One night breaking records, and the next getting overwhelmed by them. Unfortunately, that is Cheryl Reeve in the playoffs. In game 2 against the Valkyries, they overcame a 14-point deficit to avoid Game 3. They were 0-76 heading into the fourth quarter with this margin, but they broke that record. History repeated itself almost instantly. In Game 2 against the Phoenix Mercury, they were on the receiving end of such a comeback. 

The Mercury officially ended the Lynx’s 61-game winning streak of being up by as many as 16 at the half as they rallied from a 20-point deficit to force OT and ultimately even the series.  Satou Sabally and Sami Whitcomb completely blanked Cheryl Reeve and Co. in the fourth quarter. The Lynx were considered default finalists up until this Game, and analysts’ opinion is that it will be difficult to recover from this loss. 

The shocking collapse sparked debate beyond the court. On the ‘We Need To Talk’ podcast, Alicia Jay weighed in on whether a comeback stings more than a blowout. Jay said, “Blowing a 20-point lead for me is worse than getting beat by 20 cuz like you said, like people have bad games. You have games that are uncharacteristic. There’s a lot of factors um that go into (it) sometimes, like just having an off night, right? But to be on your P’s and Q’s to the point that you have a 20-point lead on a team and to be so just negligent in how you’re playing that you allow them to come back. Not only come back but force the game into overtime.”

The Lynx attempted 17 shots in the final quarter while the Mercury got 24 shots off. More importantly, the Lynx let Satou Sabally, Sami Whitcomb take 7 and 8 shots. Till the half, Minnesota was absolutely cruising, winning the 2nd quarter 27-13. They gave Mercury an inch in the third quarter, and Alyssa Thomas and company made them regret it. 

Once they surrendered the momentum, Minnesota couldn’t stop the Mercury tide, with even their leader fading. In the entire second half, Napheesa Collier had only five points as opposed to 17 in the first. If the head of your snake is struggling, it is always hard to cope. Collier accepted letting Mercury do what they want. “Phoenix did a good job at coming out aggressive, but I think we beat ourselves,” Collier said. Such a collapse in front of you crowd negatively affects the mentality of the entire team while having the opposite effect on the opponent, as Jay further echoed.

She said, “You get a win like that against a team like Minnesota and you’re the Mercury and you just took down the reigning champs like you feel pretty damn good going into game three like you feel teflon like you feel like oh you want to rumble we can rumble.”

It’s even worse for Cheryl Reeve when you consider they are on the road for Game 3. Mercury will have the force of the PHX arena behind them for two consecutive games. The same thing happened for Mercury in the Liberty series as they forged a 2-1 win after losing Game 1. Momentum is an important factor, and Mercury has that. For the Lynx to turn this around in Game 3, they need to keep their calm and just look at the score; it’s 1-1, not the end of the world. Fortunately for Cheryl Reeve, their best player knows that. 

Napheesa Collier Keeps Lynx Composed After Brutal Game 1 Loss

The Phoenix Mercury had actually messed up. With 20 seconds on he clock, Sami Whitcomb missed a three-pointer after they made a mess of the drawn-up play. Thomas grabbed the offensive rebound and got the ball back to Whitcomb. The veteran did not miss the second time to tie the game.  The Lynx missed capitalising on crucial moments like these after a mistake-filled game, and Napheesa Collier recognised them. 

After being asked what changes they need to make in Game 3, Collier replied, “Just playing our defense. And making sure that we limit our turnovers. I don’t think our defense was the same in the second half as it was in the first half. We need to get back to taking the easy things away, making their shots hard, and taking care of the ball on the other end.”

Lynx conceded 21 points off their 18 turnovers, which is the most in a Lynx postseason game since 2021. Their defense did a 180 flip from the first to the second half, an 80 defensive rating in the first as compared to 120.5 in the second. Another thing to fix is their attitude. Lynx looked in low spirits, and coach Reeve pointed that out after the game. 

Reeve said she saw some bad body language from “players we’re not used to seeing certain looks from” and said the team’s missing hustle and grit could’ve erased the sloppy play and sealed the win. While there are still doubts, the Lynx remain Game 3 favourites, with a 66.1% chance to win Game 3 according to ESPN Analytics. This loss might just be the wake-up call they need to lock in.