For a team that has often leaned on its bench, it was four of Minnesota’s starters doing the heavy lifting in Game 2, with Williams, McBride, Smith and Collier all in double figures, scoring 78 of the Lynx’s 83 points.
Minnesota got only two points from Bridget Carleton and three points from its bench, from Jessica Shepard, who also recorded seven rebounds. Meanwhile, Phoenix picked up 25 points from its bench, including the game-tying three from Whitcomb.
As Phoenix clamped down on Collier (24 points, six rebounds) and upped the pressure to force Williams into seven turnovers, McBride — who played a game-high 42 minutes — tried to keep the Mercury at bay in the second half, finishing with 21 points and shooting 4-for-8 from three.
Phoenix now holds home-court advantage, with a Game 3 (Friday) and Game 4 (Sunday) now guaranteed. If the teams split the pair of games in Arizona, a winner-take-all Game 5 will return to Minneapolis. The winner of this series gets the winner of the semifinal across the playoff bracket: No. 2 Las Vegas against No. 6 Indiana.
“Definitely, it’s frustrating, but it’s a series, it’s a long series, tied now,” Collier said. “So we need to go to Phoenix and take care of business.”