Minnesota Lynx defeat Connecticut Sun, even series at 1-1

MINNEAPOLIS — Through two games in their WNBA semifinal matchup, one thing seems to be clear about the relationship between the Connecticut Sun and Minnesota Lynx, who won Game 2 on Tuesday  77-70.

They’re not — at least in this series — on friendly terms.

What started as a playoff game Tuesday night nearly descended into a 1980s Bulls-Pistons affair as the officiating crew in Minneapolis seemed to blow their whistles far less than they could have. There were hard fouls, cheap shots and endless trash talk. There were even a few moments where it seemed as if a fight might ensue.

“Folks ain’t fighting,” said Lynx guard Courtney Williams, who finished with a team-high 17 points in the victory. “It’s just playoff basketball.”

But Williams also admitted that her team knew it had to match its opponent’s intensity after a loss in Game 1.

“The first game they were chirping and chatting, so we had to give it back to them,” Williams said. “Playoff basketball, man.”

After both teams combined to miss their first 14 shots, the scrappiness that had defined the first game of the series Sunday returned.

Sun standout Marina Mabrey wrestled Napheesa Collier, the WNBA’s Defensive Player of the Year, for a loose ball in the first half before officials stepped between both players and their teammates who had come over to back them.

At different points in the game,  Kayla McBride and Bridget Carleton fell to the floor and checked their mouths for blood after collisions with Sun players. Alyssa Thomas, who’d stuck her tongue out after an earlier layup, grabbed her right ankle following a bruising tussle in the paint. And McBride drew a technical foul when she hip-checked Mabrey in the second quarter.

The most explosive moment between the two teams, however, unfolded in the fourth quarter when McBride knocked  DiJonai Carrington off her mark as she drove to the rim for a late layup. Carrington sat on the court for a moment. Then, she jumped up and charged toward McBride before her teammates held her back.

“We all kind of have to keep each other calm and focused on the goal ahead,” said Carrington, who had 14 points. “We know that whoever we’re playing, they’re going to try to test us, whether it’s with hard fouls, whether it’s chirping. We just have to stick together and make sure that [we stay] focused on the goal, so that’s really what you saw there.”

DeWanna Bonner said she expected that aggressiveness from both teams.

“There are going to be dicey moments,” Bonner said. “It’s a win or go home kind of deal, you know? So everybody wants it, and the emotions are high. We’re just two competitive teams going at it. That’s about it.”

For the Lynx, Game 2 had a different vibe than Game 1. Although Collier (3-for-14) struggled in her second consecutive outing following a record-breaking effort in the first round against the Phoenix Mercury, the Lynx didn’t lose their composure.

It helped that Myisha Hines-Allen (seven points) gave the squad key buckets and energy off the bench. Hines-Allen, the sister of  Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Josh Hines-Allen, flexed in the second half after her layup helped Minnesota extend its lead.

Since the Lynx acquired Hines-Allen in August from the Washington Mystics, she’s given them a renewed toughness in the paint that’s helped them battle tough teams like the Sun.

“She brings that physical presence and when you have someone like that coming off the bench as well, that’s someone you don’t want to play against,” said Alanna Smith, who finished with 15 points [3-for-4 on 3-pointers]. “You see her come on the court and you’re like, ‘s—.’ When you’ve got someone like her coming off the bench, who is a physical enforcer but is also a great player — she’s a great passer, she rebounds so well, she sets great screens, she does the little things really, really well — we rely on her to come off the bench and bring that fear because you can’t sleep when our bench comes in. And I think she is a big reason as to why.”

The Sun still hold the edge this season with three wins over the Lynx in five games as the series now goes back to Connecticut. But the Lynx, Sun coach Stephanie White said, were the tougher team Tuesday, which can’t be the case if her team intends to advance to the finals and win the WNBA title for the first time in franchise history.

“It’s an emotional game,” White said. “That’s part of why we love it. We’re competitors, they’re competitors. We’ve got great players, they’ve got great players. I think we just have to make sure we channel it the right way. Everybody wants to win. Everybody’s fighting for a championship.”

In the third quarter, Williams and Mabrey kept talking to one another even as an official tried to get them to stop. That was the tone of the entire game as the top defensive teams in the WNBA refused to yield in a critical matchup.

Despite the animosity, however, Williams said everyone will eventually move on, but only after the playoffs.

“Oh, we were chatting,” Williams said about the exchange with Mabrey. “I told her she couldn’t guard me. She told me I ain’t have that many good games. I said, ‘So you think you’re pressure? Because I’m really pressure.’ A little back-and-forth action. It’s playoffs, man. We’re going to talk a little bit. We’ll be cool again after we’re done playing.”