Lynx look to make most of their few advantages, close out Sun on road

UNCASVILLE, CONN. – After the Lynx beat Connecticut 90-81 Friday, taking a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five semifinals and putting themselves a victory away from the WNBA Finals, Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve was talking about the impact Courtney Williams had after scoring 16 points and dishing eight assists.

“Phee was terrific,” Reeve said about Napheesa Collier, who scored 26 points, made 11 of 19 shots, and had 11 rebounds. “But Courtney Williams, her playmaking, she did this for us. And now, if we can do it again, that would be great.”

Then she looked at Williams: “So, Courtney, don’t let your head get big. We got to try to win another game.”

Said Williams, “I got you coach.”

What the Lynx have is the edge in a series between two pretty evenly matched teams. They got it while scoring 90 points on the road, shooting better than 57%, scoring 48 points in the paint and getting a 16-4 edge off the bench against one of the best defensive teams in the league.

Those 90 points were the most the Sun has allowed at home this season. That shooting and scoring in the paint? Highs by a Sun opponent.

The two teams will meet again in Game 4 at 4 p.m. Sunday at Mohegan Sun Arena. A victory would put the Lynx back in the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2017. But, listening to the Sun side after the game, it is clear they aren’t ready for this series to end.

“We didn’t come to compete,” Connecticut star Alyssa Thomas said. “It didn’t matter what we were in defensively, you’ve got to look in the mirror and want it. We have to go back to the drawing board and we have to play people who are going to come out and be ready to fight.”

Clearly, the Sun feel more comfortable in the slugfests that were Games 1 and 2 at Target Center. Obviously Connecticut felt the more open style of Game 3 won’t work.

Closing out this season on the road — if necessary, Game 5 would be at Target Center on Tuesday — won’t be easy.

“That’s what I was saying to these guys,’’ Reeve said. “Obviously it’s a hard thing to do. And we have to be a lot better in the areas we were really easy to play against tonight.’’

Reeve went on to list a few. Again, she was unhappy with the way her team closed out the game, letting a 14-point fourth-quarter lead dwindle to eight with 3:03 left and to seven with 1:20 to play. Luckily for the Lynx, first Collier and then Williams responded with key baskets.

Reeve also mentioned the defense. Connecticut shot just 41.1% from the floor. But the Sun got 44 points in the paint of their own, managed 17 second-chance points and got 16 free throw attempts in the second half.

“Two of the three games I don’t think we’ve played great defense,’’ Reeve said. “We didn’t play great defense today. We did some things well on some players. But 44 points in the paint? They got to the free-throw line. They clobbered us on the glass over and over again. That’s not a good defensive team. We’ve got to be a lot better.”

One key could be the bench. In Game 1 — a 73-70 Sun victory last Sunday — Connecticut had an 8-7 edge off the bench. But the Lynx had 16-4 edges from reserves while winning Games 2 and 3. Reeve used a more liberal rotation Friday, with Cecilia Zandalasini and Dorka Juhász each taking advantage with five points apiece.

In Connecticut’s first-round sweep of Indiana, the Sun’s depth took a hit when Ty Harris injured her ankle. Harris averaged 10.5 points, and 3.1 assists and shot 39.5% on three-pointers during the regular season. Marina Mabrey has been moved into the starting lineup in her place. Harris missed Game 1 against the Lynx. Not yet 100%, Harris played less than 7 minutes in Game 2 and just 5½ minutes Friday.

“She’s a floor-spacer and a shot-maker,” Connecticut coach Stephanie White said. “We have to make sure she’s able to move, be effective. And a lot of that is defensively, too. It hurts.”