Lynx 78, Sun 76: An Absolute Thriller to Clinch Second Seed

The Minnesota Lynx took to the court in their final road game of the 2024 WNBA regular season on Tuesday in Connecticut, taking on the Sun in a down-to-the-wire game that had playoff seeding implications.

As the hottest team in the WNBA entering the final week of the regular season, the Minnesota Lynx kicked the week off Tuesday night with an important contest with playoff seeding implications.

Minnesota, coming into the game winners of six straight and two games up on the Connecticut Sun for second place, took the court for its final road contest of the regular season in hopes of officially clinching the second seed and grabbing a top-two spot in the standings.

At Mohegan Sun Arena on Tuesday, the Lynx did just that while beating the Sun for the first time this season behind an instant classic that came down to the final seconds, as Minnesota pulled away with a 78-76 victory.

With the win, Minnesota improved to 30-9 while officially clinching the second seed for the postseason. The Lynx head into the regular season finale winners of seven in a row while posting an impressive 13-1 record since play resumed out of the Olympic Break.

“I’m happy for our team,” Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve said. “These are good teams we are playing, what you expect is that back-and-forth.”

Photo by Chris Marion/NBAE via Getty Images

Stepping Up Late

It seemed like the Lynx had a different player step up at different points in Tuesday’s game, but it took a total team effort down the stretch against a talented Sun squad. Going into the fourth quarter with a nine-point lead, Minnesota saw Connecticut make a late-game comeback attempt that would result in the game going shot-for-shot in the final minute.

The Lynx got big buckets from Napheesa Collier and Courtney Williams down the stretch, each hitting a go-ahead bucket, but nobody hit a bigger shot than Bridget Carleton in the final seconds. With Minnesota down one, Carleton hit her third three of the night with 3.4 seconds left to put the Lynx up for good.

“BC works so hard for us and does what we ask of her ever single night,” Collier said after the win. “She shows up when we need her to. She deserves it. She’s such a great teammate, person and ball player. … It’s an amazing feeling we all have for her.”

Balanced Effort Once Again

Collier led the way once again for the Lynx, continuing to build onto her MVP type of season. Similar to how we’ve seen Collier shine this season, so too has the supporting cast surrounding her. In Tuesday’s victory, that was once the case with multiple Lynx stepping up at various points in the game.

Collier paced Minnesota with a game-best 25 points on 11-of-16 shooting to go along with six rebounds, four blocks, two steals and two assists.

Behind Collier, Kayla McBride posted 14 points to go along with a team-best seven boards while hitting key shots down the stretch late in quarters. Carleton provided a spark at both the start and the end of the game, ending with 13 points and three rebounds. Courtney Williams put on a show offensively, dishing out a season-high 12 assists to go along with eight points, five rebounds and two steals.

Oh, and then there was the strong bench play of Myisha Hines-Allen, who could become a key piece to this Lynx squad in the postseason. Hines-Allen has shined in her role on Minnesota’s second unit, and did so once again Tuesday night while posting nine points, three rebounds and one assist over 11 minutes off the bench.

When the Lynx are clicking like they have been and are playing balanced basketball on both ends of the court, they are incredibly tough to beat. If that continues at the end of the regular season, Minnesota could be battling for a WNBA title in October.

Playoff Picture

As mentioned, the Lynx officially clinched the second seed in the WNBA Playoffs with Tuesday’s win, sitting behind only the New York Liberty, who locked up the top seed following their own win on Tuesday.

With one of the top seeds, that means Minnesota will get homecourt advantage for the first round of the playoffs, which is a best-of-three series format. The Lynx will face the Phoenix Mercury, who have locked in the seventh seed. Games 1 and 2 will take place in Minneapolis, with a potential Game 3 shifting to Phoenix.

“It’s great. We have hefty goals, but I think the way we’ve come out of the Olympic Break is a testament,” Kayla McBride said. “This is the hardest league in the world. To say you’re No. 2 going into the playoffs, it’s great.

“I just like where we are as a team,” McBride continued. “We’re here for the same mission, to go out and win every game.”

The first round of the postseason will conclude Sept. 27, with the best-of-five semifinals round beginning Sept. 29 and the WNBA Finals tipping off Oct. 10.

Photo by Chris Marion/NBAE via Getty Images

Up Next

The Lynx will round out the 40-game regular season with one final game — a home contest — against the Los Angeles Sparks. Minnesota, which owns a 3-0 season series advantage over Los Angeles this year, will host the Sparks at 7PM CT on Thursday, 9/19 at Target Center. The game can be seen in Minnesota on Bally Sports North.