PHOENIX — Playoff basketball is all about composure, physicality and shot-making, three elements of the game that were prominently displayed at a premium level on Friday in the Phoenix Mercury’s 84-76 win over the Minnesota Lynx in Game 3 of the semifinals.
The Mercury took a 2-1 lead and are one win away from reaching the WNBA Finals thanks largely to composure through a game that was the loudest PHX Arena has been in months, and probably even years.
An incredibly physical series ratcheted up even further on Friday. Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve spoke pregame about the lack of fouls called earlier in the series, a low amount of whistles that did not match the usual legal limits.
She reached her boiling point in the fourth quarter when, with Minnesota trailing by four and 28 seconds remaining, the epic season-long duel between Phoenix’s Alyssa Thomas and Minnesota’s Napheesa Collier persisted.
Collier attempted to drive the ball to her left, something she had been doing through Thomas’ chest all night. On this attempt, though, Thomas stepped in and swiped for the ball for a steal and free transition bucket that ultimately ended the game.
After Thomas knocked the ball free, Collier’s left leg ran into Thomas and resulted in a rough collision. Collier immediately slammed the floor in pain and was helped to the locker room, all while Reeve absolutely lost her mind.
Reeve, who had already received a technical foul in the first half, had to be held back by multiple coaches for well over a minute as she attempted to make her way toward the officials. She finally went back to the tunnel after what felt like far too long for a coach to go to those depths.
Minnesota finished Game 3 without Napheesa Collier or Coach Cheryl Reeve.
Coach was assessed a second technical foul and ejected after Collier collided with Alyssa Thomas on this play. pic.twitter.com/6ZNGuUSXi9
— espnW (@espnW) September 27, 2025
She spoke postgame and reached similar rarely-seen heights in that department, too, with what she had to say.
“We talked about how dangerous it can be. … When you let the physicality happen, people get hurt, there’s fights and this is the look that our league wants for some reason,” Reeve said. “We were trying to play through it, we try not to make excuses. … If this is what our league wants, OK, but I want to call for a change of leadership at the league level when it comes to officiating.”
“It’s bad for the game. … I can take an L with the best of them (but) I don’t think we should have to play through more than what they did. … They’re [expletive] awful.”
Reeve said Collier “probably has a fracture” in her left leg, and on another foul call in the first half, revealed that Collier separated her shoulder and played through that.
Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts was asked if he agreed on the danger level and responded by saying his team haven’t talked about it all playoffs and they are “worried about us.”
To offer two cents, the WNBA has seen its fair share of terrible officiating. While it felt like the refs did let the game get out of control and couldn’t regain it, this was not that type of abhorrent display.
And in a tale as old as time, the whole fiasco and a tough-to-stomach moment for one of the league’s stars in Collier overshadowed what was a phenomenal game that was building to a finish that deserved better than that.
Thomas finished with 21 points, eight rebounds, nine assists, five steals and two blocks. Collier added 17 points, six rebounds, three assists and three blocks. Both were completely out of this world and were trading shots all night.
After Collier stifled several Thomas drives in the first quarter, Collier was stonewalled by Thomas in the post midway through the second quarter, in a way that definitely should have been a foul and everyone sort of expected to hear a whistle. It never came, and that enraged Reeve for her first technical.
Despite Collier dishing it back the next time down, the Mercury crowd was sparked by the technical foul for Reeve and rode that momentum to create the first real separation of the game. But the lead only got to seven, and then Collier got back to work. She barreled into Thomas on the baseline to create separation on a step-back jumper, forced a turnover after halting another drive and scored over Thomas in the post.
If not for Kahleah Copper’s consistent scoring of 17 of her 21 points in the first half, Minnesota would have been in control instead.
The eight-point final was the largest lead of the game and the way in which both teams exchanged huge buckets was a marvel.
A 23-15 third quarter for Minnesota, thanks largely to eight of Natisha Hiedeman’s 19 points, was not so much the breaking of the dam but an inflection point like Reeve’s first technical that was the Lynx swinging the pendulum back their way after an immense effort to push it in that direction.
But Minnesota was held to nine points in the final frame, and while it was a struggle for the Mercury to score as well, two giant catch-and-shoot 3s from Satou Sabally helped make up 15 of Phoenix’s 21 points across those 10 minutes. Sabally ended up at a game-high 23 points.
Game 4 is on Sunday at 5 p.m.
