Mercury’s big comeback, Fever’s bench lead WNBA winners and losers

Oh, you thought the WNBA playoffs were going to be uneventful? Isn’t that sweet.

The W’s postseason continues to have zero chill. Both best-of-5 semifinal series are tied up at a game apiece after the fourth-seeded Phoenix Mercury crawled out of a 20-point hole to beat the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx while the Las Vegas Aces returned to form and steamrolled the Indiana Fever.

Alyssa Thomas flirted with yet another triple-double, finishing with 19 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds in Phoenix’s 89-83 overtime win over Minnesota. It was the first loss of the playoffs for the top-seeded Lynx, who swept their first-round series against the Golden State Valkyries.

A’ja Wilson played like the MVP she is (for a record fourth time), stuffing the stat sheet with 25 points, nine rebounds, five steals, two blocks and one assist. But it was an all-around effort for the in the Aces’ 90-68 win over the Fever. NaLyssa Smith had a playoff career-high 18 points as well as seven rebounds and Jewell Loyd and Dana Evans added 10 apiece off the bench.

Both series will switch cities before Game 3 on Friday night.

“It wouldn’t have been as fun going back 0-2,” Phoenix Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts said. “This is a five-game series. We haven’t done anything yet. (But) we needed to get one here for sure.”

Here are the winners and losers from Game 2 of the WNBA semifinals:

More: Are Caitlin Clark’s Air Force 1s the key to Indiana Fever’s playoff success?

Winners

Phoenix Mercury’s refusal to quit

Coaches will never again have to sell their players on the idea that no game is out of reach. Just put in a tape of the last 20 minutes of the Phoenix Mercury’s improbable comeback in Game 2 against the Minnesota Lynx.

Down 20 with 5:45 left in the third quarter, Phoenix outscored the Lynx 50-24 over the last 15 minutes of regulation and overtime.

“Just pride and toughness. Grit. I couldn’t be more proud of our group with doing that,” Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts said after the 89-83 win. “I believe this is our fourth game in seven nights. I was a little worried going into the game, but boy, they really responded in the second half. We just kept fighting.”

Granted, Minnesota gave Phoenix plenty of help. They had five of their 18 turnovers in the third quarter and another three in OT.  They were whistled for a five-second violation with 47 seconds left in regulation and clinging to a 3-point lead. They were 7-of-28 from 3-point range.

But the Mercury had to take advantage of Minnesota’s lapses and create their own luck, and they did both.

“We’re confident. We’re confident in us and we’ve been battling all season,” said Satou Sabally, who was 5 of 11 from 3-point range and finished with 24 points. “You can’t give up a basketball game if you’re down whatever. I believed at halftime and that’s what we did.”

Mercury’s Sami Whitcomb saves Nate Tibbets

The Minnesota Lynx did not do what Nate Tibbetts was expecting them to at the end of regulation.

With the Mercury trailing by 3 and getting possession after a timeout with 20.7 seconds left, Tibbetts thought Minnesota would foul. He drew up a play in anticipation of that during the timeout, only to have the Lynx keep their hands to themselves.

“I messed that up,” Tibbetts acknowledged.

Sami Whitcomb put up a 3 that was way short, but Alyssa Thomas grabbed the offensive rebound. The Mercury passed the ball around until it got to Whitcomb again, and this time her 3-pointer was good to tie the game with 4.3 seconds left.

Napheesa Collier missed a jumper at the buzzer, sending the game into overtime.

“That was completely on me. Sami saved my ass,” Tibbetts said. “That’s what great players, great shooters do.”

Whitcomb said she’s put up 20,000 shots during practice this season, preparing for just that kind of moment.

“I was joking that it’s 20,000 for one shot,” Whitcomb said. “It’s for these moments. Obviously, I would love to shoot a better percentage. But I feel like it shows up in moments like that.”

Gritty performances

Mercury forward Kahleah Copper and Fever guard Lexie Hull can rest when the playoffs are over.

Copper rolled her right ankle when she collided with Katheryn Westbeld in the closing seconds of the third quarter. Copper grabbed at her ankle and was limping visibly, and she immediately headed back to the locker room when the quarter ended.

But Copper not only returned to the game, she made a big contribution in Phoenix’s improbable win. Her 3-pointer with 1:47 left in overtime put the Mercury up 85-79 and, after a timeout, she blew up Minnesota’s possession with a strip of Napheesa Collier.  

Hull was a late add to the Fever’s injury list with a sore back. She played, however, and had 15 points, three rebounds and two assists.

“I’m feeling sore still,” Hull acknowledged after the game. “It’s part of the playoffs. It’s the end of the season. Everyone’s a little fatigued, a little sore. … It’ll be a good rest day tomorrow. But I think that’s for everyone. We’re just pushing through.”

Chelsea Gray doing Chelsea Gray things

There’s a reason they call Chelsea Gray the Point Gawd.

Gray was dealing in the Las Vegas Aces’ 90-68 rout of the Indiana Fever in Game 2 on Tuesday night. She had 10 assists, including a sick, no-look pass to Megan Gustafson with 1:21 left in the third that Patrick Mahomes would have appreciated. Gray had her head completely turned when she whipped a pass through traffic to Gustafson, who was beneath the basket and put the ball up for the easy bucket.

Gray also had three steals and six points before Becky Hammon pulled her starters with four minutes left in the game.

A’ja Wilson doing A’ja Wilson things

What A’ja Wilson does is not normal. It might seem like it, because she does it all the time. But it is not.

The Aces fell flat in Game 1 Sunday, hours after Wilson won her record fourth WNBA MVP award. No way she was letting that happen in Game 2.

Wilson led all scorers with 25 points, on 10-of-18 shooting, and also had nine points, five steals, two blocks and an assist. This despite not playing the last four minutes of the game.

And as Wilson goes, so do the Aces. They were were more aggressive in Game 2, more active, more … Aces. They contained Kelsey Mitchell, harassed the Fever into 18 turnovers and limited Indiana’s bench to six points.

“We didn’t come to work in Game 1 and that’s on all of us,” Wilson said. “Game 2, we just decided to come to work. When we do that and we do it the right way and we play the right way, good things happen.

“I told my team, I was honestly just embarrassed. More embarrassed than the 53-point loss,” Wilson said, referring to a loss to the Minnesota Lynx during the regular-season. “Nobody panicked. It was just like, we’ve got to come to work. That’s it.”

Losers

Minnesota’s composure

The Minnesota Lynx are not a team that blows leads, beats themselves or makes dumb mistakes.

Yet here we are.

The Lynx were well on their way to a commanding 2-0 lead in the WNBA semifinals, up 20 points with just under six minutes to play in the third quarter Tuesday night. But Phoenix cranked up its aggressiveness and the Lynx became very un-Lynx like.

They began turning the ball over, usually without any prompting from Phoenix. They couldn’t make shots. They were whistled for a five-second violation late in the fourth quarter and then didn’t foul when they had one to give on what would be a game-tying possession for Phoenix.

“Phoenix did a good job coming out aggressive, but I think we beat ourselves,” Napheesa Collier said. “Unforced turnovers, not taking care of the ball when they were pressuring us. It’s definitely frustrating, but it’s a series. A long series. We’re tied now, we’ve got to go to Phoenix and take care of business.”

Indiana’s short bench

It is incredible that the Indiana Fever have made it this far with a team that’s being held together by duct tape and rubber bands. More often than not, they’ve found a way to make it work.

On this night, however, their lack of depth did them in.

Though four of Indiana’s starters finished in double figures, they got almost nothing from their bench. Six points, to be exact. Brianna Turner didn’t even take a shot in her 24 minutes, the first time in more than a month she didn’t attempt a field goal.

Compare that with Game 1, when Indiana’s bench chipped in 14 points in the Fever’s win.

Indiana also had no answer for Las Vegas’ aggressiveness. The Aces scored 28 points off Indiana turnovers and another 14 off offensive rebounds.

“They dictated and we were on our heels. We were passive. We were reactive. To everything,” Fever coach Stephanie White said. “They’re too good. We can’t spot them 42 points.”

Lack of foul calls, again

Officiating, or lack thereof, has been a common complaint throughout the season. Why should the playoffs be any different?

Neither the Indiana Fever nor the Las Vegas Aces were happy with the physicality of Game 2 on Tuesday night. That’s actually an understatement, given that Aces coach Becky Hammon said it was “out of control.”

“Most of my assistants come from the NBA and they’re like, `This would not fly in the NBA. This level of physicality would not fly in the NBA. There would be fights,'” said Hammon, who was a longtime assistant with the San Antonio Spurs before coming back to the WNBA to coach the Aces.

“We just have very well-mannered women that can get to the next play. … I’m not concerned because I know we’ll keep our composure. But I don’t understand. I don’t get it. The freedom of movement is supposed to be a point of emphasis. Defensive three seconds is supposed to be a point of emphasis. I don’t know why we have points of emphasis.”