Mercury match WNBA history with Game 2 rally

MINNEAPOLIS -- To adjacent their WNBA semifinal bid astatine 1-1, the Phoenix Mercury had to bash thing nary squad had ever done successful league history.

The Minnesota Lynx had ne'er mislaid a playoff crippled successful which they led astatine halftime by treble digits (15-0). And they had ne'er mislaid immoderate game, playoffs oregon regular season, wherever they were up 16 oregon much astatine the fractional (61-0).

That is, until Tuesday's 89-83 Phoenix victory successful overtime astatine Target Center. The No. 4 effect Mercury trailed 48-32 astatine the interruption and the top-seeded Lynx looked connected their mode to a 2-0 pb successful the best-of-five series.

Then, everything turned around. The Mercury fought their mode back, mounting up Phoenix defender Sami Whitcomb's game-tying 3-pointer with 4.3 seconds left. Then Minnesota guardant Napheesa Collier missed a leap changeable astatine the buzzer, sending the crippled to overtime.

There, the Mercury completed their rally aft being down arsenic overmuch arsenic 20. It tied for the largest roadworthy comeback successful WNBA playoff history, matching the Chicago's Sky's 20-point rally against the Atlanta Dream successful 2014.

"Nobody said this worldly was gonna beryllium easy," Lynx manager Cheryl Reeve said.

Phoenix manager Nate Tibbetts, said, "Just pride, toughness, grit. I couldn't beryllium much arrogant of our radical for doing that. I mean, I'm fired up. Phoenix is going to beryllium rocking connected Friday and Sunday (for Games 3 and 4)."

Having mislaid the bid opener 82-69 Sunday, the Mercury went to the locker country astatine the interruption Tuesday with their play hanging successful the balance. Going backmost to Phoenix down 2-0 wouldn't person felt impossible, but adjacent to it.

So, Tibbetts brought immoderate vigor for his halftime code to his team. How overmuch heat? He said, "You'll person to inquire the players."

Whitcomb said it was an due magnitude of heat, and the Mercury responded. They outscored the Lynx 22-14 successful the 3rd period, and the full vibe of the crippled changed.

"They came retired truly aggressive, particularly successful transition," said Collier, whose 29th day Tuesday didn't person the ending she wanted. "We had a batch of turnovers, truthful cutting backmost connected that would person been a immense difference."

The Lynx finished the regular play a league-best 34-10 wide and 20-2 astatine home, past won their 2 erstwhile location games successful these playoffs. But Reeve said she saw mistakes and atrocious assemblage connection from her squad successful the 2nd fractional that she wasn't expecting.

"Suddenly, we mislaid our way," Reeve said. "We didn't respond. Then erstwhile we needed to spell get buckets and we had bully opportunities, we weren't beardown enough. We weren't pugnacious enough. And they ripped the crippled from us."

The Lynx turned the shot implicit connected a five-second usurpation with 46.8 seconds left, which led to an Alyssa Thomas handbasket for Phoenix. The Lynx went up 79-76 aft Courtney Williams' 2 escaped throws, and the Mercury took a timeout with 20.7 seconds left.

Tibbetts anticipated Minnesota mightiness foul to forestall a game-tying 3-point attempt. But the Lynx didn't bash that, and Whitcomb enactment up a 3 that was short.

Then Thomas grabbed the violative rebound, passed to Kahleah Copper, who swung the shot to Satou Sabally, who recovered Whitcomb again. This time, she swished the game-tying shot.

Tibbetts said Whitcomb, "Saved my a--" by adjusting to however the Lynx ended up defending the Mercury connected that sequence. Whitcomb credited her teammates for passing her the shot again aft she had missed the archetypal time.

Whitcomb is known for her high-volume signifier shooting, and she said that pays...