year, most recently against Phoenix on July 19.

• Dupree has scored in double figures three straight games. Natalie Achonwa has also had a steady stretch of scoring, putting up double-digit point totals in three of the past four games.

• Erica Wheeler has been dishing assists at a high rate the past four games. Her average of 6.5 assists over that stretch would rank fourth in the WNBA if it were her season average.

• The Lynx are coming off of a 69-54 win against the Atlanta Dream, Thursday night. Sylvia Fowles led the way with 25 points and 13 rebounds. Maya Moore was the only other Minnesota player in double figures with 15 points. The Lynx outscored the Dream 23-2 in the fourth quarter.

• The Fever are the best free throw shooting team in the WNBA, with a mark of 85.8 percent. The team is on pace to set a new franchise record for the second straight year, besting the team’s 84.5 percent performance from last season.

• When the Fever hold a lead entering the final quarter, they are 5-2. With a lead in crunch time, they’re even better: 7-1 when leading with four minutes to play. The two times they squandered final quarter leads were in losses last week to Dallas and New York.

• Lynx point guard Lindsay Whalen suffered a fracture on her left hand against Atlanta and is out indefinitely. Minnesota forward Seimone Augustus has missed the past two games due to personal reasons.

• Coach Pokey Chatman coached Sylvia Fowles and Augustus during their careers at LSU. Minnesota forward Natasha Howard began her career with Indiana, playing with the Fever as a rookie prior to a 2016 preseason trade.

• The Fever are 12-21 all-time against the Lynx, with a 6-10 record at home. The Lynx are a special opponent for Indiana, as they have faced the Fever in the 2012 and 2015 WNBA Finals. The Fever became league champions in 2012 in a 3-1 victory over Minnesota, but the Lynx triumphed in 2015 in a five-game thriller.