Alexander Shun

Web Editor Associate | @alexpshun 

WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS | LYNX LEAD SERIES 1-0

The Minnesota Lynx defeated the Phoenix Mercury tonight, 67-60 in game one of the Western Conference Finals. The Lynx have won all their home games in the playoffs thus far and take their 1-0 series lead to Phoenix on Sunday to try and close out the Mercury.

Entering game one of the series much of the talk was about the battle of the team’s frontcourts, particularly Lynx center Sylvia Fowles vs. Mercury All-Star center Brittney Griner. Tonight, the frontcourts showed why and put on quite an impressive display…well the Lynx frontcourt did at least.

Fowles finished the night with 12 points, 14 rebounds and three blocked shots while holding Griner to just nine points on 3-of-7 (43 percent)  shooting while limiting her to just six rebounds and two blocked shots. Quite impressive considering Griner entered tonight’s game averaging 20.5 points, 10 rebounds and eight blocks in the playoffs thus far.

“You just gotta stay agressive, move your feet and make her think,” Fowles said, when asked how she managed to contain Griner. “My teammates did a great job of helping me once she caught the ball of showing bodies and making sure she was crowded, so that’s how we were able to do it.”

As impressive as Fowles was, Brunson was even better.

Brunson had a huge night, and I mean HUGE night, finishing with 13 points, 19 rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot. Of the 19 rebounds, seven of them were offensive rebounds, moving Brunson into first place with the most career offensive rebounds in league playoff history.

“Rebekkah was unbelievable,” said Reeve. “Rebekkah gave us, oh my goodness, such a lift, she gave us such energy, she’s so darn hard to play against, she listened to what was going to be available to her and just went out there and took it,”

“It feels really good,” Brunson said when asked how she felt about such an honor. “It’s something that I pride myself on – going out there being aggressive on the boards – and it feels even better knowing that we got the win after it.”

The first quarter was…well forgettable, to say the least. As bad as it may have looked though, statistically, it wasn’t so bad. The Mercury came out hot, scoring in bunches and quickly building a 21-12 lead and quieting an admittedly small, yet loud, Target Center crowd. The Lynx were visibly upset about how the first quarter played out, having committed seven turnovers (which only led to two Phoenix points however) and shooting just 5-of-12 (41.7 percent) from the floor. The Lynx came out much better in the second quarter.

Minnesota opened the second quarter on an 18-2 run and turned a 21-14 deficit into a 32-23 lead. Minnesota’s frontcourt of forward Rebekkah Brunson and center Sylvia Fowles did the majority of the damage, dropping a combined 12 points, 13 rebounds and two blocked shots in the quarter, including a ridiculous one-handed tip-in at the buzzer  by Brunson to give the Lynx a 35-32 halftime lead.

In the third quarter, both teams turned up the defense. With both teams scoring just 14 points each in the quarter, the game slowed down and the fouls started coming in bunches. There were a total of nine fouls called in the third quarter, six on the Lynx and, more importantly, one being called on Fowles giving her four in the game and causing her to miss the last seven minutes of the third quarter. One would assume that Griner would would go nuts with Fowles on the bench, but the defensive combination of Brunson and forward Devereaux Peters helped to keep her quiet, holding her to just five points and one rebound in the quarter, and give the Lynx a 49-46 lead heading to the final quarter.

Moore came out in the fourth quarter determined to put the game away for Minnesota. Despite a solid defensive effort by Phoenix, Moore made multiple circus-shots, including two great lay-ups while driving straight at Griner, finished the quarter with 10 points and pushed the Lynx to a 67-60 victory over the Mercury.

It was a physical and defensive-oriented game, as expected, but how physical and tough the game was came as a surprise to some.

“I fully expected a grind-it-out game, I just didn’t know it was going to be to that level, what we just went through,” admitted Reeve.

The defensive efforts were seen all over the stats sheet with both teams shooting under 40 percent, both teams blocking five shots and both teams forcing 12 turnovers. With surely another defensive -oriented game coming their way on Sunday, the Lynx will look to continue their defensive success when they head to Phoenix.

The Lynx are only getting better. The more time and games they play together, the better they are looking. Reeve says the team is getting better every game and the players are starting to agree with her now.

“We’re continuing to understand each other and what we can do to make each other successful,” Brunson said. “We’re going to continue to pride ourselves on that and the next game we’ll be better than the last game and so on and so forth.”

LEADER OF THE PACK: REBEKKAH BRUNSON

Was there any question? Brunson finished the night with 13 points and 19 rebounds while adding two assists, two steals and a blocked shot. Brunson did a little of everything tonight and the Lynx needed it all facing a tough Mercury team.

“Our sponsorship people need to get on it right now. Curad. Band-Aid. Something. She needs to be the face of, because there’s not a bigger Band-Aid than what we just experienced tonight with Rebekkah,” said Reeve, speaking about Brunson’s performance, particularly her seven offensive rebounds.

The Lynx outscored the Mercury 15-5 in second-chance points and many of those second chances came from Brunson’s offensive rebounds.

“I just tried to do whatever I could to lift us.”

Brunson not only lifted the Lynx, she carried them. Her seven offensive rebounds were more than the Mercury had as a team and her 19 total rebounds were more than any two Mercury players had combined. Without Brunson dominating the paint and giving her team so many second-chances, while helping to shut down a talented and physical frontcourt that Phoenix provides, Brunson is without a doubt, the player of the game.

PLAY OF THE GAME

Pick a play, any play. Seemingly every play late in the game was huge. I can’t give you just one though, so I’ll give you the two biggest plays of the game.

The first came with just over five minutes left in the game. Fowles was guarding Griner as Griner received the ball on the edge. With a spin towards the baseline, Griner cleared Fowles and ran right into Brunson who was perfectly placed, waiting with her arms straight up, ready to defend. As Griner attempted to maneuver around Brunson she took one too many steps and traveled, turning the ball over to the Lynx. The perfect help defense by Brunson was something that was seen all night from this Lynx team.

The other play came with just 40 seconds left in the game and the Lynx leading by four. Fowles was at the line and was shooting the second of two free-throws. After missing the first, Fowles missed the second and it appeared as though Phoenix would have a chance to make it a one-possession game; however, there was Brunson, once again, to save the day. Brunson ripped down the offensive rebound preventing the Mercury from cutting into their lead and essentially sealing the victory for the Lynx.

QUOTE-ABLE

“Yeah that’s it, those are the kind of plays that can’t happen…Some times you can hang in there and one possession can just break your back, and that was one of them,” Mercury head coach Sandy Brondello said, speaking about the crucial offensive rebound that Brunson grabbed after Fowles missed her free-throw.

QUICK HITS

–The Minnesota Lynx defeated the Phoenix Mercury, 67-60 in tonight’s Game 1 of Western Conference Finals. The home team has now won the past 12 meetings in the series, including playoffs and regular season. Minnesota can sweep the series on Sunday in Phoenix with a win to advance to the WNBA Finals for the third time in the last five seasons.

–Tonight marked the third consecutive and fourth overall postseason the two squads have squared off in the Western Conference Finals. The winner of series has gone on to win the WNBA Championship, with Minnesota winning the championship in 2011 and 2013 while Phoenix took home the title in 2014.

–With tonight’s win the Lynx improve to 26-12 all-time in WNBA Playoffs and 19-2 at Target Center. Both marks are the best for any team in league postseason history. Minnesota has now won 10 straight playoff games at home and is 11-3 in Game 1’s.

–Rebekkah Brunson played 39:52 minutes of tonight’s game and finished with 13 points and 19 rebounds, marking her 10^thplayoff career double-double. Her 19 points is a postseason best as well as a franchise record and ranks fourth in the WNBA for most rebounds in a playoff game. Brunson held the previous franchise record with 16 points set at San Antonio on Sept. 18, 2011.

–Brunson (143 -58 games) entered tonight’s game needing two offensive rebounds to overtake Taj McWilliams-Franklin (137 – 64 playoff games) for first place on the all-time postseason offensive rebounds leaderboard.  She finished the game with a game-high seven offensive rebounds to reach the milestone.

–Along with Brunson, Sylvia Fowles finished tonight’s contest with a double-double, grabbing 14 rebounds and scoring 12 points. Tonight marked her seventh playoff career double-double and first with the Lynx.

–Brunson and Fowles outrebounded Phoenix as a team 33-30 and helped Minnesota to a 44-30 advantage on the glass. The Minnesota’s +14 rebounding margin ranks fifth in Minnesota playoff history. Lynx also dominated inside the paint, outscoring Phoenix 38-18. Phoenix’s 18 points in the paint marks the fewest pain points allowed in Lynx playoff history. During the regular season, Phoenix averaged 31.8 paint points and allowed 30.0 points in the paint.

–Minnesota held the Mercury to just 32.8% (19-for-58) from the floor, marking the second-lowest field goal percentage it has allowed in a playoff game. The Lynx held Atlanta to 31.2% in the 2013 WNBA Finals.

–The Lynx had four players finish tonight’s contest in double digits led by Maya Moore with 19 points. DeWanna Bonner was the only Phoenix player to each double digits, posting a game-high 21 points.

UP NEXT

The Lynx will now travel to Phoenix to take on the Mercury in Game two of the Western Conference Finals on Sunday, Sept. 27. Minnesota can advance to the WNBA Finals with a win. The game is set to tipoff at 2 p.m. CT on ESPN2 and can be heard on BOB 106 FM.