Lynx fail to complete season sweep of Storm with decisive loss at home

As sometimes happens after a particularly difficult loss, Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve was brutally honest after her team fell to Seattle 88-74 at Target Center on Sunday night.

Listen: "Seattle came in exactly as we thought they would,'' she said before a question had even been asked. "Really determined. We had beaten them three times, and they came in with great will and determination and beat us in every phase of the game.''

That was the beginning, and it came after Sunday's game — a rematch of Minnesota's victory in Seattle on Friday night — had ended with the Storm (10-22) having outplayed the Lynx (15-17) in every measurable way.

For example: The Storm had a 21-6 edge on points off turnovers, a 41-37 edge on the boards, a 20-11 edge on second-chance points, a 10-4 edge on made threes and a 34-30 edge on points in the paint.

The loss — which comes with eight games left in the regular season — dropped the Lynx to 6-10 at Target Center with fourth-place Dallas due to come in Tuesday.

"It's unfathomable to me,'' Reeve said of the Lynx's effort level. "I don't get it. In front of your home crowd. A below .500 team at home. To consistently come out and let an opponent just will their way, in every phase of the game. We don't get how to have a special season, that you have to win your home games to have a special season.''

After holding her in relative check in Friday's victory, the Lynx struggled to contain Jewell Loyd, who took advantage of Minnesota's maddening (to Reeve) penchant for going under screens to make five of 10 three-pointers and score 31 points.

Down 10 early in the second quarter, a 14-4 Lynx run capped by two Kayla McBride free throws with 3:22 left in the half put the Lynx up 34-33.

That lead lasted 11 seconds, until Loyd hit a three-pointer, igniting an 8-0 run, a 14-6 run to end the half and a 20-6 run by the time Seattle scored the first six points of the third quarter.

McBride led the Lynx with 18. Napheesa Collier had 14 points and nine rebounds but took just three shots after halftime. Tiffany Mitchell, playing the point in place of the injured Lindsay Allen, had 11. She left the game after a knee-to-knee collision in the second half but returned and said after the game she was OK.

"About 48 hours ago, we came out with such determination and intensity about us,'' McBride said.

Sunday night? "It was the 50-50 balls, the [Storm's] offensive rebounds. That's tough. We didn't have it defensively, we weren't locked in and that carried to the offense.''

The Lynx shot 35.3% and struggled to score at the rim. When they did find someone open on the perimeter, the result was 4-for-18 shooting from three.

"I told 'em to get in the gym and shoot,'' Reeve said. "So when we kick it out and you're open, you can knock it down.''

But it was the defense that really irked Reeve. "Our pick-and-roll defense, our point of the screen defense was horrendous,'' she said. "We were inconsistent in what we were doing. We didn't play with the same energy on-ball with Jewell [compared to Friday] either.''

It doesn't get easier with Dallas, which is a big team that defends well in the paint. Given the hectic nature of the week, with games coming every other day, the team won't practice Monday.

"But they'll be in the gym shooting,'' Reeve said.