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The Minnesota Lynx needed a second-half rally on Sunday to secure a Game 1 win over the Phoenix Mercury in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series.
On Tuesday, it was the Mercury’s turn to mount a comeback. They delivered in dramatic fashion with a 20-point second-half rally before securing an 89-83 win in overtime.
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The Mercury looked cooked while trailing, 59-39 midway through the third quarter. But they mounted a 12-0 run to cut their deficit to eight points before the quarter was done. They then closed the fourth with a 25-17 run that Sam Whitcomb capped with a game-tying 3 with 3.4 seconds remaining.
Whitcomb had two looks at the game-tying bucket. She missed the first from near the top of the key with a hand in her face. But she got a second look from the right wing off an Alyssa Thomas rebound. This time she was pure to tie the game at 70-70.
Napheesa Collier’s game-winning attempt on the other end missed the mark, and the game went into overtime.
There, the Mercury scored the first bucket of the extra session to take their first lead since 15-14 in the first quarter. They didn’t relinquish the lead again and held on to stun the Minnesota home crowd with a historic victory.
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The rally from 20 points down represented the third-largest comeback in WNBA playoff history.
The series now shifts to Phoenix for games 3 and 4 of the best-of-five series. It looked like a near certainty that the Lynx would hit the road needing a single win to secure their second straight trip to the WNBA Finals. Instead Phoenix has stolen home-court advantage series and faces a chance to close out the series on its home court.
This story will be updated.
