Mercury rally to eliminate Lynx, advance to WNBA Finals

PHOENIX (AP) — Alyssa Thomas scored 23 points, DeWanna Bonner made two key 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and the Phoenix Mercury overcame a 13-point deficit in the final period to beat the short-handed Minnesota Lynx 86-81 in Game 4 on Sunday night and advance to the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2021.

Phoenix will face the Indiana-Las Vegas winner in the championship series. Indiana forced a Game 5 earlier Sunday with a 90-83 home victory.

The Mercury won the final three games of the best-of-five semifinal series. The top-seeded Lynx were playing without Cheryl Reeve, who was suspended for Game 4 because of her behavior and comments toward officials in Game 3. Minnesota also was without All-Star guard Napheesa Collier, who suffered an ankle injury near the end of the Game 3 loss.

The Mercury trailed 68-55 heading into the fourth quarter but pulled to 70-69 on Sami Whitcomb’s 3-pointer with 4:46 left. Bonner’s 3-pointer pushed them ahead 72-70 and she hit another 3 with 2:03 left for a 77-73 lead.

Minnesota’s Kayla McBride hit a 3-pointer — her sixth of the second half — to cut it to 77-76 with 1:04 left. The 38-year-old Bonner then made a pair of free throws to push the Mercury ahead 79-76.

Bonner scored 11 points in the fourth quarter. Satou Sabally scored 21 points.

Phoenix will play in the Finals for the first time in four years and try to win its first championship since 2014.

McBride led Minnesota with 31 points on 6-of-11 shooting from 3-point range. Courtney Williams added 20 points.

Phoenix’s Kahleah Copper hit a 3-pointer early in the third quarter to give the Mercury their first lead of the game at 41-38. But the Lynx responded with a 23-9 run, highlighted by three 3-pointers from McBride.

The Lynx jumped out to an early 12-1 lead but the Mercury slowly chipped away at the deficit. Thomas hit Bonner for a layup just before the halftime buzzer to tie the game at 38.

Sabally led the Mercury with 18 points before the break.