On Tuesday, the Minnesota Lynx blew a 20-point lead to the Phoenix Mercury in Game 2 of the WNBA semifinals. In the process, they lost something else, just as precious as the series advantage.
Ultimately, the Mercury officially ended the Lynx's 61-game winning streak of being up by as many as 16 at the half as they evened the series at one apiece, per Michael Voepel of ESPN. The Mercury managed to win in overtime by a score of 89-83 after trailing 48-32 at the half.
It was a defeat that Lynx fans still are trying to ponder.
In the end, Sami Whitcomb hit a game-tying three-pointer with 4.3 seconds left. Then, Napheesa Collier missed a buzzer-beater that sent the game into overtime.
“Nobody said this stuff was gonna be easy,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said.
The Achilles heel for the Lynx came in the third quarter as they were outscored 22-14.
“They came out really aggressive, especially in transition,” Collier said. “We had a lot of turnovers, so cutting back on that would have been a huge difference.”
An attitude change permeated the Lynx
Indeed, the Lynx were the favorites coming into the series. But Reeve noticed a change in her player's demeanor when they stepped onto the floor in the second half.
“Suddenly, we lost our way,” Reeve said. “We didn't respond. Then when we needed to go get buckets and we had good opportunities, we weren't strong enough. We weren't tough enough. And they ripped the game from us.”
As a result, the Mercury took advantage of that depletion in confidence. A couple big shots down the stretch by Alyssa Thomas with 48.6 seconds left and Whitcomb's game tying basket propelled the Mercury to position themselves to win.
Collier finsihed the game with a team high 24 points, but said the team should soley bear the responsibility for the loss.
“I think we beat ourselves,” Collier said. “Unforced turnovers, not taking care of the ball when they were pressuring us. Just keeping our composure in those situations is huge. Definitely, it's frustrating, but it's a series. So we need to go to Phoenix and take care of business.”
Game 3 is scheduled for Friday at 9:30 EST in Phoenix.
