Lynx center Alanna Smith, with her career finally revived, found a perfect spot in Minnesota

At halftime of the Lynx playoff game last Sunday, center Alanna Smith said, basically, “I need help.’’

Coach Cheryl Reeve’s response: Sorry, no.

The Lynx were leading the Mercury by just two at the time. Smith — as she’s done all season — was being asked to guard a player taller and bulkier than her, in this case 6-8 Phoenix center Brittney Griner.

And it was a challenge. Griner made five her seven shots by halftime.

“Typically we’d be interested in providing help there,’’ Reeve said. “But there were other things we were taking away. Lan is super competitive. She doesn’t want to get scored on. But I said, ‘That’s OK.’ ‘’

And, no, this is not about some disconnect between a player and a coach. Quite the opposite.

The Lynx weren’t about to let the Mercury hit 14 threes as they did in Game 1. Or shoot nearly 52% from behind the arc. So Reeve told Smith to do her best. Push and shove against a stronger player, take the elbows.

“That’s been the story this entire season,’’ said the 6-4 Smith. But she added, that’s OK.

The Lynx have been the WNBA’s nice-little-team-made-good all season. After a two-game sweep of the Mercury, the second seed begins a best-of-five WNBA semifinal series with Connecticut on Sunday night at Target Center.

The reasons for the team’s success are well-told. Napheesa Collier has taken her game to a new level. Courtney Williams has settled in as a playmaking point guard. Kayla McBride his hitting threes at a career-best clip. Bridget Carleton’s confidence is soaring.

But, perhaps, Smith’s story exemplifies the Lynx’s season best.

Close to ending her WNBA dream after being cut by Indiana two years ago, she had a career season. After a breakthrough year in Chicago in 2023, Smith is averaging career highs in points (10.1), steals (1.4), blocks (1.5) and three-point shooting (39.8%).

Given the chance, she has emerged as a center well-suited to what the Lynx need. Her ability to shoot fits the team’s five-out scheme, which has given Collier a new freedom to find her space in the paint while providing lethal consequences for teams that decide Collier must be double-teamed.

Smith was voted fifth in the WNBA’s most improved player category. It is the second time in two years Smith — who was third in the voting last year — has been top five. That should give an idea of which way her career, in its sixth season, is going.

On Sunday, Griner scored 24 points, but the Lynx held the Mercury to 8-for-26 on three-pointers.

“I just told [Smith], ‘It’s OK, it’s OK, let them have their twos,’‘’ Reeve said.

Reeve trusted Smith to do her best one-on-one. Smith trusted her coaches, and her teammates to take advantage. Is there a better way to describe this team’s success this year than that?

Smith does not think of herself as a center.

“That’s not my position,’’ she said, “but that’s what I’m having to guard. What I had to learn throughout the season is that it’s OK if people score and we win the game.’’

She works a lot with Lynx assistant Rebecca Brunson, who built a career, and won five WNBA titles, as a relatively undersized player defending in the post.

Brunson looks at Smith and sees a lot of herself. Smith works to deny the entry pass, with great anticipation. Her 155 deflections this season were second only to Collier. Collier led the WNBA in defensive rating; Smith was second.

“Lan has great instincts,’’ Brunson said. “Those two blocks she had [on Natasha Cloud and Kahleah Copper] at the end of the first game? Huge blocks.’’

And Smith can battle bigger players.

“Lan’s activity in trying to prevent catches is very, very good,’’ Reeve said. “Lan’s length, her use of her length, her intelligent use of shot blocking make it more difficult to get a shot off.’’

Reeve described Smith’s ability to stay vertical, with her quick jump, as volleyball-like.

Said Williams: “She’s a dawg. She’s tough.’’

Drafted in the first round by Phoenix in 2019 out of Stanford, Smith struggled to see the floor, appearing in 55 games over three seasons; ultimately the Mercury declined to pick up the final-year option on her contract.

Signed by Indiana in 2021, she was cut after nine games. A native Australian, she couldn’t wait around to see if there was a seven-day contract in the offing, so she went home.

But then-Chicago coach James Wade was impressed by the way Smith played in Poland that winter and spring, and brought her to the Sky. After a strong season she was recruited by the Lynx — Reeve said she would have drafted Smith in the 2019 draft had Collier not been available at No. 6 — and by Collier in particular. Collier knew how hard it was to play against Smith and convinced her over a long dinner to sign in Minnesota.

“It takes time,’’ Reeve said. “She did have some self-doubt. But with what she did last year in Chicago, she was confident coming into this season.’’

With the Lynx, she had confidence and got a chance.

“It’s all about opportunity,’’ she said. “I was given a really, really good chance by a really good group of people. And I am lucky. I find myself really grateful that I fell into this situation where I’ve been put in a position to succeed.

“They’re not looking at what happened to me previously, saying, ‘Hey, she got cut.’ There has been a belief in me from the start.’’

Smith said this after Wednesday’s game, sitting on the podium along with Collier — who had just scored 42 points — and Reeve.

“When you have a group of people behind you, especially people like this — your head coach and the best player on your team — when they have that believe in you it just lifts you to higher heights,’’ said Smith, an Australian Olympian.

“It shows how well we’ve done this season. It’s not just me experiencing that. It’s everyone else on the team. You’re just lifted to this place where you want to have confidence and you want to win with these people.’’

Connecticut has a power post game. Smith and Co. will have their hands full with Alyssa Thomas and Brionna Jones. The Sun were second in the regular season in second-chance points (11.4) and fourth in points in the paint (38.5).

With the trade deadline acquisition of Marina Mabrey, the Sun have become a lot more dangerous on the perimeter. So there will be times when Smith will be asked to cover a big, strong player by herself inside.

Again, that’s OK.

Smith will be playing in the semifinals. Not for the Mercury, where her career started. And not Indiana, where it almost prematurely ended.

“I look back at being cut, and I’m so happy that happened to me,’’ she said. “Like, I’m so happy I was cut from that team and it led me to this. Because now I’m playing in the semifinals and that team’s not. So, I’m just going to drop the mic there.”