The last meeting between the Minnesota Lynx and the Connecticut Sun ended in a win for Minnesota, avoiding the season sweep. It also ended with a spectacular three-point shot from Bridget Carleton, and an out-of-bounds pass by DeWanna Bonner with only 3 seconds left. In the three regular-season games, the total point differential came to 8 points. Clearly, these two teams know how to play each other.
While Connecticut is ranked 11th in the league in three-point shooting, they also bring the powerhouse trio of Bonner, Alyssa Thomas, and MIP DiJonai Carrington. Add recently acquired Marina Mabrey, and they become an even more difficult team to navigate.
Minnesota of course has its own elite players in Napheesa Collier, Kayla McBride, Courtney Williams, Alanna Smith, and Carleton. Add Myisha Hines-Allen, Cecilia Zandalasini, Natisha Hiedeman, and Dorka Juhász off the bench, and you’ve got a team that now can rely much more on subs than it has been able to in recent years.
Minnesota and Connecticut Come In Hot Entering This Series
Both teams swept the first round of the playoffs. While the second game for Connecticut was closer than the first, the Sun pulled it out against a much improved Indiana team. Minnesota, after giving up a substantial lead to Phoenix in the first game, was able to fend off a feisty Mercury team, and with a strong third quarter, took the second game 101-88.
Connecticut has been to the well several times and come up dry. The Lynx have not won a title since 2017, but are poised to do so this year. Both these teams are hungry, although the hunger manifests differently. Connecticut has seen themselves as a team deserving of more respect. Whether or not that is true, that is the chip on the shoulder that they bring.
next up. pic.twitter.com/1MHbWSfsND
— Minnesota Lynx (@minnesotalynx) September 27, 2024
The Lynx, on the other hand, want to return to the winning ways of an earlier version of the team. Perhaps the five retired numbers in the rafters serve as an inspiration for a group that is certainly capable of making it all the way.
There is also a marked difference in team personalities. Connecticut brings a somewhat more outwardly aggressive attitude to the court. The Lynx present a cooler-headed team, which is not to say that they are not aggressive. They are, but it might be comparable to an electric vehicle and a gas-powered one. They can both go 60 miles per hour, but it is how they do it. Connecticut makes more noise, and the Lynx runs a little smoother.
Can The Lynx Get Over The Lynx?
Connecticut has stymied the Lynx over the past couple of years, but this year is different. No one expected Minnesota to be where they are, and after Connecticut’s strong start to the season, they began to show some cracks in the engine. But this is the playoffs, and the rest, at least as I see it, does not give a clear advantage to either team.
The Target Center will certainly be a hostile environment for Connecticut, and while I don’t put much stock in home-court advantage, it just might give Minnesota that extra edge. We’ll find out on Sunday.
And that, my friends, as they say, is that.’ — Martin Ruben.
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