The question to keep asking amid the din and uncertainty was whether the Lynx had enough left — enough energy, enough depth, enough oxygen — to again do what their star players have done so many times before.
In pursuit of a third WNBA title in five years, the Lynx feature the same power trio they've won with before, but now they're at different stages of their careers, with different moving parts on the roster and perhaps ligaments that don't move the way they once did.
There was even a hint of tension before Game 2 of the Finals at Target Center. Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve smiled as she said that she and Seimone Augustus have a "love-hate relationship. I love her … and she hates me."
Reeve had publicly demanded more of Augustus and star point guard Lindsay Whalen after the Game 1 loss, and in Game 2 the Lynx responded with raw emotion and a comeback victory to tie the series as it shifts to Indiana. The Lynx won 77-71, with center Sylvia Fowles producing 21 points and nine rebounds and saying she "put the team on my back" even though it once again fell to Maya Moore to take the ball in the fourth quarter.
"You probably got some pretty entertaining pictures tonight," Moore said. "We were pretty animated."
So was Indiana first-year coach Stephanie White, who said lax officiating created "a bloodbath."
Referring to Reeve's complaints about the officiating in Game 1, White said, "I guess, first and foremost, I learned a valuable lesson today. I learned that it pays to go public with comments about officials. Who would have known that?
"Because this game was a bloodbath. I've never seen a player, of Tamika Catchings' caliber, get so disrespected in my life. Never. And to me that's a travesty. … So one up for the veteran, and a lesson learned for the rookie."