The Sun took this so well that they fired coach Stephanie White, tore up the roster, had the second-worst record (11-33) in the regular season and now face the prospect of moving to Boston, if the NBA/WNBA get their way.
The morale of the story: Those Game 3s in a best-of-five series seem to carry a lot of weight.
The last of the Lynx’s four championships includes the greatest comeback from a Game 3 playoff loss in franchise history. That was 2017. Target Center was being remodeled, and the playoff games were moved to Williams Arena.
The Lynx lost the opener at home, 85-84, to that outstanding L.A. Sparks collection. They survived Game 2, 70-68, at Lindsay Whalen’s favorite arena. And when they went to L.A. and lost Game 3, 75-64, it was looking like curtains — another Finals loss to the team that had beaten them in the full five games in 2016.
Backed up to what was then the Staples Center wall, Sylvia Fowles scored 22, Rebekkah Brunson had 18, Maya Moore contributed 15 and Whalen had eight assists. The Lynx won 80-69 to earn a return trip to the Barn, where they won the title, 85-76, over a tremendous opponent.
So there is proof in Lynx history that a Game 3 loss in a tied series can be overcome. It’s just that it would’ve been much safer (and saner for the coach) not to have to do it that way.
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