Reeve says second Lynx loss stung

Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said the team's second loss did not feel the same as its first. Players and coaches both said a 65-62 loss at Seattle, after 10 wins to start the season, might have been a good wake-up call for the Lynx.

As for the latest loss Sunday?

"It did not feel very good, in the last five minutes of the game, to not be able to execute," Reeve said, referring to the Lynx's 93-84 loss at San Antonio. "We weren't good for a lot of the game.

"But I have to tell you, San Antonio played great. And as a team, [they] might be playing the best of any team in the league, including us. In that, on both side of the ball, they have great confidence in each other. They are moving that thing. They are knocking down threes. When we re-watched the game, I thought defensively we weren't terrible. I just didn't think we did a whole lot to dictate action and try to break them off their stride."

San Antonio edged Phoenix 82-81 on Tuesday to win its sixth consecutive game at home.

"They hit a ton of threes [Sunday] and we were still in it with 4-1/2 ]minutes] to go," Reeve said. "We were down just four points with the ball, and we just did not get execution the last five minutes. ... Same thing as what happened in Seattle."

Reeve said if the Lynx do what they are supposed to, even in a tough place like San Antonio or Los Angeles, where they play on Thursday, they should come out on top.

She said the team's No. 1 focus is how it is playing going into its five-week break for the London Summer Olympics. "I want to be playing some of our best basketball going into this break," Reeve said, "and take some momentum into that thing. This notion -- momentum killer with the break, I don't believe in that. We have to get that feeling of playing great basketball.

"And that gives us a bounce in our step into the break. And that gets you coming out of it really strong. I want to play great basketball these next four games. I want to be better than what we were in the first three, four weeks of the season.

"I want to see in these next four games a sense of hunger to win. I don't want to get out-hungered, if you will, in any of these games. And if we have that focus of wanting to win, more than the opponent, we will have success."

The Lynx had a practice scheduled for Wednesday morning at home. Then they were flying to Los Angeles for Thursday's game.

They play Connecticut at home Saturday night, then have a home-and-home with two-win Tulsa.

WHERE'S MAYA?

Maya Moore, the rookie of the year in the WNBA last season, was hardly noticeable in San Antonio.

She played only 20 minutes, took only five shots. She finished with four points and her streak of making at least one-three pointer in every game ended at 23. She took only one shot from behind the arc against the Silver Stars and missed it.

Moore did have four offensive rebounds -- five total -- and three assists. But otherwise it was all ones or zeroes in her stats line: No free throw attempts or blocks, one foul, one steal, one turnover.

Wonder if she was ill?

Balance is nice -- the Lynx had five players in double figures -- but great players like Moore who earned every honor imaginable in college need to step up when their teams are in trouble. The Lynx were on Sunday and Moore didn't.