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Lisa Leslie is having a career year, and her peers say she is the MVP of the WNBA, but they pick her Los Angeles Sparks to lose against the Connecticut Sun in the Finals.
"No one comes close this year," ESPN analyst Ann Meyers says of the MVP race. "You can't discount what Tamika Catchings, Katie Douglas, Lauren Jackson or Cheryl Ford have done, but what Lisa has done has been remarkable.
"For me, it is a no-brainer."
Leslie was the runaway MVP choice in a USA TODAY poll of 25 of 26 All-Stars in 2006, with Indiana's Catchings a distant second. Leslie is averaging 20.8 points, 9.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists.
"That shows the respect players have for Leslie," Meyers says.
Catchings, the reigning defensive player of the year who is averaging a league-leading 2.8 steals per game, says it's an honor to have her peers pick her to win the honor again.
"Every night, it's a personal challenge to keep my opponent from getting their average," Catchings says. "I want whoever I play to think they will be in a long night."
In the East, the playoff field is set -- Connecticut, Detroit, Indiana and Washington have clinched berths -- and all that remains is seeding. Los Angeles is the only West team to clinch a playoff berth, with five teams competing for the other three postseason spots.
There are two nationally televised games tonight with playoff implications. Indiana is at Detroit (8 ET, ESPN2), and Sacramento hosts Houston (10 ET, ESPN2).
"L.A. and Sacramento are just playing great basketball," says Seattle coach Anne Donovan, whose Storm are holding on to the fourth and final berth in the West. "Houston, when Tina (Thompson, calf injury) comes back, which is any day now, is going to finish strong. I think you're really at us, Phoenix and San Antonio fighting for the last spot ... it's going to be a dogfight."
The All-Stars said the Sparks will come out of the West, but will lose to the Sun in the Finals. Though Indiana lost to Connecticut in last year's conference finals, Catchings disagrees with the prediction.
"I'm definitely not feeling that one," Catchings says. "From the East, it will be us. Of course, we've got to get past Detroit first. We just have to stick together and do the things we're capable of doing."
*Standings, 13C
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