When the Lynx were down by 7 points in the first half against the Phoenix Mercury in Game 1, it looked like they had lost. But then Cheryl Reeve took a break and conveyed the strategy to her team. “We’ve been through a lot of adverse situations in the last two years together, so we always know it’s a team effort. In those moments, we need to brainstorm or whatever,” Kayla McBride revealed. And yes, it worked too, as the Lynx immediately made a comeback. But these motivational words, when pressure mounts, aren’t the blueprint Cheryl Reeve and the Lynx follow!

Since the beginning of the 2025 season, the Lynx had maintained their top spot in the league’s standings. And they did it by using the same strategy. They’ll keep you ahead for however long they want, as they did in Game 1 with Phoenix and their last win over Golden State. They might need a minute to settle in, and you’ll eventually mess up. But how do they do that?

Noah Dalzell is here to finally spill the beans on the strategies the Lynx head coach is using to win the championship title this season. As Noah noticed the pattern, she highlighted it: “I love that [the way the team moves] about Minnesota because a lot of times…coaches manage egos of your star players, no matter how bad they’re playing, they stay out there. And bench players are probably not gonna practice rotation regardless, and with this Minnesota team, it’s like if you come in and make an impact and do your job, you might stay on the floor.”

And yes, the pattern’s visible right there. Even in Game 1 against the Mercury, Minnesota’s potential player of the game was Maria Kliundikova. The 6’4″ star entered the game at the 36:20 mark in the third quarter and played for eight minutes. But those were the best eight minutes of the game, as the head coach herself admitted: “Maash rose to the occasion for us,” she said in the post-game press conference. Her minutes were the best eight minutes of the game. Credit to Maash for being ready and being big. She did what she needed to do, getting a jump ball when we needed it, boards, the loose defensive rebounds.”

She opened with a key steal, and just 65 seconds later, she grabbed an offensive rebound. She set up McBride for a three-pointer, then, with under four minutes to go, she sat out. After 2½ minutes, she returned, grabbed rebounds, and set up another three-pointer for McBride. And by then, the Lynx were ahead 73-67.

“She was definitely a game-changer for us,” Williams said of the bench player. “When you’re sitting most of the game and have to come in and make that instant impact, you just have to be mentally strong, and that’s exactly what she did. Eight minutes (she was a) plus-14.” And that was how she added the much-needed depth for the team. But was it just about Maash? A big no was about getting the opportunity to play when you can drive the team.

As Courtney Williams was also on the same track, she got to play more. “I just want to win … I try to bring the same energy for 40 minutes,” Williams said. On her five steals, she added, “It’s just my natural reaction. I just follow my instincts. So if I see a moment, just instinctually, I go. Sometimes it doesn’t always work out, but it worked out tonight.”

She, in return, delivered one of the most dynamic playoff performances of her career with a game-high 23 points, seven assists, and five steals, with eight rebounds. Even McBride was right behind her with 21 points, including four three-pointers, more than the entire Mercury roster.

So yes, with their player rotation, this is how the Lynx go every time. Just consider Game 2 of the Round 1 series versus GSV; they had an entirely different player rotation. While the starting lineup was quite similar, Shephard, Hiedeman, and Carrington came off the bench.

And when you look at a game before, the pattern is similar. In Game 1, the Lynx played almost every bench player against GSV, and they had 42 points of contribution in the win. So you know, this is something that makes the team unpredictable. Every player with a different set of skills could be seen shining on the court in other games. But it ain’t just Lynx team work under HC featuring 16 years of experience.

Mercury’s cracks were laid bare under pressure, too!

Mercury’s Game 1 loss exposed many weak spots on the team. While they’ve been masterful at inverting the ball screen, as they did in the first half when Thomas had 16 points on 8-for-14, her role put them forward in this position in the semis. But in the second half, it didn’t work.

The Lynx double-teamed her on seven touches, and Thomas missed her shot attempts and even had one turnover. Meanwhile, Copper shouldered the load in the second half, taking 16 shots, and Sabally missed all five attempts. So yes, loopholes were apparent on Mercury’s side.

But now they’re in a spot they know all too well: down 1-0 in the playoff series without home-court advantage. They’ll be facing the task of winning three of the next four games against the league’s top team. And as Cheryl Reeve mentioned, “I thought both teams did a lot of things they wanted to get done….And now we go look at some things, and then Tuesday’s game will be just as hard.” Well, the warning by Lynx HC is already clear. So, can Mercury take the Game 2 win and tie the series back up, going home to X Factor for the next two games? Stay tuned to know!