Resiliency has been a theme all season for the Minnesota Lynx.

Minnesota Lynx guard Courtney Williams, right, passes the ball around Phoenix Mercury forward Kathryn Westbeld, center, to forward Jessica Shepard (15) during the second half of Game 1 of a WNBA basketball playoff semifinals series Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Craig Lassig)

It might be an understatement to say that was needed Sunday.

After setting a dubious league record in the first half, the Lynx defense did a dynamic U-turn in the second half to beat Phoenix 82-69 in Game 1 of the best-of-five WNBA semifinals.

“We’ll go look at some things, and (Tuesday’s) Game 2 will be just as hard,” said coach Cheryl Reeve.

Before then a long look will be given to the first half, one in which the Mercury scored 42 of their 47 points in the paint. And, yes, that is a WNBA playoff record for points in the paint in a half.

Reeve had no special message for her team at the break, nor was one needed.

“We’ve been through a lot of adverse situations in the last two years together, so we always know it’s a team effort. In those moments we need to brainstorm or whatever. We’re not on islands; we’re doing it together. There was just another example of that in our halftime conversation,” said guard Kayla McBride.

Added Reeve: “You didn’t go back to the locker room with people blaming, they went right into listening and like what can we do together, who needs to do what. It’s a mature group, emotionally mature. I didn’t do anything to bring that along. That’s just who they’ve always been.”

Phoenix, which scored 24 first-quarter points and 23 in the second, scored just 22 in the second half, of which 12 were in the paint. The Mercury made just nine of 36 shots in the final two quarters, including 2 of 15 from outside the arc.

Napheesa Collier #24 celebrates with Natisha Hiedeman #2 of the Minnesota Lynx after scoring against the Phoenix Mercury in the third quarter during Game One of the second round of the WNBA Playoffs at Target Center on Sept. 21, 2025 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

Kahleah Copper led Phoenix with 23 points, and Alyssa Thomas had 18 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Many of Thomas’ 16 first-half points came when the Mercury used a small player to set a ball screen leading to easy looks on drives inside for the forward.

“Once we solved that they went to other areas in their offense, and we were mostly prepared for some of that,” Reeve said. “We knew it might take a little bit. It’s the first time we’ve seen this group as a Phoenix team whole.”

Minnesota won three of four regular-season meetings, all before the all-star break, when both teams were missing players.

Courtney Williams led Minnesota with 23 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and a career-high five steals.

McBride had 21 points and six rebounds, and Napheesa Collier, who finished second in the league MVP voting that was announced Sunday, added 18 points and nine rebounds in front of 10,121 boisterous “Claws Out” towel-waving fans in Target Center.

Yet, Minnesota’s potential player of the game saw just under eight minutes on the court, all but 26 seconds of that in the fourth quarter.

“She really gave us a jolt towards the end,” McBride said of Maria Kliundikova, whose stat line includes four points, four rebounds and two steals.

With the game tied at 59, Kliundikova opened the quarter with a steal and grabbed an offensive rebound 65 seconds later that led to a McBride triple.

With just under four minutes to go, and after sitting out for about 2 1/2 minutes, another offensive rebound by the 6-foot-4 forward resulted in another McBride 3-pointer for a 73-67 lead. A Kliundikova steal began a play where she scored on a layup from Williams with 90 seconds left to make it 80-67.

“Maash rose to the occasion for us,” Reeve said. “Her minutes were the best eight minutes of the game. Credit to Maash for being ready and being big. She did what she needed to do, getting a jump ball when we needed it, boards, the loose defensive rebounds.”

“She was definitely a game-changer for us,” Williams said. “When you’re sitting most of the game and have to come in and make that instant impact, you just got to be mentally strong, and that’s exactly what she did. Eight minutes (she was a) plus-14.”

The Lynx played without DiJonai Carrington, named to the league’s 2024 All-Defensive first team, who will miss the rest of the season with a left foot injury.

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An announced crowd of 22,526 fans ventured to Target Field for one final time this year on Sunday afternoon, watching the Twins deal a blow to the Cleveland Guardians’ playoff chances.

On a day when the Vikings kicked off at noon a mile away, and the Lynx were host to WNBA playoff game that started at 4 p.m. across the street at the Target Center, the stadium was half full — much like it has been all season.

It was a season-wide trend for the Twins, who drew the fewest fans in any season — excluding the pandemic-affected 2020 and 2021 seasons — since 2000 in the Metrodome. The announced-attendance total of 1,768,728 fans is down from 1,951,616 a season ago. The Twins averaged 21,836 fans a game, 24th out of 30 Major League Baseball teams, though two of those teams behind them are playing in smaller-capacity, minor league stadiums.

In a season in which the Twins are tracking towards finishing with the second-worst record in the American League, and fan discontent seems to have reached a peak, attendance took a hit. One fan in the stands on Sunday voiced his displeasure by sporting a Twins jersey that said “Fire Sale,” with No. 25 on the back.

While the results on the field played a result in their attendance undoubtedly, the Twins only dropped, on average, 796 fans per game after a trade deadline in which they traded away nearly 40 percent of the active major league roster.

Their lowest-attended home game came on a Monday in April when the Twins sold just 10,240 tickets to a game against the visiting New York Mets. That was the least-attended game in Target Field history aside from the COVID-affected seasons. Their highest attended game came on July 11, a game in which a pair of all-star starter Joe Ryan and Paul Skenes duked it out before a postgame Nelly concert. They drew 40,100 fans that night.

The Twins eclipsed 30,000 tickets sold in just seven of 81 home games this season.

Briefly

Manager Rocco Baldelli said he expected Ryan Jeffers, on the injured list with a concussion, to join the team on its season-ending road trip to play the Texas Rangers and Philadelphia Phillies. Fellow catcher Christian Vázquez, out since early August, is also expected to join the team in Texas after spending the weekend rehabbing with the Triple-A Saints. Vázquez is coming back from an infection in his left shoulder. … The Twins canceled rookie dress up last season in the midst of their late-season collapse, but it was back on this season with the team’s younger players getting ready for their Sunday night flight in outfits picked out just for them.

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Well, now what?

In the considerable shadow of Isaiah Rodgers on Sunday, Carson Wentz played the best game for a Vikings quarterback since Dec. 29, 2024, when Sam Darnold passed for 377 yards and three touchdowns in a 27-25 victory over Green Bay.

This is a development that, in Minnesota, could be eclipsed only by the kind of game Rodgers had in the Vikings’ 48-10 victory over Cincinnati at U.S. Bank Stadium. The cornerback returned an interception and fumble recovery for touchdowns, then forced a second fumble to start another touchdown drive.

In the first half.

You can’t take this one away from Rodgers and the defense, which forced five turnovers and consistently gave the offense a short field to work with. They were so good that Wentz, now a journeyman (where does the time go?) making his sixth start for a new team in six years, really just had to play clean to help the Vikings rebound from an embarrassing 22-6 loss to Atlanta last week.

But Wentz, 32, was better than that.

The numbers aren’t eye-popping — 14 of 20 for 173 yards and two touchdowns — but all intents and purposes Wentz was perfect. Pulled with a 48-3 late in the third quarter, he took some sacks early, but each was the smart move and he didn’t turn the ball over. His decisions were good, and his passes were accurate with the right touch.

Not bad for a guy who didn’t have a training camp, with the Vikings or anyone else.

So, now what?

Head coach Kevin O’Connell and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah have a decision to make, or they will at least after next Sunday’s game against the Steelers in Dublin: Move on with veteran Wentz running the offense, or give the ball back to J.J. McCarthy, who is big, talented and has a strong arm but is essentially a rookie and looked like one in the Vikings’ first two games.
McCarthy showed some real moxie in a season-opening, Monday night victory at Chicago in his NFL debut, cinching his belt and leading a late touchdown drive to dispatch the Bears at Soldier Field. It was a positive sign.

Still, there’s no getting around the fact that McCarthy has otherwise been underwhelming, completing a combined 59 percent of his passes for 301 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. Maybe that’s to be expected, but considering the Vikings decided not to re-sign Darnold, and declined a one-year offer from Aaron Rodgers, maybe they expected more?

This team has made a lot of moves, and spent a lot of money, to be solid everywhere but quarterback.

Maybe Wentz can change that. The second overall pick in the 2016 draft, he is 47-46-1 as an NFL starter, passing for 153 touchdowns and 67 interceptions in 94 starts. Those are better numbers that Sam Darnold had before led Minnesota to a 14-3 regular-season record in 2024.

The Vikings have, in fact, done well with short-timer veteran quarterbacks. Brett Favre led the best Vikings team in years to the NFC Championship Game. So did Case Keenum after Sam Bradford aggravated an old knee injury. Heck, even Randall Cunningham had to come out of retirement before taking the Vikings to the now infamous 1998 NFC title game.

None of them reached the Holy Mountain. It has been mentioned in this space that expecting a rookie quarterback to lead a team there is nigh on delusional, and odd for a team that for the past two years has made a ton of good free-agent moves.

Maybe Wentz is the one that makes the biggest difference.

One game, especially one so dominated by the defense, certainly isn’t enough to decide whether this is even an issue, but O’Connell has to be stroking his chin. Internal competition can be productive, and if the Vikings have serious thoughts about making the playoffs — especially in a division with two other good teams — the only thing that matters here is performance.

Now, not later.

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There’s been little for Twins fans to cheer for lately, particularly in the second half of the season. But for one final day, Twins fans got to sit outside in warm, sunny weather and cheer on their team to a win.

In the final game at Target Field this season, those in attendance were treated to a well-pitched game with some late offense as the Twins snapped Cleveland’s 10-game winning streak with a 6-2 win in the finale of their four-game series.

Starter Simeon Woods Richardson set the tone on Sunday, giving up two runs in the first inning but turning in another solid performance to keep his team in the game.

Guardians left fielder Steven Kwan hit a leadoff home run, and Cleveland scored another run on a sacrifice fly before Woods Richardson got himself out of the inning. But he gave up just one more hit in his five innings and his effort, along with the bullpen’s, kept the Twins close long enough for the offense to claw back in it.

Kody Clemens’ third-inning single brought home Byron Buxton to cut Cleveland’s lead in half in the third inning, and in the sixth, Brooks Lee’s 16th home run of the season, a two-run shot, gave the Twins their first lead of the day.

The Twins continued to pile on in the eighth with pinch hitter Royce Lewis, in for Trevor Larnach, launching a three-run home run. All six runs the Twins scored in the game came with two outs.

The six runs the Twins scored held up on a day in which the bullpen threw four innings and gave up just one hit. Kody Funderburk, Pierson Ohl, Cole Sands and Travis Adams each tossed a scoreless inning to seal the win for the Twins.