Lynx have one final advantage in WNBA semifinals: Home court in Game 5

This is what the WNBA regular season was for:

The right to play a game like this in a place you call home in front of a lot of loud, supportive fans.

The Lynx and Connecticut Sun will play Tuesday night at Target Center in Game 5 of their semifinal playoff series. It will be the two teams’ third game against each other in five nights.

The winner will earn the right to travel to New York to play the Liberty in Game 1 of the Finals on Thursday in Brooklyn where, no matter what, the well-rested Liberty will be playing a tired team.

To be sure: Nobody on the Lynx wanted to play in this game. They had a chance to close out the series at Connecticut on Sunday, but did not. But the consolation prize is a home game.

“This is why you work,” said Napheesa Collier, who has worked hard, averaging 27.2 points, 9.3 rebounds and shooting 53.4% in six playoff games so far. “Because you want this advantage. Obviously, I wish we didn’t have to go home for that game. But we are. And it’s really nice to have that home-court advantage. We love playing at home, we love playing in front of our fans. So we have to go there and defend our home.”

The Lynx finished the regular season tied with New York for the best home record (16-4) in the league.

But: One of those four home losses was to Connecticut, 78-73 on July 4, in a game Collier left in the second half because of a foot injury. And the Sun won one of two at Target Center earlier in this series, winning the opener 73-70.

And don’t forget. These two teams played a winner-take-all Game 3 in a first-round series last season, with the Sun winning 90-75.

Yes, the two teams are quite different. And this year the Lynx (second) are the higher of the two seeds over Connecticut (third). But the point is the Sun are a veteran team with a lot of playoff experience who know how to win on the road in the playoffs.

“That experience, when we were there for the first two games [of this series] was absolutely insane,” said Sun forward DeWanna Bonner. “So I can only imagine what it will be like in a Game 5. We know that. I wouldn’t tell the team anything other than focus in on each other. They have great fans, championship fans. They’ve won multiple championships. They’re hungry for another one.”

The series could not be closer. The Lynx have scored 319 points in the four games, the Sun 316. They have similar shooting numbers. In Game 3, the Lynx were the far superior offensive team. Sunday it was the Sun, who outscored the Lynx 61-41 over the final 23-plus minutes, holding the Lynx to 10-for-29 shooting in the second half, 1-for-12 on three-pointers.

The Lynx brought a balanced attack in Game 3. With Ty Harris back in the starting lineup — and scoring 20 points — it was the Sun that had the balance and spacing Sunday.

But if it was the Sun talking about needing more intensity after losing Friday, now it’s the Lynx’s turn.

“This is how they felt after the last game,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said Sunday. “This is how we feel after this game. That makes for a great Game 5.”