ATLANTA – Look for Minnesota Lynx center Taj McWilliams-Franklin to start Game 3 of the WNBA finals tonight at Philips Arena.
After emerging from shootaround and practice today, she was asked how her sprained right knee was feeling.
“It feels pretty good,” she said.
A bag of ice was strapped to her knee. She was injured in the third quarter of Minnesota’s 101-95 victory over Atlanta in Game 2 Wednesday night at Target Center.
“We upgraded her from questionable to probable, but will take a look again and see how it responds,” Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve said. “We will see if there is swelling and pain, and by the time we come back for tonight, we will make another determination, and we will know whether she is in or she is out.”
Asked for her gut instinct on McWilliams-Franklin for Game 3, Reeve said: “She’s in.”
Reeve was pleased with the team’s shootaround and practice.
“We aren’t tight at all,” she said. “That’s what I love about this group. We have fun, but we are oh so focused. We just do our thing.”
Briefly: Seimone Augustus made a half-court shot during a drill designed for last-second, desperation shots.
– McWilliams-Franklin is featured in this week’s edition of Sports Illustrated. She was shown the article today after practice.
“This is really nice; it is cool,” said McWilliams-Franklin, 41, one of the pioneers of the WNBA.
She said it was the first time she has appeared in the magazine.
