The Minnesota Lynx beat the Connecticut Sun 90-81 to go up 2-1 in the series, but Cheryl Reeve wasn’t satisfied with their performance.
“I do not think we finished the game well,” he said. “It became a 7-point game within two minutes. That’s ridiculous.”
Reeve may have a point as the Lynx jumped out to a ten-point lead just four minutes into the game and maintained a minimum of an eight-point lead for the entirety of the game until that 1:20 mark of the fourth quarter. After the Sun cut the game to seven, the Lynx sealed it away on the next possession as Courtney Williams drained a tough pull-up mid-range shot that silenced the crowd. Thirty-six seconds later, Bridget Carleton hit on a mid-range pull-up of her own, giving the Lynx an eleven-point lead at 90-79.
Despite the Lynx’s dominance in Game 3, the Lynx appear to be able to play at a higher level. Napheesa Collier returned to form in the game, going 11 of 19 for 26 points and 11 rebounds. She only had to play 33 minutes, her lowest total of the playoffs by four minutes and 1.7 minutes less than she played on average during the regular season. That included a crucial period between the third and fourth quarters in which Collier tested from the 2:36 mark in the third to the 8:28 mark in the fourth. A four-minute period of time in which Collier, thus far in the playoffs, plays straight through.
Alanna Smith can help spur the Lynx’s improvement. She had a bounce-back game in Game 2 but fouled out in Game 3, limiting her to 26 minutes. Smith also had a team-high three turnovers in her limited minutes and struggled to find a rhythm within the game’s flow. The Lynx defense allowed 13 offensive rebounds in her absence. Smith has only fouled out of one other game this season, on May 23 against the Sun in the regular season. While Smith’s foul troubles opened up an opportunity for second-year player Dorka Juhasz to log her first real minutes of the playoffs, the Lynx certainly would rather have their all-defensive second-team center not fouling out.
Kayla McBride also struggled in the Game 3 win, shooting an uncharacteristic 5 of 13, including 2 of 6 from distance, for only 13 points. McBride, who shot 42.0% from the field and 40.0% from three, should also have a bounce-back game. Hopefully, it’ll come in Game 4; many of her looks are on open shot attempts. That’s mainly because the Sun had to double Collier and put their best defender, Dijoni Carrington, on Courtney Williams.
The Sun underperformed, shooting just 15% from three, 17% lower than their season average. They also were outscored by the Lynx bench 16-4. Sun star Alyssa Thomas only shot the ball 10 times, her lowest shot total in the playoffs. Marina Mabrey also went 1 of 11 from three, with many attempts coming on good looks at the basket. That likely will not happen again, as Mabrey is a 42.4% three-point shooter for the season on over 6 attempts per game.
Despite Minnesota’s key cogs of the starting lineup not performing at their best, the Lynx’s dominant performance is something to look forward to as the Lynx looks to close out the series on Sunday in Connecticut. However, the Sun also has areas that should improve. Regardless of what happens Sunday, the Lynx did ensure they will be playing at least one more game at Target Center in their quest to win a fifth championship.
