Lynx Rally Stuns Phoenix
August 30, 2015

Missing two-thirds of the team’s Big Three in the second half, the Minnesota Lynx managed to grit out a stellar performance in a playoff-type atmosphere and defeat arch-rival Phoenix, 71-61, at Target Center.

Every Phoenix shot was contested in the second half in a physical game that saw referees swallow their whistles at crucial junctures, allowing fouls to go uncalled. With Seimone Augustus’ foot in a walking boot and Lindsay Whelan sitting in the locker room, it was up to the remaining Big Three member, Maya Moore, to shoulder the load. Moore responded, as did a previously unheralded bench player, Renee Montgomery.

Moore finished with 28 points, and Montgomery had 15. The latter had eight key points in the final quarter. Moore accomplished her total via volume shooting from all angles. During the course of the game, she jacked up 28 shots, missing 19 of them. Moore fired away without conscience. But Michael Jordan never let a few misses stop him from shooting.

For the Lynx, the first half followed the same tiresome pattern of previous games, with Minnesota sleepwalking through offensive sets and keeping their distance on defense. The Mercury, led by Brittany Griner and DeWanna Bonner, waltzed to a 39-34 lead. Phoenix uniforms bear the logo of Arizona casino the Talking Stick, and the thin 6-9 Griner resembles a talking stick (remember Wilt the Stilt?). The talking stick blocked five Lynx shots by halftime and finished with nine for the game.

The second half started with a layup basket but Sylvia Fowles, followed by another by Anna Cruz and a Fowles rebound basket. Minnesota had a 40-39 lead, and the crowd of 9,123, previously in deep slumber, rose as one to cheer. From then until the final buzzer, the onlookers yelled themselves hoarse.

Later, baskets by Bonner and Candice Dupree were to give the Mercury a 50-46 lead, but a bank shot by Moore drew Minnesota to within 50-48 as the quarter closed. The fourth quarter opened with a successful jump shot by Montgomery to tie the score, but Phoenix’s Monique Currie scored on a jump shot of her own to retake the lead at 52-50. Then came the shot of the evening, a three-point basket by Montgomery, and the Lynx never trailed after that.

A 14-foot jumper by Moore increased the lead to 66-56, and Phoenix was cooked. The Mercury were held to 11 points in each the third and fourth periods. Meanwhile Minnesota was racking up 37 in both.

“We had a sense of urgency,” said Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve after the game, “and our fans helped out by picking us up. We need fan energy.”

Reeve revealed that Whalen’s body had betrayed her (heel bursitis, ailing Achilles tendon). Eleven seasons away from her starring days at the University of Minnesota, Whalen’s body is breaking down, and she will be inactive until playoff time, leaving Reeve with a short bench.

“Tonight we showed the fight necessary to win in this league,” she said. “We might have reached a team high in terms of cohesion.”