How the Lynx's yearlong pursuit of WNBA title ended early in the semifinals

PHOENIX -- Kayla McBride covered her look with her shirt, trying to soak up the tears. A play she and her Minnesota Lynx teammates envisioned would bring a trophy and champagne alternatively ended Sunday with sadness and frustration.

This wasn't successful the publication the Lynx had been authoring truthful diligently for the past 4½ months. They were the WNBA's champion team. They won a franchise-record 34 games and had the No. 1 effect successful the playoffs. And past Minnesota's play transformed from a feel-good philharmonic to a shocking fearfulness movie.

In the Lynx's must-win Game 4, Cheryl Reeve, the WNBA's longest-tenured caput coach, wasn't connected the sidelines, serving a one-game suspension for a Game 3 ejection and disapproval of the officiating. Napheesa Collier, an MVP favourite for astir of the play and by acold Minnesota's astir important player, had to ticker from the seat aft an ankle wounded precocious successful Friday's game.

The Lynx blew aggregate double-digit leads and mislaid 86-81 to the Phoenix Mercury, ending this playoff run and the committedness of a play that held title aspirations. At a somber postgame quality conference, seasoned defender McBride tried to sum up the heartbreak.

"To beryllium adjacent 2 years successful a row," said McBride, who scored 31 points successful Game 4.

"S--- f---ing hurts."

Last season, minutes aft a 67-62 overtime nonaccomplishment to the New York Liberty successful Game 5 of the WNBA Finals connected Oct. 20, the Lynx came to their quality conferences with aggravated comments astir the officiating and however they felt it had outgo them the championship.

The Lynx vowed past to tally it backmost successful 2025, but this clip assertion the franchise's 5th title. And for astir 5 months, it seemed arsenic if they did everything right: They returned their full starting five, made immoderate cardinal additions, had the league's champion regular-season grounds and clinched home-court vantage for the playoffs with 5 games inactive near connected their schedule.

They started the postseason with a 2-0 expanse of Golden State successful the archetypal round. They won Game 1 of the semifinals against Phoenix and had a 48-32 pb astatine halftime successful Game 2 of the best-of-five series.

Then things spun retired of control. For the archetypal clip successful franchise history, the Lynx mislaid a crippled successful which they led by astatine slightest 16 points astatine halftime; they had been 61-0 previously. And that 89-83 overtime nonaccomplishment to the Mercury past Tuesday wasn't conscionable a velocity bump the Lynx needed to flooded to proceed their mission.

It was the opening of the end.

In Friday's Game 3 successful Phoenix, the Lynx had a 67-63 pb aft 3 quarters. But Minnesota mislaid the 4th fourth 21-9, arsenic good arsenic idiosyncratic adjacent much significant: Collier, who was injured connected a bargain by Phoenix's Alyssa Thomas with 23.8 seconds left.

Reeve, seeing her franchise subordinate connected the level successful pain, mislaid her temper. She was ejected from the game, which the Mercury won 84-76, and again castigated the league's officiating successful a little postgame code to the media.

The play connected which Collier was injured was conscionable the spark that lit a long-built fuse for Reeve. She is inactive bothered astir a decennary aboriginal by a missed changeable timepiece usurpation committed by Los Angeles successful Game 5 of the 2016 WNBA Finals, which the Sparks past won by 1 constituent for the championship.

Then, of course, past season's precocious telephone against the Lynx successful Game 5 against New York prompted Reeve to accidental afterward, "This s--- was stolen from us."

Reeve thought this play could beryllium a salve for that. Instead, it leaves the Lynx with different wound.

"You privation it for the radical [you're around] each azygous day," McBride said. "In pro sports, it doesn't get immoderate amended than what we person successful our locker room. We laic it retired fo...