To keep its “Drive for Five” alive, the Minnesota Lynx will need to rebound once again — and then again.
Following Friday’s 84-76 loss in Phoenix, top-seeded Minnesota trails 2-1 in the best-of-five WNBA semifinal series. Game 4 is Sunday in Arizona.
Coach Cheryl Reeve did not see the end of the game in person.
The Lynx boss was assessed her second technical foul of the game with 21.8 seconds left — and had to be restrained by other coaches — after Alyssa Thomas stole a ball from Napheesa Collier and drove in for an uncontested layup to, basically, ice the game.
On the collision between each team’s superstar, Collier badly rolled her left ankle and was lying on the floor and slapping it with her hand as Thomas made her drive.
Reeve’s first technical was being upset with the officials for the physicality being used on Collier in the second quarter.
Natisha Hiedeman scored 19 points off the bench and reserve Maria Kliundikova added eight, including a trio of big shots in the fourth. But it wasn’t enough because the Lynx shot just 3 for 16 in the final frame and were outscored 20-9.
Before the game, Reeve spoke about getting more from Lynx reserves.
“They were big part of our identity,” she said. “Not getting production from them is something that’s on our minds and we need to get them going. We’ve talked about, collectively, how we can help them and make sure our play-calling represents the ability to get them some opportunities. We need them, for sure.”
Collier led the Lynx starters with 17 points, Courtney Williams added 14 and Kayla McBride had 12.
This was the second straight game that Minnesota did not finish strong. Neither Collier nor Hiedeman scored in the final quarter.
The Lynx, who blew a 20-point third-quarter lead in Tuesday’s 89-83 overtime Game 2 loss, had a defensive meltdown early in the fourth as the Mercury scored the first seven points, including four at the rim, for a 70-67 lead.
Phoenix outscored Minnesota 42-28 in the paint.
A 3-pointer by McBride gave Minnesota a 74-72 lead, but Sabou Sabally drained a pair of 3-pointers around a Kliundikova basket to make it 78-76 Phoenix.
Locking down on interior defense, Minnesota outscored Phoenix 23-13 in the third quarter for a 67-63 heading into the final 10 minutes. The largest lead for either team to that point was seven.
Bolstered by a 12-2 run over about a four-minute span, the Mercury led 48-44 at the break. Collier had 13 points and Hiedeman 11 to lead Minnesota through 20 minutes.
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