Ford questionable for Detroit as finals begin

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – Shock coach Bill Laimbeer knows a lot about playing with pain and he isn’t sure how much Cheryl Ford will be able to play in the WNBA finals.

“I’m very concerned about Cheryl’s knee against Phoenix,” said Laimbeer, who put together a streak of 685 consecutive games as a player. “We’ve asked too much of her already.”

Ford’s health is the biggest question mark with Detroit set to host Phoenix in Game 1 of the finals tonight. The series features Laimbeer’s gritty, physical Shock and Paul Westhead’s warp-speed Mercury but could hinge on the health of the rugged forward.

Ford missed six games after injuring her knee in June, then sat out the season’s final 13 games after aggravating the injury against Indiana on July 20.

Game 1 will be Detroit’s fourth contest in six days, including must-win victories over Indiana on Sunday and Monday, and the effort has taken an obvious toll on the league’s best rebounder. Ford said that she hopes to play today.

“I don’t know – we’ll see,” she said.

Ford, the MVP of this year’s All-Star game, struggled in Detroit’s postseason opener, failing to score in 11 minutes as Detroit was routed by New York. She came back with double-doubles in Games 2 and 3, helping Detroit advance, but had to play 39 minutes in the Shock’s 71-70 overtime win in Game 3.

At the time, Laimbeer said he didn’t even know if Ford would be able to play in the first game of the Indiana series, but she had 15 points and 11 rebounds in 32 minutes of the 75-65 loss.

After one day off, Ford only had to play 19 minutes in the Shock’s comfortable Game 2 win, but even that appeared to have been too much. She lasted just over 4 minutes of Game 3 before limping to the bench with two fouls and the Shock trailing 16-3.

Midway through the second quarter, with the Shock rallying, she told Laimbeer that she wanted to give it one more try.

In her next 14 minutes, spanning the second and third quarters, Ford had 15 rebounds to help the Shock turn the game into a rout.

Detroit’s struggles to get out of the Eastern Conference are a sharp contrast to what Phoenix did in the West. The Mercury swept Seattle and San Antonio, averaging 99 points a game.

Phoenix struggled badly against Detroit this year, losing both games. The Shock set league records with 40 points in the third quarter and 72 points in the second half in a 111-82 rout of the Mercury on July 8.