Conference Finals Previews

New York vs. Washington

Season series--New York, 2-1.

First game--Tonight, 5 PDT, ESPN2

*--* EASTERN CONFERENCE

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Update--The veteran Liberty team was pushed to the first-round limit by Indiana, and gets to face another young, run-and-gun team as its reward. Nonetheless, New York is expecting to reach the WNBA finals for a fourth time. Washington, off since Saturday after sweeping Charlotte, has to eliminate from its mind how New York caught and passed it for the regular-season conference title and beat the Mystics twice. Forward Chamique Holdsclaw averaged 20.5 points and 12 rebounds in the Charlotte series. She will draw the same kind of defensive attention the Liberty applied to Indiana’s Tamika Catchings. It will be up to role players Stacey Dales-Schuman, Coco Miller and Vicky Bullett to break through the collection of zones that frustrated Catchings and Indiana the final two games. Washington has to find a way to contain forward Tamika Whitmore, who averaged 19.6 points in the Indiana series and looked unstoppable in the low post.

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*--* WESTERN CONFERENCE

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Sparks vs. Utah

Season series--Sparks, 3-0.

First game--Tonight at Utah, 7 PDT, ESPN2.

Update--Utah legitimized its 20-win regular season by taking out Houston in the first round, winning its first playoff series. The Starzz now go after another longtime Western Conference tormentor in the Sparks. But the Sparks present different problems than the Comets; Houston was the lowest-scoring team in the playoffs while the Sparks are the highest-scoring team. In addition, the Starzz’s strength--a wide-open game--is the Sparks’ strength. Utah guard Marie Ferdinand and center Margo Dydek sparkled in the Houston series, and Natalie Williams was dominant in the final two games. Lisa Leslie was the focal point for the Sparks in their first-round series win over Seattle, and she will be again. Game 1 should be a test of how much energy the Starzz can muster after Tuesday’s dramatic victory over Houston, and how out of rhythm the Sparks are on offense after being off since Saturday.