Phoenix Mercury’s 3-point shooting limited in loss to Minnesota Lynx

Not far removed from being featured in a game that included a WNBA-record 33 made 3-pointers, the Phoenix Mercury couldn’t find that offense against the Minnesota Lynx.

The Mercury led by two points early in the first quarter, but then the Lynx turned up their defense and coasted to a 73-60 victory Saturday night in Minneapolis.

Natasha Cloud led the Mercury’s struggling offense with 14 points on 6-of-15 shooting, Rebecca Allen had 11 and Brittney Griner added 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds.

The Mercury (8-8) went through shooting problems early in the game and couldn’t find answers, making one 3-pointer on 11 attempts in the first quarter.

The Western Conference-leading Lynx (13-3) went 3-for-7 from beyond the arc in the opening quarter and continued to bury key 3s as the game went on. Alanna Smith went 3-for-4 from long range as the Lynx finished the game with eight 3-pointers on 22 attempts (36.4%).

Allen, who had a season-high 17 points in Tuesday’s game against the New York Liberty, was the only Mercury player finding success multiple times from deep, going 3-for-8. The Mercury followed Tuesday’s performance of 15 3-pointers with just seven made on 34 attempts (20.6%).

The Mercury shot only 23-for-74 (31.1%) from the field but outscored the Lynx 28-18 in the paint.

Napheesa Collier made it difficult for the Mercury to defend and recorded a double-double with 23 points and 14 rebounds. The Lynx hit 26 of their 62 field-goal attempts (41.9%) and outrebounded Phoenix 44-31.

Tied at 17, the Lynx went on a 12-2 run early in the second quarter and pulled away through a second quarter during which they outscored the Mercury 21-10 and went to the locker room leading 38-25 at halftime.

The Mercury are 2-6 on the road and will have a five-day break before playing at Footprint Center on Friday against the Los Angeles Sparks.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Mercury’s 3-point shooting limited in loss to Minnesota Lynx