Are Caitlin Clark’s Air Force 1s the key to Indiana Fever’s playoff success?<\/a><\/p>\nWinnersPhoenix Mercury\u2019s refusal to quit<\/p>\n
Coaches will never again have to sell their players on the idea that no game is out of reach. Just put in a tape of the last 20 minutes of the Phoenix Mercury\u2019s improbable comeback in Game 2 against the Minnesota Lynx.<\/p>\n
Down 20 with 5:45 left in the third quarter, Phoenix outscored the Lynx 50-24 over the last 15 minutes of regulation and overtime.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust pride and toughness. Grit. I couldn\u2019t be more proud of our group with doing that,\u201d Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts said after the 89-83 win. \u201cI believe this is our fourth game in seven nights. I was a little worried going into the game, but boy, they really responded in the second half. We just kept fighting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Granted, Minnesota gave Phoenix plenty of help. They had five of their 18 turnovers in the third quarter and another three in OT. \u00a0They were whistled for a five-second violation with 47 seconds left in regulation and clinging to a 3-point lead. They were 7-of-28 from 3-point range.<\/p>\n
But the Mercury had to take advantage of Minnesota\u2019s lapses and create their own luck, and they did both.<\/p>\n
“We\u2019re confident. We\u2019re confident in us and we\u2019ve been battling all season,” said Satou Sabally, who was 5 of 11 from 3-point range and finished with 24 points. “You can\u2019t give up a basketball game if you\u2019re down whatever. I believed at halftime and that\u2019s what we did.”<\/p>\n
Mercury’s Sami Whitcomb saves Nate Tibbets<\/p>\n
The Minnesota Lynx did not do what Nate Tibbetts was expecting them to at the end of regulation.<\/p>\n
With the Mercury trailing by 3 and getting possession after a timeout with 20.7 seconds left, Tibbetts thought Minnesota would foul. He drew up a play in anticipation of that during the timeout, only to have the Lynx keep their hands to themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cI messed that up,\u201d Tibbetts acknowledged.<\/p>\n
Sami Whitcomb put up a 3 that was way short, but Alyssa Thomas grabbed the offensive rebound. The Mercury passed the ball around until it got to Whitcomb again, and this time her 3-pointer was good to tie the game with 4.3 seconds left.<\/p>\n
Napheesa Collier missed a jumper at the buzzer, sending the game into overtime.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was completely on me. Sami saved my ass,\u201d Tibbetts said. \u201cThat\u2019s what great players, great shooters do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whitcomb said she\u2019s put up 20,000 shots during practice this season, preparing for just that kind of moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was joking that it\u2019s 20,000 for one shot,\u201d Whitcomb said. \u201cIt\u2019s for these moments. Obviously, I would love to shoot a better percentage. But I feel like it shows up in moments like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gritty performances<\/p>\n
Mercury forward Kahleah Copper and Fever guard Lexie Hull can rest when the playoffs are over.<\/p>\n
Copper rolled her right ankle when she collided with Katheryn Westbeld in the closing seconds of the third quarter. Copper grabbed at her ankle and was limping visibly, and she immediately headed back to the locker room when the quarter ended.<\/p>\n
But Copper not only returned to the game, she made a big contribution in Phoenix\u2019s improbable win. Her 3-pointer with 1:47 left in overtime put the Mercury up 85-79 and, after a timeout, she blew up Minnesota\u2019s possession with a strip of Napheesa Collier. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Hull was a late add to the Fever’s injury list with a sore back. She played, however, and had 15 points, three rebounds and two assists.<\/p>\n
“I\u2019m feeling sore still,” Hull acknowledged after the game. “It’s part of the playoffs. It\u2019s the end of the season. Everyone\u2019s a little fatigued, a little sore. … It\u2019ll be a good rest day tomorrow. But I think that\u2019s for everyone. We\u2019re just pushing through.”<\/p>\n
Chelsea Gray doing Chelsea Gray things<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a reason they call Chelsea Gray the Point Gawd.<\/p>\n
Gray was dealing in the Las Vegas Aces\u2019 90-68 rout of the Indiana Fever in Game 2 on Tuesday night. She had 10 assists, including a sick, no-look pass to Megan Gustafson with 1:21 left in the third that Patrick Mahomes would have appreciated. Gray had her head completely turned when she whipped a pass through traffic to Gustafson, who was beneath the basket and put the ball up for the easy bucket.<\/p>\n
Gray also had three steals and six points before Becky Hammon pulled her starters with four minutes left in the game.<\/p>\n
A’ja Wilson doing A’ja Wilson things<\/p>\n
What A’ja Wilson does is not normal. It might seem like it, because she does it all the time. But it is not.<\/p>\n
The Aces fell flat in Game 1 Sunday, hours after Wilson won her record fourth WNBA MVP award. No way she was letting that happen in Game 2.<\/p>\n
Wilson led all scorers with 25 points, on 10-of-18 shooting, and also had nine points, five steals, two blocks and an assist. This despite not playing the last four minutes of the game.<\/p>\n
And as Wilson goes, so do the Aces. They were were more aggressive in Game 2, more active, more … Aces. They contained Kelsey Mitchell, harassed the Fever into 18 turnovers and limited Indiana’s bench to six points.<\/p>\n
“We didn\u2019t come to work in Game 1 and that\u2019s on all of us,” Wilson said. “Game 2, we just decided to come to work. When we do that and we do it the right way and we play the right way, good things happen.<\/p>\n
“I told my team, I was honestly just embarrassed. More embarrassed than the 53-point loss,” Wilson said, referring to a loss to the Minnesota Lynx during the regular-season. “Nobody panicked. It was just like, we\u2019ve got to come to work. That\u2019s it.”<\/p>\n
LosersMinnesota’s composure<\/p>\n
The Minnesota Lynx are not a team that blows leads, beats themselves or makes dumb mistakes.<\/p>\n
Yet here we are.<\/p>\n
The Lynx were well on their way to a commanding 2-0 lead in the WNBA semifinals, up 20 points with just under six minutes to play in the third quarter Tuesday night. But Phoenix cranked up its aggressiveness and the Lynx became very un-Lynx like.<\/p>\n
They began turning the ball over, usually without any prompting from Phoenix. They couldn\u2019t make shots. They were whistled for a five-second violation late in the fourth quarter and then didn\u2019t foul when they had one to give on what would be a game-tying possession for Phoenix.<\/p>\n
\u201cPhoenix did a good job coming out aggressive, but I think we beat ourselves,\u201d Napheesa Collier said. \u201cUnforced turnovers, not taking care of the ball when they were pressuring us. It\u2019s definitely frustrating, but it\u2019s a series. A long series. We\u2019re tied now, we\u2019ve got to go to Phoenix and take care of business.\u201d<\/p>\n
20-POINT COMEBACK COMPLETE \ud83d\ude2e\ud83d\udc4f<\/p>\n
Phoenix outscores Minnesota 57-35 in the 2H & OT, tying the 3rd-largest comeback in WNBA playoff history!<\/p>\n
Mercury-Lynx series is all tied up at 1-1 \ud83c\udf7fpic.twitter.com\/qYfkshqqLI<\/a><\/p>\n\u2014 NBA (@NBA) September 24, 2025<\/a>Indiana’s short bench<\/p>\nIt is incredible that the Indiana Fever have made it this far with a team that\u2019s being held together by duct tape and rubber bands. More often than not, they\u2019ve found a way to make it work.<\/p>\n
On this night, however, their lack of depth did them in.<\/p>\n
Though four of Indiana\u2019s starters finished in double figures, they got almost nothing from their bench. Six points, to be exact. Brianna Turner didn\u2019t even take a shot in her 24 minutes, the first time in more than a month she didn\u2019t attempt a field goal.<\/p>\n
Compare that with Game 1, when Indiana\u2019s bench chipped in 14 points in the Fever\u2019s win.<\/p>\n
Indiana also had no answer for Las Vegas’ aggressiveness. The Aces scored 28 points off Indiana turnovers and another 14 off offensive rebounds.<\/p>\n
“They dictated and we were on our heels. We were passive. We were reactive. To everything,” Fever coach Stephanie White said. “They\u2019re too good. We can\u2019t spot them 42 points.”<\/p>\n
Lack of foul calls, again<\/p>\n
Officiating, or lack thereof, has been a common complaint throughout the season. Why should the playoffs be any different?<\/p>\n
Neither the Indiana Fever nor the Las Vegas Aces were happy with the physicality of Game 2 on Tuesday night. That’s actually an understatement, given that Aces coach Becky Hammon said it was “out of control.”<\/p>\n
“Most of my assistants come from the NBA and they\u2019re like, `This would not fly in the NBA. This level of physicality would not fly in the NBA. There would be fights,'” said Hammon, who was a longtime assistant with the San Antonio Spurs before coming back to the WNBA to coach the Aces.<\/p>\n
“We just have very well-mannered women that can get to the next play. … I\u2019m not concerned because I know we\u2019ll keep our composure. But I don\u2019t understand. I don\u2019t get it. The freedom of movement is supposed to be a point of emphasis. Defensive three seconds is supposed to be a point of emphasis. I don\u2019t know why we have points of emphasis.”<\/p>\n
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