MINNEAPOLIS — All those banners hang in the rafters at Target Center, reminding the Minnesota Lynx of what they once were and what they are steps away from being again.
The four championships and five retired jerseys just staring down on the court from on high stamp the organization as the standard in the WNBA. But all of that success doesn’t apply to this Lynx team that bulldozed through the regular season the No. 2 seed in the playoffs. The uniform still says “LYNX” across the chest, but the faces are not the same as those title-drenched teams.
This version of the Lynx is brand new. Napheesa Collier and Courtney Williams are great players, but they have not had the careers that Maya Moore and Sylvia Fowles had. At least not yet. This is a team that has stepped up to the hot coals of playoff basketball but has yet to walk across them together. The Lynx as a franchise are undeniable. But this particular team is still unproven.
That’s why Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve had a smile across her face after a 77-70 victory over the Connecticut Sun that evened their series at 1-1. It wasn’t just winning the game, it was how they won it. It was Williams jawing with serial instigator Marina Mabrey. It was Myisha Hines-Allen dropping a shoulder into DeWanna Bonner. It was Kayla McBride giving a hard foul to DiJonai Carrington in transition.
It is hard for a team to become a champion without tasting a little blood in its mouth. The Lynx were beaten in Game 1 and couldn’t hit a shot to start Game 2. Pushed by Mabrey and the Sun, they rallied to each other’s cause with the kind of performance that cements a group.
“I believe to be successful you do have to experience adversity,” Reeve said. “You have to get through adversity, go through it, go through the lumps, bumps, all of that to get to the promised land. That’s the only way. If it was easy, everybody would be doing it.”
That is exactly what has happened to start this series against the feisty Sun. Connecticut rallied to win Game 1 and then forced Collier into 3-for-14 shooting in Game 2. The Lynx missed their first eight shots for the game and led just 12-10 after the first quarter despite forcing the Sun into 20 percent shooting and six turnovers.
That’s when Mabrey, as she is wont to do, started to stir things up. She collided with Bridget Carleton early in the second quarter to draw a foul, sticking her foot out to trip Carleton up in the process. Carleton responded moments later with a 3-pointer, letting out a primal scream to blow off steam.
“First game, they were chirping and chatting. We had to give it back to ‘em,” said Williams, who led the way with 17 points, five rebounds and four assists. “That’s playoff basketball.”
Mabrey’s intensity only seemed to fuel the Lynx. When she dove for a loose ball later in the second quarter, she landed right on top of Collier, who pushed her in retaliation. Hines-Allen stepped in for the MVP candidate, shoving Mabrey and staring daggers through her. Mabrey’s sister, Dara, took notice.
Oh dear here we go 🫣🫣🫣🫣🫣
— Dara Mabrey (@daramabrey) October 2, 2024
Not long before halftime, McBride scored to put the Lynx up six, then delivered a body check to Mabrey that drew a technical foul. A few possessions later, McBride drilled a 3-pointer and then threw up a little Jordan shrug as she looked dismissively at Mabrey.
The Sun returned the favor to start the second half, with Carrington driving to the rim and catching Carleton in the face with an elbow that dropped her and watered her eyes. They were meeting force with force, two defensive-minded teams that were not backing down.
“Minnesota came out and they were the aggressor tonight,” Sun coach Stephanie White said. “They were aggressive on the defensive end. They were physical. Wouldn’t let us get into our offense.”
The Sun shot 36 percent for the game and turned the ball over 15 times.
“It’s the playoffs. It’s gonna be physical. There’s going to be dicey moments,” Sun forward Bonner said. “It’s win or go home, you know? The emotions are high. We’re just two competitive teams. That’s about it.”
It is a test the Lynx need. They won a franchise-record 30 games in the regular season, but they had dropped seven straight home games to the Sun, including Game 1 on Sunday.
With the chance to head back to Connecticut up 2-0 starting to slip away late in the third quarter, Mabrey fouled Williams. What followed was an extended smack-talking session between the two fiery competitors, who had to be separated by referee Gina Cross before it got too heated.
Courtney and Marina is fun pic.twitter.com/jVvKxCtVTx
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) October 2, 2024
“Oh, we was chatting,” Williams said. “I told her she couldn’t guard me. She told me I ain’t had that many good games.
“I said, ‘So you think you pressure, because I’m really pressure.’ A little back-and-forth action. It’s playoffs, man. We are gonna talk a little bit. We’ll be cool again after we done playing.”
On a team that does not have the same kind of overwhelming talent that the Lynx of old had with Maya Moore, Lindsay Whalen, Sylvia Fowles and Seimone Augustus comprising one of the best starting fives in league history, these new Lynx have relied on chemistry and toughness to win the day. The Sun tried to impose their will on them in Game 2, as all good teams do when they have a leg up in a series. But Minnesota wasn’t having it.
Hines-Allen scored seven important points off the bench, and Connecticut felt every one of them. At the end of the third quarter, she grabbed an offensive rebound, put a shoulder into Bonner’s chest and buried her under the basket before laying it in for a 58-45 lead.
“We had an aggression about us that was necessary,” Reeve said. “When you play these guys, you have to be physically and mentally tough, because they sure are.”
McBride delivered a hard foul on Carrington in the fourth quarter, and the guard got up in a hurry to object to the play.
Kayla McBride fouls DiJonai Carrington, Mabrey holds Carrington back pic.twitter.com/jE7CIKFnU0
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) October 2, 2024
“We all have to keep each other calm and focused on the goal ahead,” Carrington said. “We know that whoever we’re playing, they’re going to try to test us with hard fouls, whether it’s chirping, whatever it is. We just have to stick together and make sure each other stays focused on the goal.”
Despite the loss, the Sun did what they needed to do this week by getting one game on Minnesota’s home turf. The series shifts back to Connecticut for Games 3 and 4. The intensity that has permeated this series is likely to travel with these two teams.
As combative as things did get on Tuesday night, it never crossed over to cheap or dangerous on either side.
“Folks ain’t fighting,” Williams said with a dismissive chuckle. “It’s playoff basketball.”
But they do have each other’s back, and that is the most important thing that came out of the Game 2 win for the Lynx. Four of the eight players in the rotation were not in Minnesota last season, let alone for the championship years that ended in 2017. This is a new era for the Lynx, and the only way for them to solidify their place in this franchise’s proud history is to see how they respond collectively when they are pushed up against the wall.
“The great thing about this group is they just have to be themselves,” Reeve said. “If we keep being ourselves, we can navigate any difficult time. We know exactly how to do it.”
(Photo of Minnesota’s Kayla McBride battling for a rebound with Connecticut’s DiJonai Carrington: David Berding / Getty Images)
