:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/assets/174982/031.jpg)
Will the Mercury continue to score at an unbelievable rate?
Can the Sparks find a way to slow things down so their limited depth isn't so exposed?
Will this be Lisa Leslie's last professional game?
Stay tuned, answers to those questions plus the solution to global warming coming soon!
Candace Parker pregame chat
Candace was the first Spark out on the floor to warm up and the last one off. She felt the difference in game 1 was the 3 point shooting of Phoenix and said that tonight the Sparks will play tighter on the line and look to run the Mercury shooters off the arc.
Parker claimed that the extended minutes for the Sparks starters didn't have an impact at the end of the game but I can't see how that pace and all that floor time wasn't a factor. Parker herself missed two fairly open layups in the final minutes. I can't imagine she missed those if she's not tired.
I asked her if her team will respond tonight, Parker said this, "I think so. We always do things when our backs are against the wall. Sometimes we make things a lot harder than they need to be so this isn't any different."
Penny Taylor pregame chat
Penny said that the energy around the team is good and called this their best opportunity to finish the series, "You really need to take away any confidence they have and going into a third game wouldn't be ideal for us."
Taylor certainly thinks that the extra rest would be an advantage in the finals against either Detroit or Indiana if they can close out tonight.
Taylor credited her performance in game 1 on her teammates drawing so much defensive attention and didn't want to talk about her great shooting although she called Tangela Smith money from the top of the key. She expects the game to be physical like game 1 and for the Sparks to pound it inside.
Her finger is doing better and isn't so sensitive and is not bothering her. She isn't sure how it happened, "I just noticed it when I was on the bench at one point and I got an x-ray and it was broken. It's my left, I don't use it that much anyway."