Both the Connecticut Sun and Minnesota Lynx came into this series with sweeps in their rare viewmirror. The Sun won the regular season series with the Minnesota Lynx but this was a brand new Lynx team with new additions along the way as well. One thing that didn’t change is that both teams are at the top of the WNBA when it comes to defense. Before Game 1 the fans in Minnesota were able to congratulate their (Coach of the Year, Cheryl Reeve, and Defensive Player of the Year Napheesa Collier).
The start of this game was physical as you can tell the Sun game plan was to make sure that Napheesa Collier didn’t go off like she did in the Phoenix series. Every time Napheesa got the ball tonight there were multiple defenders in her face and switches at all times. With that being said Napheesa is one of the smartest players in the WNBA and was able to find the open teammate with ease. Tonight that teammate that got it going for Phee and the Lynx was Bridget Carleton as she was able to get her shot to go down early. When Carleton has her shot going it’s tough to beat the Lynx and she was able to exploit the Sun double-teamming Collier. Bridge has improved her play throughout the year and it was on full display as the Sun got caught with having Burton/Carrington on her at the wrong moments. Bridget was locked in tonight and was there to help until Napheesa got some open looks that finally fell in for her. Napheesa Collier is a tough guard as she’s always moving around and knows how to get to her spots on the floor to get in a great position to score. The Sun were playing some great defense but on the offensive end Marina Mabrey came to ball out and she was able to hit some tough shots.
The one thing that hurt the Lynx tonight was the fact that Alyssa Thomas was able to get to a lot of those loose balls but about two of them opened things up for Marina Mabrey on a couple of her 6 (3-pointers) that she was able to knock down tonight. When Mabrey is shooting lights out from the 3-point line like that the Sun are tough to beat and she knew it was her night when the clock was running down for her 30-footer. The Sun had the momentum at times but the Lynx were able to continue to go back and forth with them. One encouraging thing for the Lynx was that Kayla McBride was able to get her shot going coming out the 2nd half and that type of shooting can lead to a huge display in Game 2.
The Lynx cooled down from the previous series but sometimes teams need to be brought back down to get back up. The Sun came into Minnesota and executed down the stretch as Thomas was able to hit 2 big shots that were able to be the deciding factor with time running out under the minute in the 4th. The Lynx were able to get 48 combined points from Napheesa, Bridget, and Kayla but they will need Courtney Williams to come up big time moving forward if they want to win this series. The Sun almost got a triple-double from Alyssa Thomas as she finished with 17 points, 9 assists, and 10 rebounds on the night. Marina Mabrey finished with 20 points in the win and those 6 (3-pointers) that she made were a huge reason for the victory.
Game 1 was a defensive battle and it’s to be expected in this whole series that it will be close every night. Game 2 will be on Tuesday at 8:30 pm at Target Center as the Lynx will look to bounce back after this loss. One thing about the Lynx this season is that they have matured throughout the year and they have Napheesa Collier who will be looking to showcase her play on both ends at an elite level.
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