The No. 2-seed Minnesota Lynx and No. 3-seed Connecticut Sun continue their series in the 2024 WNBA Semifinals this Tuesday, Oct. 1, with Connecticut currently holding a 1-0 series lead. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET, and the game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2.
The Sun used their trademark physicality and defense to win the series opener in Minnesota, 73-70, holding the Lynx to eight fourth-quarter points and outplaying them in crunch time to earn the victory. Connecticut head coach Stephanie White described it as a “slugfest;” the tightly-contested, back-and-forth nature of Game 1 mirrored the regular-season meetings between the Sun and Lynx, most of which were low-scoring games decided by just a few points. “This was a tough, grind-it-out victory,” White said after the game. “We knew it was going to be, and and it’s how the whole series is going to be.”
Such is to be expected in a matchup between the WNBA’s top two defenses. The Sun and Lynx ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in defensive rating during the 2024 regular season, both allowing fewer than 95 points per 100 possessions. They also played at a slower pace than most other WNBA teams, ranking at or near the bottom of the leaderboards in possessions per 40 minutes.
That doesn’t mean that Connecticut and Minnesota are destined to cancel one another out offensively for the rest of the series, though. There’s room for both teams to improve—especially for the Lynx, who will be looking to even things up in Game 2.
Minnesota must find its 3-point shots in Game 2
Like White, Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve expected the semifinal series to be a tough, competitive one, but she was nonetheless disappointed in her team’s offensive production in Game 1. “We didn’t make shots,” Reeve said matter-of-factly after the game, though she expressed optimism that if the Lynx get the same looks in Game 2 as they did in the opener, “we’re going to like the outcome a little better.”
There’s certainly reason for Reeve, who was recently named the WNBA’s Coach of the Year and Executive of the Year for 2024, to think so. Minnesota led the WNBA in 3-point field goal percentage during the regular season (38 percent), but made just 5-of-20 shots from long range in Game 1. Connecticut, meanwhile, made 9-of-22, with Marina Mabrey (game-high 20 points) making six of them.
But 3-point shooting variance will only be part of the puzzle for Minnesota. The Lynx point guard duo of Courtney Williams and Natisha Hiedeman struggled in Game 1, combining to score 10 points on 4-of-15 shooting, which Reeve also mentioned as a factor in the team’s sluggish offensive output. As a unit, Minnesota recorded just 16 assists on 27 made field goals—far from the well-oiled offensive machine that set a WNBA record for assist percentage during the 2024 regular season.
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Reeve didn’t commit to making any major changes, though, and doesn’t expect White to, either. “I don’t think either team is going to make a bunch of adjustments. We are who we are.”
To her point, neither the Sun nor Lynx have gotten to this point by wavering in their respective identities. Both teams know each other well, and Game 2 of the series will likely be decided just as Game 1 was: by whichever team can make enough shots to overcome its opponent’s strong defense.
Game information
No. 3-seed Connecticut Sun (1-0) vs. No. 2-seed Minnesota Lynx (0-1)
When: Tuesday, Oct. 1 at 8:30 p.m. ET
Where: Target Center in Minneapolis, MN
How to watch: ESPN2
Sun injury report: Tyasha Harris (questionable; ankle), Tiffany Mitchell (out; illness)
Lynx injury report: Cecilia Zandalasini (probable; quad)
