Napheesa Collier #24 of the Minnesota Lynx reacts during the first half of Game Four of the WNBA playoff semifinals against the Connecticut Sun at Mohegan Sun Arena on October 6, 2024. –Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images/AFP
Napheesa Collier is the WNBA’s leading scorer in the postseason, but it isn’t her made baskets that matter when the Minnesota Lynx face the Connecticut Sun in the decisive Game 5 of their semifinal series on Tuesday night in Minneapolis.
It’s the opponents’ missed baskets that Collier will focus on as the two teams clash to determine who advances to play the New York Liberty in the WNBA Finals.
“Our offense was able to lift us up last game, but if that’s not working, we have to rely on our defense,” Collier said. “It’s not been good the last two games. We’re both playing for our lives, so we have to play at that level of intensity.”
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Minnesota is trying to reach the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2017. That season, the Lynx won their fourth title in a seven-season span.
Collier is averaging 27.2 points and 9.3 rebounds in the postseason. The regular-season MVP runner-up had 29 points and 13 rebounds in Sunday’s Game 4 when the Lynx lost 92-82 on the road.
Collier wasn’t pleased that her squad allowed 77 points over the final three quarters.
Connecticut’s Tyasha Harris was the surprise star with 20 points after she shot 4-of-5 from 3-point range.
Harris was scoreless in 13 minutes in the series entering Game 4. She missed Game 1 with an ankle injury and mostly sat and watched the next two games.
But her minutes picked up Sunday and the production followed.
“Stay composed, be poised and be ready when your number is called,” Harris said of her approach.
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Sun coach Stephanie White said her team must raise its level of play for the series finale.
“We have a lot of players on our roster that have been here that understand certainly what it takes and (the Game 4) effort is not going to be good enough,” White said. “We expect them to make adjustments. We’ll make some tweaks and adjustments as well. …
“It’s about not being denied and finding something deep inside of you that just allows you to come out on top.”
Connecticut is looking to reach the WNBA Finals for the third time in six seasons. The Sun lost to the Washington Mystics in 2019 and the Las Vegas Aces in 2022.
Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve has been in these clashes before. And watching her team get outscored 49-32 in the second half with a chance to clinch the series left her with a bad taste in her mouth.
“This is how they felt after the last game,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said of the Sun. “This is how we feel after this game. That makes for a great Game 5.” –Field Level Media