MINNEAPOLIS -- When Brittney Griner heard Minnesota had completed the long-rumored deal that brought Sylvia Fowles to the Lynx, her first reaction was, well, unprintable.
"I said, 'Are you f---ing kidding me?' " Griner said. But her Phoenix Mercury coach, Sandy Brondello, wasn't surprised.
"I heard the rumors for a long time," Brondello said. "But I was wondering how they were going to get the deal done. When it happened, I think my reaction was, 'Yeah. Makes sense.'"
Because Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve had to know there was a decent chance her team's title hopes in 2015 were going to run through Phoenix, and by extension, the long arms and big body of Griner.
"Besides Sylvia being a great player, it's one of the key reasons we made this trade," Reeve said. "To be able to handle ourselves in a way inside is more challenging for Griner inside. She has to play a little more attention to Syl. It keeps her occupied, which is a great thing for the rest of the players who are trying to score."
Fowles is perfectly fine with that arrangement.
"When you have somebody who is 6-8, who will do what she does, you want somebody like me, who will do what I do, as well," Fowles said.
The post matchup between Griner and Fowles, a head-to-head duel that dates back to Griner's college days at Baylor when she started going up against "Big Syl" at USA Basketball training camps, has now blossomed into one of the WNBA's must-see matchups and will figure large in what should be a tight series between two talent-laden, experienced teams.
"It will probably go a long way in deciding who wins," Brondello said.
Fowles sat out more than half a season to get this deal done. She wanted to come to Minnesota because she wanted to earn her first title, and Griner will be directly in her way.
"I think it's going to be really fun," Reeve said. "I think it's going to come down to a test of wills. I think they each want do things at both ends of the floor, and I think both of them are going to work really hard to make sure they don't get the position they are after."
Fowles has been with Minnesota since July 27 after sitting out the first part of the season after demanding a trade from Chicago. In 18 games, she's averaged 15.3 points and 8.3 rebounds. In three games against Phoenix, she's averaged 13.7 points and 10.0 rebounds.
Griner played in four of the five games between the two teams during the regular season, missing the first matchup while serving her seven-game suspension. Griner averaged 12.5 points, 10.3 rebounds and 5.8 blocks as the Mercury split those four games.
Fowles had a roller-coaster series in last year's WNBA Finals matchup against Griner. In Game 1, she had 19 points and 11 rebounds, but the Mercury adjusted defensively and held her to four points and five rebounds in Game 2. In Game 3, in which the Mercury were able to complete the sweep, Fowles ended with 20 points and eight rebounds as Griner sat out with an eye injury.
Reeve said Fowles has been adjusting to her new team, an adjustment that reset itself with the postseason.
"I think there was a sense of feeling things, and she figured it out and she really came through for us.
Fowles had not played regularly since she arrived with Seimone Augustus or Lindsay Whalen. She had played with them both on the floor together only once before the playoffs began. She got off to a slow start in the playoffs, and even Tuesday night in Game 3 against Los Angeles, but had a big fourth quarter against the Sparks, a momentum she's looking to carry into Thursday's game.
Griner exploded out of the gate during the first-round series against Tulsa, averaging 20.5 points, 10.0 rebounds and 8.9 blocks.
"Phoenix played with a sense of urgency against Tulsa, but I also think Tulsa didn't get things done defensively the way we hope to," said Fowles, whose main charge is to "maintain" Griner. "We hope to put up more resistance. Brittany was able to go where she wanted to go, which was deep in the paint.
"She's 6-8, so that's an advantage for her there, but you are just trying to keep her out of her sweet spots and run her at both ends of the floor," Fowles said. "It comes down to being smart and remembering what's worked in the past and what didn't."
Fowles has a thick file with that information, particularly after last year's Finals matchup.
"You really have to go at her. She's long and she takes up a lot of space in the paint, but you have to go up and be physical," Fowles said.
Griner said she's looking forward to the matchup.
"I love this match, going against a big body," Griner said. "I don't see a lot of doubles when I'm going against Syl. Unless Maya [Moore] wants to come over and help and try to trap."
Griner said she's learned a lot and improved as a player from going up against Fowles in the past three seasons.
"Syl will seal you, she's got the perfect name," Griner said. "She's one of the best post players I go up against. The one-on-one post moves you work on all the time. I actually get to use them."