Cheryl Reeve was surprised after the Minnesota Lynx blew a 10-point lead, and the Connecticut Sun won Game 4, 92-82.
“We were certain that they were going to ratchet things up and be aggressive,” said Reeve. “We were not surprised by that. The surprise for us was that our defense didn’t match their defense.”
The 92 points are the second-most points the Lynx have allowed in a loss. Only the Dallas Wings, who beat Minnesota 94-88 on June 27, have scored more on them. The Lynx own the WNBA’s second-best regular-season defense. However, it failed them in Game 4.
One key facet of their team has failed in every game of the series, and their defensive failure tonight was too much to overcome. However, there’s still reason to believe that if the Lynx can play a complete game in the series-deciding Game 5, they will go to the championship.
Connecticut won Game 1, 73-70. Minnesota’s defense held strong in that game, but the Lynx were abandoned offensively by their two free-agent signings, Courtney Williams and Alanna Smith.
Williams went 3-13 from the field and had 3 turnovers. Williams went 0-4 in the fourth quarter and didn’t log an assist in the final 12 minutes. Additionally, Smith went 2-9 and 0-4 from three with two turnovers. That offset the defensive masterpiece the Lynx displayed and caused the game to come down to the wire before the Lynx ultimately fell victim to Alyssa Thomas’s back-to-back baskets.
However, Williams and Smith bounced back in the best way possible, combining for 32 points in the Lynx’s 77-70 win. The defense remained strong, holding the Sun to only 70 points. However, Napheesa Collier had trouble scoring, going 3 of 14 for nine points despite playing all 40 minutes. Pulling off a win when the second-place vote-getter for MVP scored a season-low nine points was a tribute to the team’s depth but also showed room for improvement.
However, Collier scored 26 in Minneosta’s 90-81 Game 3 win. The Lynx were near-perfect offensively in this game, shooting 57.4% as a team. However, they showed cracks defensively, and Connecticut outrebounded them 33-29. The defense also gave up multiple open looks to Suns guard Marina Mabrey, who only shot 1 of 11 from three. Mabrey’s poor shooting resulted in the Sun only 15% from distance on most of her open looks.
“We didn’t play great defense today,” Reeve said, “[but] we did some things well.”
However, Minnesota’s four saw the defense completely collapse, and Tyasha Harris exploded for 20 points, her second-highest point total of the season. She went 4 of 5 from three, mostly due to the Lynx closing in on Thomas and Connecticut swinging the ball to Harris in response.
Bridget Carleton also shot 2 of 11 from three in Game 4 after shooting 44.5% from distance during the regular season. Carleton had an off game despite Collier returning to peak form and scoring 29 points on only 15 shot attempts.
All season, the Lynx have relied on their ability to beat teams in various ways. They lean on their defense and rely on whatever is working for them offensively. It could be a big game from a role player, the bench outperforming the starters, or an MVP-caliber game from Collier.
The issue against the Sun is that they have seemingly cracked the Lynx’s defense over the past two games. When Minnesota’s defense crumbles, it demands more outliers to outperform on the offensive end, meaning that a poor shooting night from Carleton or Williams in foul trouble is enough to lead to an 18-point turnaround in the second half.
With the Lynx returning to Minneapolis, we can assume that the defensive intensity will resume. Their defensive rating improved by 7.7 points during the regular season when they played at home.
To close out the Suns, the Lynx will need to play their first complete game of the series. Only time will tell if that is the case. Regardless, the Lynx accomplished their mission in Connecticut. They forced one more home game at the Target Center.
