Lynx, Mercury counting on 'clutch' payers as WNBA semifinals begin

It should be clear that the Minnesota Lynx won't just sail through the postseason as they did in much of the regular season.

The expansion Golden State Valkyries showed that as they pushed the Lynx in the second game of the best-of-three first round, with Minnesota winning 75-74.

Their next challenge comes in the semifinal round against the Phoenix Mercury, with Game 1 on Sunday in Minneapolis.

"The offense wasn't going to be pretty," coach Cheryl Reeve said of the decider against Golden State.

Now, with a clean slate, Minnesota and Phoenix head into the best-of-five semifinals, with the Lynx at home for the first two games.

The Mercury advanced by defeating the defending WNBA champion New York Liberty with Friday night's 79-73 triumph in Game 3 of their series.

The Lynx won three of four meetings against Phoenix during the regular season, though the teams haven't met since July 16. That was a 79-66 Minnesota win.

Phoenix is making a quick turnaround after the Game 3 win. The Mercury received 23 points and 12 rebounds from Satou Sabally, and 20 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists from Alyssa Thomas in the clinching first-round game.

It was Thomas' fifth career playoff triple-double.

"This is just what she does," Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts said. "She impacts the game in so many different ways."

Tibbetts said the postseason has given his team a chance to display the trust that has developed.

"We've got a lot of veteran players on our who have done it with other organizations or other teams, but you never really get it was a group until you go through some stuff," Tibbetts said.

Part of that has come from DeWanna Bonner, who has been a clutch player. She has valuable postseason experience and joined the Mercury in a midseason acquisition.

"She's a big reason we are where we are," Tibbetts said. "It has been a ton of fun having her around."

The unquestioned leader for Minnesota is Napheesa Collier, who in one of five league Most Valuable Player finalists. She led the team with 22.9 points per game -- second to A'ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces (23.4) -- in the regular season and also averaged 7.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists.

Minnesota, which was 20-2 at home this season, will hope to deliver a win for their fans on Sunday. The home crowd also can celebrate the selection of forward Alanna Smith as WNBA Co-Defensive Player of the Year.

Reeve is counting on Smith, who joined the Lynx in free agency in 2024, to lead on defense.

"From the first days with 'Lan,' coaching her last year in training camp, what stuck out to me was just her movements instinctually made sense," Reeve said. "She would cover for [a player] and communicate, and I remember feeling like, I trust whatever 'Lan' does, whatever decision she makes."

--Field Level Media