Lynx-Sun playoff series preview: Schedule, TV information, key players, story lines

Lynx vs. Connecticut Sun

Second round, best-of-five series

Sunday: at Target Center, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)

Tuesday: at Target Center (time, TV TBD)

Friday: at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.; 6:30 p.m. (ESPN2)

Sunday, Oct. 6 (if necessary): at Connecticut (time, TV TBD)

Tuesday, Oct. 8 (if necessary): at Target Center, time TBD (ESPN2)

The second-seeded Lynx swept the seventh-seeded Phoenix Mercury and the No. 3 Sun swept the No. 6 Indiana Fever. The winner of this series will play the winner of the semifinal between the New York Liberty and the Las Vegas Aces.

LYNX

Napheesa Collier: All she’s done is score 80 points, hitting 25 of 39 shots, and she averaged 5.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in two playoff games. She had back-to-back career highs (38 points, 42 points). Those 42 tied a WNBA playoff record, and the 80 combined points are most in consecutive games in playoff history.

Bridget Carleton: Collier is not the only Lynx player who has taken her game up a notch. Carleton scored 24 points in two playoff games, made 58.3% of her shots and five of nine three-pointers (55.6%). Remember, it was her long three with three seconds left that sealed the win in Connecticut in the regular season’s penultimate game.

Kayla McBride: Steady McBride is averaging 17.5 points and is shooting 37.5% on three-pointers. And, of course, she takes the toughest perimeter challenge on defense every game. She could be charged with limiting Marina Mabrey’s three-point shooting in this series.

CONNECTICUT

DeWanna Bonner: The ageless Bonner has upped her scoring from 15.0 in the regular season to 17.7 in the playoffs. Her defense and playmaking remain strong. At age 37, she shot better than 50% in three games vs. the Lynx this season and made five of 12 threes.

Marina Mabrey: She, along with Minnesota’s Myisha Hines-Allen, represents one of the best trade-deadline acquisitions in the league this season. Mabrey has averaged 14.9 points, mostly off the bench, since being acquired by the Sun. She is the Sun’s leading scorer (43 points) in two playoff games. Her ability to shoot the three has changed the way teams defend the Sun.

Alyssa Thomas: One of her three triple-doubles in the regular season came against the Lynx, against whom she averaged 16.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 9.7 assists. The play-making power forward has scored 31 points with 26 assists and 15 rebounds in two playoff games.

Experience

The Sun are in the league semifinals for the sixth straight season. They have reached the finals twice in that run. The Lynx are in the semifinals for the first time since 2020. The Sun eliminated the Lynx, 2-1, in the first round of last season’s playoffs, winning the third game at Target Center.

Defense, defense

This is a matchup of the two top defensive teams in the league in defensive rating. Which team will keep the lid on the other’s offense better? The Lynx are the league’s best three-point shooting team, the Sun the second-best at defending it. The Lynx can spread the floor, something the Sun is better at since acquiring Mabry.

Remember me?

Both of the Lynx point guards — Courtney Williams and Natisha Hiedeman — have deep Connecticut roots. Both were with the Sun in 2019 — Hiedeman was a rookie — when the team went to the finals. Both were on the team during the Sun’s run to the finals in 2022.

(with league rating)

Category: Lynx; Sun

Record: 30-10 (second); 28-12 (third)

Points per game: 82.0 (6); 80.1 (8)

Offensive rating: 102.8 (4); 102.3 (5)

Field goal percentage: .448 (T-3); .444 (6)

Three-point percentage: .380 (1); .327 (6)

Points allowed: 75.6 (2); 73.6 (1)

Defensive rating: 94.8 (2); 94.1 (1)

Opponent field goal percentage: .410 (1); .431 (5)

Opponent three-point percentage: .301 (1); .313 (2)

Points off turnovers: 18.1 (2); 18.6 (1)

Points allowed off turnovers: 13.9 (4); 13.5 (2)

Rebounding: 34.3 (7); 33.5 (9)

Second chance points: 10.0 (8); 11.4 (2)

Connecticut: Ty Harris (right ankle) is questionable; Tiffany Mitchell (illness) is out. Lynx: Cecilia Zandalasini (quadriceps) is questionable.