Connecticut Sun and Minnesota Lynx prepare for Game 5 WNBA semifinal showdown
UNCASVILLE, Conn. – After the Connecticut Sun’s Game 3 semifinal loss to the Minnesota Lynx, Sun coach Stephanie White said her staff did not do a good enough job preparing players. She said the Sun were outplayed, executed and, above all, coached.
On Saturday, the only day between Sunday’s Game 3 and Game 4, White and her assistants spent time thinking about what they could change. Various setup combinations were thrown out and discussed. It wasn’t until midnight, about 15 hours before Sunday afternoon tip-off, that they decided what to do. The solution: put Ty Harris back in the starting lineup and move Marina Mabrey back to the sixth player role.
Harris missed the conclusion of Connecticut’s first-round series over the Indiana Fever with an ankle injury. She is limited to the semi-finals. Back in the starting lineup Sunday night, she delivered the Sun an upset, leading Connecticut to a 92-82 Game 4 victory with a team-high and career-playoff-high 20 points to tie the series 2-2.
As a result, the Sun and Lynx will head to a fifth and final matchup. Tuesday night’s Game 5 will decide who will play the New York Liberty in the 2024 WNBA Finals, which begin Thursday.
Game 5. Get ready ☀️
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It’s fitting that these two franchises need a fifth game to determine who moves on. Only one point separates Minnesota and Connecticut in their seven games to date (three in the regular season and four in the playoffs). The Sun and Lynx had the No. 1 and No. 2 defenses, respectively, in the regular season. And their net ratings differ by just 0.1 point per 100 possessions.
Would this series ever end before a winner-take-all affair?
Through four games, the Lynx and Sun have put on great offensive performances. On Friday, the Lynx thrived, shooting 57.4 percent from the field. On Sunday, the Sun’s offense came alive, shooting 53.7 percent from the field and 53.3 percent from 3.
Put another way: “Our defense was below par,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. “And that’s clearly how they felt after the last game. That’s how we experienced this match. Makes for a great Game 5.”
That is certainly true.
But don’t expect many shockers.
“At this point we know each other inside and out. It’s about players playing,” White said. “It’s about the extra efforts. The hustle and bustle plays. It’s about not being denied and finding something deep within yourself that can help you come out on top.”
Of course there will be adjustments. Exhibit A for the Lynx will be to reevaluate their defense.
“We just didn’t present ourselves in the way that you need to really compete and go against a team that you knew was going to be really desperate,” Reeve said.
Napheesa Collier, who scored 29 points and 13 rebounds, added: “We have to rely on our defense, and it hasn’t been good the last two games.”
But the Sun knows the Lynx will await them with a greater sense of urgency. Minnesota will look to contain Harris, slow Sun star Alyssa Thomas in transition (she added 18 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds on Sunday) and frustrate DeWanna Bonner in the halfcourt (Bonner finished with 18 points on 8 -of-12). to shoot).
It’s time for Reeve, WNBA’s four-time Coach of the Year, to make adjustments to slow Connecticut’s roll.
Another fitting detail: the sun won’t be surprised by whatever the location brings. They won at Target Center once in this series, once in the regular season and perhaps most importantly, once in a decisive Game 3 of last year’s playoffs.
“I know how strong we are. I know how resilient we are. We’ve been in positions like this and we fought our way out of it,” Sun All-Star center Brionna Jones said.
That’s why Game 5 has everything it takes to become an instant classic.
These semifinals may not have generated the same buzz as the 2023 finals rematch between the New York Liberty and Las Vegas Aces (New York defeated Las Vegas in four games). Fewer media outlets have covered it and the respective TV markets are smaller.
But the margins between Connecticut and Minnesota have always been smaller. The stakes for both remain significant: Minnesota wants to reach its first final since 2017. The Sun have progressed to six consecutive semi-finals, but still have their first title in their sights.
After Game 5, both coaches expressed similar messages, regardless of the outcome.
“We just didn’t present ourselves in the way that you need to really compete and go against a team that you knew was going to be really desperate,” Reeve said.
“Tonight’s effort won’t be good enough in a Game 5,” White said.
That commonality was also to be expected.
Both teams have until Tuesday to prepare for a fifth fight, a fight that was seemingly always going to happen.
(Photo of Natisha Hiedeman, right, Ty Harris and DiJonai Carrington: Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images)
