Whalen and Moore have 20, Augustus adds 18 and Lynx cool off Mercury 85-62 in Game 1

MINNEAPOLIS – Lindsay Whalen and Maya Moore scored 20 points apiece and Seimone Augustus added 18 to lead the Minnesota Lynx to an 85-62 win in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals on Thursday night.

Diana Taurasi scored 15 and Brittney Griner had 13 points and six rebounds for the Mercury, who now face a must-win situation in Game 2 in Phoenix on Sunday.

Both teams started out cold on, but Minnesota recovered quickly and turned the first half into a mismatch. After hitting just one of their first six field goal attempts, the Lynx made 16 of their next 23 shots, while Phoenix was just 9 for 37 (24.3 percent) for the half.

Minnesota has won all six meetings with the Mercury this season, but they hadn't played since July 24. The Mercury went 9-4 down the stretch after naming Russ Pennell their interim head coach.