Napheesa Collier scored 26 points and the Minnesota Lynx defeated the Connecticut Sun 90-81 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five semifinal series on Friday night.
Game 4 is Sunday in Connecticut, with the Lynx looking to advance to the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2017. That season ended in the fourth of Minnesota’s championships over a seven-year span. Game 5 would take place Tuesday night in Minnesota if necessary.
Collier, who averaged just 14 points in the first two games of the series, had 16 in the first half of Game 3. The league’s number two MVP was aggressive from the start. Minnesota led by seven after one quarter and 48-36 at halftime thanks to Collier, who made seven of her 10 shots in the first 20 minutes.
The Sun tried to recover and cut the deficit to seven on a three-point play by Marina Mabrey midway through the third quarter. But that’s as close as they got.
DeWanna Bonner moved into second place on the WNBA postseason scoring list in the third quarter. She passed Candace Parker, who had 1,149 during her illustrious career. Bonner now has 1,159 and leads Parker by hitting a free throw with 1:36 left in the quarter. Diana Taurasi is the leader with 1,455.
Brionna Jones, who had just eight points in the first two games combined, led Connecticut with 21. Bonner added 16. All five Sun starters scored in double figures, but got little contribution from the bench. The Sun reserves were defeated 16-4 by their Minnesota counterparts.
In the first two games there was chippiness between the teams, who prided themselves on playing physical defense. They were the two best defensive teams in the regular season: the Sun averaged 73.6 points per game, the Lynx 75.6.
There had been hard fouls on both sides in the two Minnesota games. There wasn’t much of that at all in Game 3.
There’s also been a lot of trash talking on the court, especially between Courtney Williams and Mabrey. The pair were teammates in Chicago last year and say they are just having fun on the field and there is no bad blood between them.
The Lynx have a chance to clinch the series Sunday in Connecticut.
