Current:Home > InvestMinnesota coach Cheryl Reeve needed Lynx to 'be gritty at the end.' They delivered.-LoTradeCoin
Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve needed Lynx to 'be gritty at the end.' They delivered.
View Date:2024-12-23 20:40:31
BROOKLYN, N.Y. — There was a moment in the frenetic and fantastic final minute of regulation in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals when the extremely energetic head coach of the Minnesota Lynx, Cheryl Reeve, looked like she was about to stop prowling the sidelines and jump onto the court to play defense.
Had she done that, as strange as it would have been, it definitely wouldn’t have been the most surprising thing to happen in a game that her Lynx had no business winning, but did anyway, 95-93, in overtime.
When it was over, after a stunning four-point play by Courtney Williams and a crucial missed second free throw by Breanna Stewart that almost certainly would have won the game and the general back and forth of a heavyweight fight going the distance and then some, Reeve was happy to note it was the first time in WNBA postseason history that a team had been down by 15 points in the final five minutes of regulation and come back to win.
If she hadn’t mentioned it, the silence and shock of the New York Liberty crowd would have aptly told the story. What had looked like a certain victory on their home court evaporated with a furious rally by a team that had just played a Game 5 in its previous series two days earlier halfway across the country.
Sometimes the team on a roll stays on a roll, and that was Minnesota Thursday night. They were the ones who had no rest after their victory over Connecticut in Minneapolis Tuesday, they were the ones saddled with the quick turnaround, they were the ones who had to fly in one day and play the next — and they made it all work to their advantage.
“I think it defines our team in terms of being able to get through difficult times,” Reeve said after she had jumped for joy and dashed off the court into the locker room in triumph. “You have to be mentally tough, resilient. You have to look inward and not blame other people and give each other confidence and we were that team.”
They sure were, Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said after having to witness it all from her front-row seat on the opposing bench.
“They lifted up the energy, they out-hustled us, we missed a lot of shots,” she said of how the Lynx took over as the game wound down. “They executed better than us, they found a way to win. They made plays down at the other end. They were blowing us up, they were being very physical. They went to another level.”
Much of this would have seemed impossible two hours earlier, when the Lynx were trailing, 32-19, after the first quarter. But Reeve, who coached the U.S. Olympic team to a gold medal in Paris two months ago, was not concerned.
“We know it’s a long series,” she said. “Nothing is won in the first quarter. It was not the first quarter that we were hoping for. What our narrative was in the time outs was we have to just find our footing, find our footing defensively, and we did in the second quarter. We held them to 12 after giving up 32. We went into halftime in good shape (down by eight).”
As the Lynx pulled themselves back into the game, Reeve and the players on the bench became more animated, sensing something big was brewing.
“Defensively we knew what we had to get done,” Reeve said. “We had to overcome a lot. … We got big stops when we needed ‘em. Repeatedly, whether balls going out of bounds, 50-50 balls, referees, whatever happens, jump balls, fouls, all that stuff, we just had to be gritty at the end, we had to get stops to win and that’s what I’m proud of.”
When Reeve and the Lynx arrived in New York Wednesday, she was asked what the turnaround had been like from Game 5 the previous evening in Minnesota.
“Quick,” she said.
“It is what it is, as we all know: TV. We just gotta make the best of it.”
That they most certainly did.
veryGood! (11335)
Related
- Rita Ora Says Liam Payne “Left Such a Mark on This World” in Emotional Tribute
- Demi Lovato Shares the Real Story Behind Her Special Relationship With Boyfriend Jutes
- 5 tech mistakes that can leave you vulnerable to hackers
- Trump appeals ruling rejecting immunity claim as window narrows to derail federal election case
- Inter Miami's MLS playoff failure sets stage for Messi's last act, Alexi Lalas says
- A St. Paul, Minnesota, police officer and a suspect were both injured in a shooting
- Premier League preview: Arsenal faces third-place Aston Villa, Liverpool eye top of table
- Deion Sanders lands nation's top offensive line recruit
- Larry Hobbs, who guided AP’s coverage of Florida news for decades, has died at 83
- Pro-Kremlin Ukrainian politician Illia Kyva assassinated near Moscow: Such a fate will befall other traitors of Ukraine
Ranking
- Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas says he was detained in airport over being ‘disoriented’
- AP Week in Pictures: Europe and Africa
- Man suspected of firing shotgun outside Jewish temple in upstate New York faces federal charges
- Copa América draw: USMNT shares group with Uruguay, Panama
- One person is dead after a shooting at Tuskegee University
- Vermont panel decertifies sheriff charged with assault for kicking shackled prisoner
- Judge rules against Prince Harry in early stage of libel case against Daily Mail publisher
- How Ian Somerhalder and Nikki Reed Built Their Life Away From Hollywood
Recommendation
-
Utah AD Mark Harlan fined $40,000 for ripping referees and the Big 12 after loss to BYU
-
Tonight is the first night of Hanukkah. How Jews are celebrating amid rising antisemitism.
-
Key events in Vladimir Putin’s more than two decades in power in Russia
-
Forest Whitaker's ex-wife, actress Keisha Nash, dead at 51: 'Most beautiful woman in the world'
-
U.S.-Mexico water agreement might bring relief to parched South Texas
-
Unique ways Americans celebrate the holidays, from skiing Santas to Festivus feats
-
Judge says ex-Alaska Airlines pilot who tried to cut plane’s engines can be released before trial
-
As ties warm, Turkey’s president says Greece may be able to benefit from a Turkish power plant