The day has finally arrived: go big or go home.

The Minnesota Lynx meet the Phoenix Mercury in the Second Round of the 2020 WNBA Playoffs on Thursday night. The Lynx earned a three-day break and a bye in the First Round after clinching the No. 4 seed last week.

The No. 5 seed Phoenix Mercury had a thriller of a game on Tuesday night, winning 85-84 as Shey Peddy drained a corner three to beat the buzzer. Mercury guard Skylar Diggins-Smith scored a team-high 24 points with five rebounds, while fellow guard and veteran Diana Taurasi put up23 points and six rebounds in the win.

Minnesota and Phoenix were 1-1 this season, with Lynx claiming the first game with a 10-point victory. In their win on August 21, Minnesota outscored Phoenix in three of the four quarters behind Napheesa Collier’s 20 points. Damiris Dantas and Crystal Dangerfield each added 19 points in the victory.

The 83-79 win that Phoenix had over Minnesota on August 30 started out rough for the Lynx with Phoenix scoring 33 points in the first quarter against the Lynx’s 18 points. By the end of the game, the Mercury’s backcourt Diggins-Smith and Taurasi had put up a combined 48 points. On the Lynx side, Dangerfield was the squad’s leading scorer with 20 points.

For the first time since August 13, 2017 WNBA Most Valuable Player and two-time Finals MVP Sylvia Fowles has been upgraded to ‘Questionable’ on the Lynx injury report ahead of Thursday’s matchup. Fowles missed the final 13 games of the regular season with a calf strain but averaged 14.6 points and 9.7 rebounds per game to start 2020 as one of the W’s all-time greats on the low block. Despite Fowles’ absence, a re-tooled Lynx offense still managed finished with a top-three offense during the regular season. Even without Fowles’ massive presence in the paint, Minnesota finished fifth in defensive rating.

The winner of Thursday’s game will advance to the Semi-Finals and meet either the Las Vegas Aces or the Seattle Storm following re-seeding.

 

TV Information: 6:00pm CT, ESPN2

 

Injury Report:

Lexie Brown (Concussion Protocol) is OUT, and Sylvia Fowles (Calf) is QUESTIONABLE.

 

Probable Starters:

Minnesota

F- Napheesa Collier

F- Bridget Carleton

G- Crystal Dangerfield

G- Odyssey Sims

C- Damiris Dantas

 

Phoenix

F- Shatori Walker-Kimbrough

F- Brianna Turner

G- Diana Taurasi

G- Skylar Diggins-Smith

C- Kia Vaughn