The Minnesota Lynx and Phoenix Mercury each entered Friday night’s game at 2-3. Both teams had All-Star pedigrees, marquee matchups and needed a win badly. The Lynx had history to rely on: Phoenix had not beaten Minnesota since August 2015, and had not won in Minnesota since June 2014.
None of that mattered at all as Phoenix controlled most of this game and used a late run to take control as the Lynx again wilted in the fourth quarter and dropped a third straight game, 95-85.
While the Lynx were always in the game throughout the first half, Phoenix seemed to be a step ahead. Phoenix established an early six-point lead, and while Minnesota closed that gap with a 10-3 run, the Lynx were always responding rather than setting the tone.
This matchup has been notable for the matchup between Sylvia Fowles and Brittney Griner since Fowles moved to the Lynx in 2015. As the results above show, the matchup has been good for Fowles, but tonight was a different night.
Fowles scored just four points in the first half and was a non-factor on the glass, as both Rebekkah Brunson and Lindsay Whalen recorded more rebounds than Fowles’ two in the first half. Griner was quiet in the first half, but was huge in the Mercury’s push to a bigger lead late in the third quarter.
Griner didn’t need to be huge in the first half because DeWanna Bonner and Diana Taurasi did all the heavy lifting. Taurasi, the WNBA’s all-time leader in points, was no surprise, but the ease with which Bonner got to the rim in the first half was eye-turning, especially with Maya Moore as her primary defender.
Bonner had 19 points at the half to lead all scorers, and she and Taurasi combined for 36 of Phoenix’s 52 as the Mercury led by two at halftime. Moore and Brunson were both in double figures, but the problem for Minnesota seemed to clearly be on the defensive end.
The runs Phoenix used to take control of the game were no explosive runs, but their consistent ability to score meant that even a simple 6-0 run of Taurasi and Griner was enough to create separation that would last.
That run — which came from a 59-59 tie, the only tie in the third quarter — created separation that would last through the quarter’s end. A late 3-pointer from Moore kept the deficit at five, but the Lynx looked in trouble.
A five-point burst gave the Lynx another tie early in the fourth, but the stops just couldn’t come and the tie provoked another Phoenix run. This one was simple: two 3s from Taurasi, the second a backbreaking transition shot. Another six points, and the lead was set.
The Lynx managed to get some stops in the fourth quarter, but their offense dried up at just the wrong time. After the five points to start the quarter, the Lynx did not make a field goal for five and a half minutes.
The six-point lead from Taurasi’s threes only increased to seven by the time Moore made a jumper with 3:08 to go, but seven was more than enough. A Taurasi layup after an offensive rebound was the dagger, and the losing streak reached three.
Taurasi finished with 29 points, Bonner 24 and Griner 21.
“When you don’t execute your game plan at a high level, you’re going to get beat,” Moore said afterward. “I thought we played with good passion, good energy for most of the game, but if we were to combine that with executing, making really good offensive players more uncomfortable… we need to execute next time.”
“Offensively, we were kind of staying with them for a while, and then defensively we gave up 95 points,” Whalen said. “It’s tough to win when that happens. Give them credit, tonight obviously Diana played great, and they came in here and beat us on our home court.”
Things don’t get any easier for Minnesota moving forward. They travel to Los Angeles for a rematch of their season-opening loss to the Sparks on Sunday, and go to 5-1 Washington after that. There is a real possibility that the Lynx’s losing start to the season continues.
“I mean, we were 2-11 in 2010, so not the kind of waters we’re used to for the last seven years, but like coach said, every journey’s different,” Whalen said. “Obviously it’s not what we want, it’s not what we’re trying, but at the end of the day it’s about getting wins as a team.”
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