Lynx offense comes alive in Connecticut to take 2-1 lead in WNBA semifinals

Minnesota claimed Game 2 of the WNBA semifinals over Connecticut by edging the Sun in a carbon copy of each of the previous meetups between the two teams this season: Physical, defensive-based slobber-knockers.

Game 3 in Connecticut was different.

Minnesota baffled the Sun with its movement-based offense for much of the night, exploding on that end of the floor for a 90-81 victory to claim a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series. Minnesota could potentially clinch a spot in the WNBA Finals with a win in Game 4 Sunday back in Connecticut.

It will do so if its offense is as efficient as it was Friday. The Lynx shot 57 percent from the field in the win. Napheesa Collier, who was relatively bottled up for the first couple of games of the semifinals, again showed herself to be one of the league’s top players. She finished with 26 points and 11 rebounds.

Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said “there was no one more frustrated” than Collier after the all-world forward largely struggled from the field in Games 1 and 2. But Collier knew it was only a matter of time until she returned to peak performance.

“I think just taking my time and knowing I put in the work. Those are shots I know I can make. Everyone has an off night, and I can contribute in other ways to help the team, and I know they’re going to fall. Those are shots I take 1,000 times, and just stay aggressive. … It’s the law of averages,” Collier told reporters. “Sometimes you have an off night, but I knew I had it coming. It’s the playoffs. You have to come in with an aggressive mindset and not remembering what happened the game before, but stay in the present moment.”

Four of Minnesota’s five starters scored in double figures, with Courtney Williams tallying 16 points and eight assists.

Likely in search of more offense after stalling out on that end in Game 2, Connecticut opted to stick with center Brionna Jones for much more of Friday’s contest after playing Jones sparingly in Minnesota. It worked for the Sun in the sense that Jones finished with 21 points. But those lineup combinations made Connecticut’s defense slower and less versatile.

The Lynx ate it up. For the first time all season, Minnesota made Connecticut’s league-best defense appear, well, defenseless. The Sun tried blitzing Minnesota’s pick and rolls, which led to a rolling Collier dissecting the defense for easy buckets. Then the Sun tried switching the actions, and Collier scored over smaller defenders.

Collier’s dominance eventually led to open looks for others. The Lynx scored 48 points in the first half alone. Minnesota picked a great time to return to its beautiful movement-based, ball-sharing offense that had Connecticut on its heels all evening. Nearly every shot was of high quality, and the Lynx knocked more than enough of them down.

“They were making (defensive) adjustments, and I think that we’re prepared for their adjustments,” Williams told reporters. “Obviously, we know they’re going to go back to the drawing board and make more adjustments, and we’re going to do that, as well. I think just trusting what we do. Trusting that if I am getting trapped, I can let it go. If they are hard hedging, if they’re going under, we have a way of knowing how to trust each other and being able to make an adjustment whenever they’re throwing different things at us. Just trusting each other and knowing that, if they throw something at us, we have a great coaching staff that’ll put us in positions to be able to have something to be able to counter that.”

At this point, Minnesota seems to have more answers, and the Sun have a number of lingering questions.

Connecticut had no way to respond on the other end, especially on a night where sharpshooter Marina Mabrey went a meager 1 for 11 from beyond the arc, missing her first nine shots from deep. The Sun’s shooting threats are sparse. The fact Mabrey wasn’t hitting allowed Minnesota to pack in even tighter.

Minnesota led by 14 early in the final frame. But Connecticut made enough shots to stay on the fringe of striking distance until Collier finally landed the knockout blow late. With Minnesota leading by eight with three minutes to play, the star forward drilled an 8-footer to re-extend the lead to 10. On the ensuing defensive possession, Collier delivered a steal, then found Alanna Smith on the other end for a triple to put the Lynx up 13 with just more than two minutes to play.

“I thought it was the epitome of how Phee played today,” Reeve said. “She played a complete game. … I thought she was terrific in every aspect of the game.”

Goodnight, Connecticut.

Only one win — 40 minutes of basketball – stands between Minnesota and the WNBA Finals.

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