For many of Friday evening, the Minnesota Lynx seemed just like the staff that had tied a WNBA document with 34 regular-season wins and entered the playoffs as the highest seed. They had been bodily, disciplined, and carried a four-point lead into the fourth quarter of Sport 3 in opposition to the Phoenix Mercury.
Then, in a matter of minutes, the whole lot unraveled.
Star ahead Napheesa Collier limped off the ground in tears with an obvious ankle damage. Head coach Cheryl Reeve was ejected after a livid outburst at officers. And the Lynx, who as soon as appeared poised to take management of the semifinals, as a substitute noticed their season positioned on the brink in an 84-76 defeat.
Minnesota now trails 2-1 within the best-of-five collection, with Sport 4 set for Sunday in Phoenix.
A Crushing Second
The defining play got here with 21.8 seconds remaining. Collier, the 2025 MVP runner-up, took an inbounds move on the prime of the important thing when Mercury ahead Alyssa Thomas swiped the ball away. Minnesota star Collier collapsed awkwardly as Thomas sprinted the opposite method for a layup that stretched Phoenix’s result in six.
Collier slapped the courtroom in frustration earlier than being helped to the locker room, her face streaked with tears. Reeve, furious on the lack of a foul name, charged the officers and needed to be restrained by gamers and assistants. She was ejected after receiving her second technical foul.
“Top-of-the-line gamers within the league shot zero free throws. Zero,” Reeve mentioned afterward. “She had 5 fouls. Received her shoulder pulled out and completed the sport together with her leg being taken out, and doubtless has a fracture. … The officiating crew we had tonight, for the management to deem these three individuals semifinals playoff worthy is f—g malpractice. I can take an L with the very best of them. I don’t assume we must always need to play by greater than what they did. They’re f—g terrible.”
There was no official replace on Collier’s standing late Friday, however the sight of Minnesota’s chief being helped off the ground underscored the magnitude of the second.
Fourth-Quarter Breakdown
Up 67-63 after three quarters, Minnesota seemed prepared to resist Phoenix’s push. Natisha Hiedeman had delivered a spark with 19 factors off the bench, together with eight within the ultimate 5 minutes of the third, whereas Courtney Williams chipped in 14.
However the Lynx’s offense sputtered within the ultimate 10 minutes. They managed solely 9 factors within the fourth quarter, went with no subject objective within the final three minutes, and didn’t counter Phoenix’s stress protection.
“We acquired to do a greater job executing down the stretch within the fourth so we don’t put ourselves in that state of affairs,” Hiedeman mentioned. “You take a look at the fourth, it’s 9 to 21. That’s not profitable basketball on our finish.”
“We not out of it.”
Regardless of all of the chaos and drama surrounding the #Lynx and their head coach, they nonetheless have an opportunity to carry this collection again to Minnesota…
Right here’s what Courtney Williams needed to say following the sport about transferring on. @FOX9 @Fox9Sports #Lynx pic.twitter.com/tuwuC9aEgd
— Ahmad Hicks (@AhmadHicksTV) September 27, 2025
Williams acknowledged the depth of playoff basketball.
“It’s playoff basketball, proper? I feel that comes with it. Received to only play ball, man,” she mentioned. Later, she added: “We nonetheless right here. We nonetheless an important staff…You’ll be able to’t get too excessive, can’t get too low. We nonetheless acquired a sport we acquired to win.”
Collier, who had 13 factors within the first half, tried just one shot within the fourth and was held scoreless. Her absence loomed massive because the Lynx’s half-court units faltered.
Phoenix Pounces
Whereas Minnesota unraveled, Phoenix surged behind its Large Three. Satou Sabally scored 23 factors, together with 15 within the fourth quarter, whereas Thomas and Kahleah Copper every added 21.
“They solely scored 9 factors and that’s actually as a consequence of our good protection,” Sabally mentioned. “We closed them out, we knew what they had been operating, so we had been very well ready and simply trusting one another. DB had some nice rebounds, Automotive got here in flying—it was simply actually wonderful to see how all of us labored collectively.”
Copper, who had 17 factors by halftime, regrouped after a third-quarter technical foul.
“Proper after that, we got here to the timeout and simply spoke up about simply staying composed and understanding the second,” she mentioned. “We don’t need something to have an effect on the sport and alter the momentum. So it’s cool.”
I requested Satou Sabally concerning the Mercury’s protection on the backcourt of Courtney Williams/Kayla McBride tonight. #WNBA pic.twitter.com/4tXSgPIIaF
— Aya Abdeen (@ayabdeen) September 27, 2025
Thomas emphasised composure because the deciding issue. “After we’re a composed staff, we’re locked in, we’re centered, and we do the little issues,” she mentioned. “We simply acquired to regulate what we will management and that’s ourselves.”
Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts praised his staff’s toughness and steadiness.
“This can be a staff that believes in one another,” he mentioned. “We’ve been ignored slightly bit all 12 months. However the one factor that we’re is—we’re powerful and we’ll combat and compete, and we did that within the fourth and made it onerous for them on each possession.”
Season on the Brink
The collapse was particularly jarring given the Lynx’s dominance in the course of the common season, once they tied the league document for many wins. This was imagined to be the 12 months they avenged final season’s Finals heartbreak. As a substitute, Minnesota heads into Sport 4 combating for survival.
Whether or not Collier can return would be the defining storyline. With out her, the Lynx would lose their anchor on each ends of the ground and one of many league’s most versatile stars.
For a franchise constructed on composure and consistency, Friday evening marked the rarest of sights: a staff shedding management of each the sport and its feelings. If the Lynx can not regroup, their season could also be remembered not for his or her record-setting run, however for the evening all of it got here aside.
