Accolades don’t change Cheryl Reeve’s approach. Unbeaten in the playoffs, she treats every possession, timeout, and substitution the same – without hesitation. Down 17 against the Valkyries or trailing the Mercury by 13 in Game 1, her decisions came without pause. Even when it meant cutting into the minutes of a reliable piece like Alanna Smith, hesitation was never an option.

Before the game against the Mercury, Alanna Smith was crowned Co-Defensive Player of the Year. Naturally, expectations were high that the Australian forward would play a key role in silencing the Mercury’s offense. And it wasn’t an unreasonable ask–opponents shot just 36.8% when Smith was the closest defender this season. But basketball doesn’t always follow the same script. So, in Game 1 against the Mercury, Cheryl Reeve had to turn to Maria Kliundikova down the stretch instead.

“Her minutes in the fourth, how she played and the impact that she had, and then missing a defensive rebound was probably the final straw(for Smith) that we said this can not be if we are going to win,” coach Cheryl Reeve explained in the postgame conference when asked about her decision to sit Alanna Smith.

Reeve’s gamble turned out to be the right one. Smith never found her rhythm, finishing with just 4 points and 6 rebounds. The Mercury, meanwhile, feasted inside. They piled up 47 points in the first half, opening the third quarter with a 7-point lead. And by the end of the game, they outdid the Lynx in the paint with 54 points. The reigning DPOY just didn’t have a good showing tonight.

Meanwhile, Maria Kliundikova made an immediate impact off the bench for the Lynx. Reeve subbed her in for Alanna Smith late in the fourth quarter, and she quickly made her presence felt with a clutch offensive rebound at 4:01 that set up a Kayla McBride 3-pointer, giving the Lynx a 73-67 lead. In just eight minutes, Kliundikova finished with four points, four rebounds, two steals, one assist, and a plus-14 rating. “It was huge… she was a game changer for us,” Courtney Williams said.

When asked what made the defense better in the second half, Reeve didn’t shy away, saying, “after setting uh, records in the wrong direction, uh, you know, we just, we spent all of halftime, you know, sort of figuring out uh, how we could defend better and, you know, defend the paint“. To many, that seemed to be directed at Smith, who was trusted with the responsibility in the first half.

Besides Kliundikova, another player who set the faulty defense straight was Courtney Williams.

At halftime, Alyssa Thomas had already punished the Lynx with 16 points in the paint, forcing Cheryl Reeve and her team to regroup. The locker room turned into a strategy session, and that’s when Courtney Williams spoke up. Reeve recalled in the post-game conference, “She was in the conversation at halftime time, and she was like “can we try this, can we do this”… so she kind of put her money where her mouth is… she was our deflections winner, career high five steals, tied a franchise record in steals, court was terrific.”

That halftime meeting fired up Courtney Williams. She came out strong with 12 points and three steals in the second half, making plays on both ends. The Lynx turned the Mercury’s 10 turnovers into 11 points and also won the battle on the boards, 23-19.

In Smith’s defense, though, this Mercury team was different, as Reeve admitted, “just finding our footing and we knew it might take a little bit. It’s the first time we’ve seen this group as a whole, the Phoenix team whole. The other teams that we saw didn’t look anything like this, and, so we knew it would be a learning experience for us”.

So, with this experience, we can expect Smith to return to her DPOY form in the next game. That said, while Smith accepted her DPOY trophy in front of 10,121 fans at Target Center, one of her teammates could only watch, finishing second in the MVP race once again.

Collier’s Leadership Shines despite the snub

While the home fans were thrilled to see Alanna Smith take home Defensive Player of the Year, many were disappointed that Napheesa Collier received just 18 first-place votes compared to A’ja Wilson’s 51. Collier had put together an incredible season, averaging 22.9 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.5 blocks per game while shooting an efficient 53.1% from the field–key numbers that helped the Lynx finish with the best record in the league at 34-10.

But Collier wasn’t going to let this snub affect her. After the heartbreak of losing in the finals last year, she knew a championship was within reach again. Her focus was clear: the championship. “The team is way bigger than me. Whatever my personal goals are I’m here for the team and right now we’re focused on a championship so it was easy not to think about that.” 

Collier led the way with 18 points and nine rebounds, setting the tone for the series. Now the question is: how will the Mercury respond? They bounced back in the last series, but can they do it again this time? And how will Smith recover from a disappointing Game 1 performance? Lots of questions remain, but only time will give the answers–one game at a time.