Storm faces surging Fever

Speaking from a 77th-floor hotel room in Atlanta, Indiana coach Lin Dunn might as well have been a guru seated on a mountaintop as she spilled her team's prophecy.

The Fever lost its first two games, but needed only a few adjustments to become a contender, Dunn felt.

"One of the things that hurt us really bad last year is you get hurt," Dunn said in June. "Tamika Catchings hasn't been healthy for two years. She's healthy right now, knock on wood. If we stay healthy and we have a point guard that complements Tully Bevilaqua, yeah, I think we're a legitimate team that can challenge for the Eastern Conference championship. I know we're better than last year. But everybody else is better."

Dunn's crystal ball wasn't completely accurate.

No one else is better than the Fever (19-6), which needs one win to become the first team to clinch a WNBA playoff berth when it plays the Storm (14-11) tonight at KeyArena.

Indiana's impressive ascent, coincidentally, started against the Storm. Dunn, Seattle's inaugural coach, replaced Spokane rookie Briann January in the starting lineup with Bevilaqua, and Indiana went on an 11-game win streak. The lineup change put Bevilaqua, a familiar foe, on Storm All-Star Sue Bird as Indiana won 73-66. Bevilaqua had five steals, Bird five turnovers.

A member of both organizations' All-Decade teams, Bevilaqua played on the Storm's 2004 championship team. At 37, the Australian rolls on.

Dunn said the Fever talked with Bevilaqua almost two years ago about bringing in a point guard for the future, and letting the veteran finish her career as a backup.

"Then last year we traded our first-round pick and Tamika Whitmore for Katie Douglas, so we didn't get a chance," Dunn said. "This year, it was like, 'Tully trust me, we're going to do this.' "

But Bevilaqua, with her tenacious defense and experience, was too good to sit. So good that Brian Agler, Storm coach and director of player personnel, tried to bring Bevilaqua back to Seattle during the offseason.

She left Seattle as a free agent in 2005 when the Fever offered a starting role.

"I had a couple of offers put on the table, but I truly wanted to come back to Indiana," said Bevilaqua, who has family in the area. "I'm down to the last couple years of my career. I've got to make sure I'm looked after.

"It would be weird to think of Lauren Jackson not playing in Seattle, and it's the same for me and Indiana. It has a home feel about it for me."

Seattle, returning from a 1-2 trip, knows that playing at home won't be enough to beat one of the WNBA's best defensive teams, which features MVP candidate Douglas (18 points per game).

All-Star Swin Cash will be back in the starting lineup for Seattle. She played as a reserve in the first game with Indiana after having outpatient back surgery in March. But Jackson (19.9 ppg) still has a sore lower back and had an acupuncture treatment after practice Friday.

"We need to maintain a level head, not get too flustered by their defense," Jackson said. "Then play good defense ourselves, and we'll be OK."

Another prophecy? Seattle can only hope.

Jayda Evans: 206-464-2067 or jevans@seattletimes.com