Lynx center Alanna Smith is injured but will gut it out for Game 4

Over the course of the WNBA season, Lynx center Alanna Smith and director of player performance Chuck Barta have spent a lot of time together.

As Smith joked Thursday, they’ve become “besties.”

Smith has been banged up all season, getting knocked to the floor but always getting up. The Lynx hope that happens again Friday in Game 4 of the WNBA Finals. Playing at Target Center, the Lynx, down 2-1 to the Liberty in the best-of-five series, will try to stave off elimination and force a Game 5 Sunday in New York.

They need Smith to do that.

“Without her it would be hard,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. “We saw it [in Game 3].”

Late in the second quarter of Wednesday’s loss, with the Lynx leading by 13, Smith was called for her third foul while guarding Liberty center Jonquel Jones. The call, upon review, probably should have been called a charge. Jones wrapped her arms around Smith, then pushed back, sending Smith to the floor.

Smith got back up, but she had hurt her back. She tried to return but didn’t feel quite right. Ultimately she ended up playing less than 20 minutes.

And that was a problem. Plus/minus isn’t an end-all analytic. But it’s striking the Lynx were a plus-20 in Smith’s 19 minutes, 51 seconds of playing time. Myisha Hines-Allen struggled defensively, finishing at minus-19 in nearly 18 minutes of playing time.

Whether Smith can play or not, Reeve said the Lynx need more from their bench in general. There is a good chance Dorka Juhász will see playing time against the Liberty’s bigger lineup.

But the Lynx need their starting center. And she knows it.

“At this point everyone’s a little bit sore,” Smith said. “Maybe some more than others. But we’re in the Finals, so you gotta push through whatever it is going on here.”

Reeve said Smith has been getting treatment for the injury, which she described as an aggravation of a previous issue.

“She’s going to do everything she can to power through,” Reeve said. “Obviously nobody can guarantee anything. But we know she’s [WNBA] second-team all-defense, so her being out there is good for us.

“But the offensive end as well. She makes the next play, the next pass. It’s her understanding of the schemes, you know? I think the starters, on the season, are a plus-20 net rating, so not having our best out there hurts.”

· In the Liberty’s 80-77 victory Wednesday, New York’s Breanna Stewart became the second player in Finals history with multiple games with 30 or more points, 10 or more rebounds and three or more blocks.

· Napheesa Collier of the Lynx has nine steals in the past two games, a Finals record for consecutive games.