Alexander Shun

Web Editor Associate | @alexpshun 

It’s good to be home, oh it is good to be home. It just cannot be said enough.

The Minnesota Lynx are sure glad to be home after getting tremendous energy from the Target Center crowd that fueled them to a 71-61 victory over the Phoenix Mercury and increased their lead in the Western Conference to three games with just four games remaining.

The Lynx may have started slowly on defense, allowing 10 points in the paint in the first quarter, but their defense only got better as the game went on. Phoenix was held to just 10 points in the paint in the second quarter, eight in the third and a mere four in the fourth. Oh, and to really show how great Minnesota’s defense became: the Mercury scored 20 points in the first quarter, but were held to just 22 points in the entire second half.

“We did a little bit of tweaking,” Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve said about her team’s defensive progression throughout the game. “We just didn’t let them run their offense very easily and everything that they were trying to run was hard for them to get into.”

The Lynx really clamped down defensively but had a bit of a poor night shooting the ball, finishing just 24-of-73 (32.9 percent) from the floor. To be fair though, Mercury center Brittney Griner did block nine Lynx shots so that didn’t help the perccentage at all.

“Griner is going to be Griner,” said Lynx guard Renee Montgomery, who came off the bench to spark the Lynx with 15 points and two steals. Montgomery was forced into a larger role tonight because guard Lindsay Whalen went to the locker room midway through the second quarter and did not return.

“A lot of opportunities came my way and that’s the thing, when you get minutes, you want to try and make the most of them and that was my mindset the whole time.”

“If [Renee] just comes in and focuses on her strengths, working on getting up in people defensively, she’ll be fine,” said Lynx forward Maya Moore, who scored a game-high 28 points to go with nine rebounds, five assists and four steals. “She’s a natural offensive player and I know that from playing with her in college,. She’s going to be able to contribute offensively if she just keeps it simple and does her game.”

Lynx center Sylvia Fowles had another great game for Minnesota, notching another double-double and finishing with 14 points, 13 rebounds and two blocked shots while holding Mercury center Brittney Griner scoreless in the second half.

Forward DeWanna Bonner led the Mercury with 15 points, six rebounds and four assists, while forward Candice Dupree added 14 points, eight rebounds and two steals. Griner, who scored 13 points in the first half,  as I previously said, was held scoreless in the second half and finished with 13 points, seven rebounds and nine blocked shots in the loss.

LEADER OF THE PACK: RENEE MONTOGOMERY

Lynx guard Renee Montgomery provided a huge lift for Minnesota tonight, dropping 15 points and grabbing two steals in 28 minutes off the bench tonight.

When Whalen went to the locker room with her apparent ankle injury, it seemed as the injury bug was ready to bite and leave the Lynx shorthanded once again; Montgomery killed that bug quickly. Immediately after checking in to the game, Montgomery nailed a three-pointer to ignite the over 9,000 fans that packed into Target Center tonight.

“I’ve been waiting on this game,” said Montgomery. “I’m happy it’s here because it happened in a big game when we really needed it.”

Montgomery did well on both ends of the floor, helping to facilitate the offense then assisting in shutting down Mercury guards Marta Xargay and Monique Currie on the defensive side of the ball.

Whalen’s injury could have devastated the Lynx tonight – and obviously you hate to see any injuries, especially to a player like Whalen who had been playing through injuries entering tonight’s game – but Montgomery helped ease the loss of Whalen by helping ease the Lynx to a victory.

QUOTE-ABLE

“Our fans were terrific, and that speaks volumes. Our fans were terrific. We needed them. Our players needed them,” said Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve speaking about the importance of the home crowd tonight and how important they were in helping the Lynx to a victory.

QUICK HITS

– Guard Lindsay Whalen did exit the game midway through the second quarter with an apparent ankle injury and is being evaluated. Reeve expects Whalen to be ready for the playoffs but is uncertain of her status for the remaining regular season games.

“We got a three game lead with four to play, I’m not sure we’re going to really push that.”

– With their win tonight, the Lynx have clinched home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs and their magic number to win the Western Conference sits at just two.

UP NEXT

The Lynx don’t have to travel anywhere. FINALLY! The Lynx will play next on Friday night against the Indiana Fever in the second game of their four game homestand. The game will begin at 7:00 P.M. CT.