Takeaways: Phoenix eliminates shorthanded Lynx from WNBA playoffs with 86-81 victory

PHOENIX - The Lynx’s revenge tour will end one stop short on tracks that had been laid out all regular season.

In Sunday night’s Game 4 of the WNBA semifinals, the shorthanded Lynx watched a fourth-quarter lead slip away for their third straight loss against the Phoenix Mercury, this time 86-81, ending the best-of-five series.

After the Lynx led by as many as 14 points in the second half, Phoenix’s DeWanna Bonner sank a three-pointer with 3 minutes, 29 seconds remaining to put Phoenix ahead 72-70, and she made another from deep with 2:02 left to keep the Mercury on the front foot.

Minnesota, willed by a playoff career-high 31 points from guard Kayla McBride, never managed to retake the lead.

“It doesn’t get any better than what we had in that locker room,” McBride said after the game through tears. “That’s why we lay it out for each other. It’s never about anything else but each other.”

The Lynx finished the season missing pieces of a team that praised its “togetherness” throughout its 34-win regular season and the top seed for the playoffs.

Star forward Napheesa Collier was sidelined because of a left ankle injury, picked up at the end of Game 3. Minnesota was also without coach Cheryl Reeve after she was handed a one-game suspension from the WNBA for confronting the officials and questioning the judgment that led to Collier’s injury.

Associate head coach Eric Thibault led the Lynx in place of Reeve.

“The way we came out to start the game and, you know, everything’s going on the last couple days, the way these guys came out and played, and took [Phoenix’s] run in the second quarter and came out doing the same thing again in the second half,” Thibault said, “at a certain point, that’s who you are. That’s who these guys have been now for a long time.”

When the Lynx lost to the New York Liberty in the WNBA Finals last season — a late foul call and lopsided overtime away from a league-record fifth title — the Lynx decided to run it back, rather than retool a roster that had been largely underestimated heading into the 2024 season.

They returned all five starters, all searching for a first championship. They traded for guard DiJonai Carrington, who missed the playoffs with a left foot injury, to strengthen the bench. They earned the target on their back, finishing 34-10 with league-high offensive and defensive ratings, even despite a 6-5 dip to finish the regular season.

And then Phoenix, peaking at the right time with a healthy “big three” of Satou Sabally, Kahleah Copper and Alyssa Thomas, hit that target.

“This is hard, but you know, what is for us ain’t never going to miss us. Shoutout to those girls coming out here playing hard-fought basketball, and shoutout to us for not giving up.”

The Mercury book their ticket to the WNBA Finals against the winner of the semifinal series between the Las Vegas Aces and the Indiana Fever.

Game 5 is Tuesday night in Vegas. The Fever have played the entire postseason without star guard Caitlin Clark, who is injured.

The Lynx hadn’t yet sunk a three-pointer in the game when McBride went on a spurt from deep, netting four three-pointers in the third quarter and pushing Minnesota to a 13-point lead.

But Phoenix answered with a 19-2 run to begin the final frame of the game, willed largely by Thomas, who scored 10 of her 23 points in the fourth quarter.

McBride finished 6-for-11 from beyond the arc and 10-for-23 from the field. The Lynx’s most experienced player, in her 12th season in the league, also grabbed four rebounds, a steal and a block.

Reserve center Jessica Shepard had scored just five points in the first three games of this series, coming off the bench. But starting in Collier’s absence, with Alanna Smith slotting into Collier’s power forward role, Shepard fit in at center and had 10 points by the end of the first quarter.

She finished with 14 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals — held quieter by Phoenix in the second half. Williams added 20 points on 9-for-22 shooting.

For Phoenix, Thomas had 23 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds. Sabally powered Phoenix in the first half, scoring 18 of her 21 points, while Kahleah Copper and Bonner both netted 13.

The Lynx head into an offseason marked by major questions for the entire league. The league and the WNBA players association have until Oct. 31 to agree to a new CBA or an extension on negotiations.