The Guru’s WNBA Playoffs Roundup: Phoenix Upsets Top-Seed Minnesota While Las Vegas Downs Indiana Each Moving Within One Win of the Finals

 By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

The expanded best-of-seven WNBA championship round is one away each after Friday night’s pivotal Game 3s in the best-of-five semifinals for a matchup that few had on their bingo cards at the All Star break two months go.

Two-seed Las Vegas on the road broke away from six-seed Indiana for an 84-72 victory before a Gainbridge Fieldhouse crowd of 16,507 in Indianapolis followed by top-seed Minnesota on the road pushed to the brink of elimination 84-76 in front of a four-seed Phoenix crowd of 15,941 at PHX Arena.

The ending in the Arizona desert was testy for the visiting Lynx, who had dominated the 13-team league all summer, outscored 21-9 in the fourth quarter, in which Satou Sabally scored 15 of her 23 points for the Mercury in an ending that saw Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve, the former La Salle standout from South Jersey, ejected and MVP runner up Napheesa Collier limp off the floor.

Sabally’s shot from deep put Phoenix ahead 78-76 with 3:05 remaining followed by two foul shots a minute later for a four-point lead continuing to a shut-out close as Maryland grad Alyssa Thomas out of Harrisburg got a steal and layup with 21.8 seconds to clinch the outcome.

“We closed them out, we knew what they were running,” said Sabally of the Mercury’s defense.

Ironically, a year ago Sabally’s sister Nyara was a factor in the deciding Game 5 of the Finals that saw New York at the finish in overtime edge Minnesota at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn for the Liberty’s first title in their 28-year history dating to the WNBA’s inaugural summer in 1997.

Now after a hot start by New York and Minnesota early in the season with a potential rematch seemingly ahead, the Liberty were knocked out 2-1 by Phoenix a week ago in the opening round with coach Sandy Brondello fired on Monday and the Lynx needing a win in Sunday’s Game 4 at 8 p.m. on ESPN to get the series back to the Target Center in Minneapolis.

Game 4 in the other series on Sunday will air at 3 p.m. on ABC.

Reeve got her second technical after the Mercury’s last bucket.

On that play, Collier got hurt, rolling her ankle, and had to be helped off the floor.

That soon was followed by Reeve in the Lynx press conference ripping the officiating over letting the game get too physical and saying Collier “probably has a fracture” though no details were given.

“We talked about how dangerous it can be,” Reeve referred to physicality and back to pre-game queries on officiating. “You’re hearing it through the series. You’re hearing other coaches. You’re hearing (Las Vegas coach) Becky (Hammon) talk about when you let the physicality happen, people get hurt, there’s fights, and this is the look our league wants, for some reason.

“We were trying to play through it. We tried to make excuses. One of best players in the league shot zero free throws. And she had had five fouls. Had her shoulder pulled out. And finished the game with her leg being taken out.

“Probably has a fracture. If this is what our league wants, ok. But I want to call for a change of leadership when it comes to officiating at the league level. It’s bad for the game,” Reeve continued.

“The officiating crew that we had for the game tonight, the leadership to deem those three people semi finals playoff worthy, is (bleep) malpractice. I can take an ‘L’ with the best of them. I Don't think we should have to play through what they did to the players. I think it’s crap. I think it’s (bleeping) awful.”

Meanwhile, Thomas, the WNBA’s regular and playoff career leader in triple doubles, had 21 points as did Rutgers grad Kahleah Copper out of North Philadelphia for Phoenix in the tightly contested game that saw 15 lead changes.

“This is a team that believes in each other — been overlooked a little all year,” said Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts. “But one thing we are is tough and we fight, we compete, and we did that in the fourth. “We made it hard on every possession and that's what good defensive teams do.”

Minnesota reserve Natisha Hiedeman scored 19 points, Collier scored 17, shooting 8-15 from the field, and Courtney Williams scored 14.

The Lynx were behind four points, 48-44, at the half but went into the final period up 67-63 propelled by Hiedeman scoring eight points in the closing five minutes of the third quarter.

Phoenix, losing the opening game of the playoffs, came back and routed the Liberty in New York to send the series back home for Game 3, then equalled the semifinals by rallying from a 20-point deficit in Minneapolis to win in overtime to capture the home advantage for the next two games to try and close out the Lynx.

The comeback tied for third in the league’s playoff history.

Minnesota was in the same position in last season’s Finals, but at home, when they forced Game 5, which also had a controversial ending over missed calls.

Young Leads the Aces

The bravado run of the injury-riddled Fever, which upset 3-seed Atlanta on the road to advance and took the semis opener at Las Vegas, may have run its course.

Jackie Young scored 25 points in a home-state return while NaLyssa Smith thwarted her former team with 16 points as Las Vegas since the record 53-point home wipeout to Minnesota, won 17 straight, including the first-round opener, then fell in a rally by Seattle before edging the Storm at the finish of Game 3 to advance, and then fell in the opener of the semis before winning Games 2 and 3.

Though the Aces came into the season in the wake of back-to-back titles in 2022 and 2023 and a semifinals loss to New York last fall, they struggled heading into August barely in the eight-team playoff mix before reigniting on the play of now four-time MVP A’ja Wilson.

In this one, though, the star of Dawn Staley’s first of three NCAA titles at South Carolina, after she got the game under way with a 3-pointer, missed her next 11 shots before finishing with 13 points, eight boards, four assists and three blocks.

Chelsea Gray added 15 points with six assists.

That Indiana got this far would have been no surprise back in May with game-changer Caitlin Clark coming in off her Rookie of the Year season, but the former Iowa sensation and all-time NCAA scorer, who had been injury-free since high school, only appeared in 13 games and had not played since July 14 after suffering a right groin pull and unable to complete a rehab fast enough for the playoffs.

Then in August, while still hopeful of a Clark recovery, Indiana lost four more players, two in the same game and all guards, to season-ending injuries.

Still, the way this WNBA season has gone league-wide, the Aces are not considering the Finals are in the bag.

“We just have to get the job done Sunday,” said Young, who was the Indiana girls’ basketball career scoring leader with 3,268 points. “The job’s not finished yet. Second round, right?”

Former Ohio State standout Kelsey Mitchell, fifth in the five-player MVP balloting who kept Indiana in the playoff hunt through all the injuries, scored 21 points, while Lexie Hull double doubled with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Aliyah Boston, Indiana’s No. 1 overall pick out of South Carolina the season prior to Clark, had 12 points, eight boards, and four assists for the Fever who stayed competitive early with what became an overallgg 16-4 edge on the offensive boards.

But the Fever’s demise came between the third and fourth quarter on a near nine-minute drought unable to make shots allowing Las Vegas an 8-0 run to build a 12-point lead.

“I thought we got a lot of good shots. Didn't make a lot of them, you know,” said Indiana coach Stephanie White. “We missed some opportunities at the free throw line and then got a little stagnant. We were still in a good spot, though, because we were still getting stops until about the middle of the fourth quarter.”

The Fever still had a chance until the drought caused by the Aces’ defensive stand.

“We know how important defense is for us, that's something that we've been really dialed into, something we've been focused on,” Smith said. “Defense is like our core focus. When our defense is on, our offense is 10 times better.”

In the offseason as Indiana tried to build around Clark, Smith was dealt to Dallas but then ended up with the Aces.