Napheesa Collier reveals reasons behind Lynx’s shocking collapse against Mercury originally appeared on The Sporting News
With a comfortable 59-39 lead midway through the third quarter on Tuesday night, the Minnesota Lynx were cruising to a 2-0 series lead over the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA semifinals. Few expected the Mercury to turn the tables and pull off one of the greatest comebacks in playoff history — but that is precisely what Phoenix did.
Advertisement
The Mercury rallied to force overtime after veteran guard Sami Whitcomb drilled a 3-pointer with 4.3 seconds left in regulation, and Phoenix proceeded to close it out, 89-83, to even up the semifinals at one game apiece.
MORE: Phoenix Mercury shatter WNBA history on Tuesday night
It was a stunning collapse from Minnesota, which now heads out on the road for two games in Phoenix. And Napheesa Collier, the Lynx’s leader and franchise player, was forceful in her analysis of what went wrong in Game 2.
“I think we beat ourselves (with) unforced turnovers, not taking care of the ball when they were pressuring us,” Collier said. “Keeping our composure in those situations is huge.”
The Lynx struggled to inbound the basketball late in the fourth quarter and in overtime, when Mercury forward Satou Sabally forced a game-sealing turnover by batting the ball off of inbounder Bridget Carleton.
Advertisement
Collier, who celebrated her 29th birthday on Tuesday, thinks the top-seeded Lynx have plenty to clean up — including perimeter defense, as Phoenix drilled 13 3-pointers in Game 2 — now that the semis have become a best-of-three affair.
“It’s definitely frustrating,” Collier said. “But it’s a series, we’re tied now, so we need to go to Phoenix and take care of business.”
MORE WNBA NEWS:
