PHOENIX (AP) \u2014 Alyssa Thomas scored 23 points, DeWanna Bonner made two late 3-pointers and the Phoenix Mercury overcame a 13-point, fourth-quarter deficit to beat the short-handed Minnesota Lynx 86-81 in Game 4 on Sunday to advance to the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2021.<\/p>\n
Phoenix will face the Indiana-Las Vegas winner. Indiana forced a Game 5 earlier Sunday with a 90-83 home victory.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe knew they were going to challenge us today and I\u2019m just proud of how we responded,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cWe could have easily given up and be headed to Minnesota right now. But we stuck together and dug deep on defense.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/a> 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<\/a> near the end of the Game 3 loss.<\/p>\n Down 68-55 after three quarters, Phoenix pulled to 70-69 on Sami Whitcomb\u2019s 3-pointer with 4:46 left. Bonner\u2019s 3-pointer pushed them ahead 72-70 and she hit another 3 with 2:03 left for a 77-73 lead.<\/p>\n Minnesota\u2019s Kayla McBride hit a 3-pointer \u2014 her sixth of the second half \u2014 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.<\/p>\n Bonner scored 11 points in the fourth \u2014 part of the Mercury\u2019s 31-point outburst in the final quarter. <\/p>\n \u201cWe didn\u2019t have much of a choice,\u201d Mercury coach Nate Tibbets said. \u201cWe were down 13, needed to get stops. And when we get stops, we\u2019re pretty good offensively because we\u2019re playing free and we don\u2019t have time to overthink it.<\/p>\n \u201cWe made some great plays, some really good passes. That\u2019s what it took.\u201d<\/p>\n Phoenix\u2019s Satou Sabally scored 21 points.<\/p>\n Phoenix will play for the title for the first time in four years in a bid for its first championship since 2014.<\/p>\n McBride led Minnesota with 31 points on 6-of-11 shooting from 3-point range. Courtney Williams added 20 points. The Lynx\u2019s fourth- quarter collapse was a common theme in the series.<\/p>\n \u201cGot to give Phoenix credit for the way they defended in the fourth quarters,\u201d Lynx associate head coach Eric Thibault said. \u201cThey switched and made it hard on us. We didn\u2019t get enough quality shots down the stretch.\u201d<\/p>\n Phoenix\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n 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 it 38.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was ugly at times,\u201d Tibbets said. \u201cBut we kept fighting.\u201d<\/p>\n The Mercury had just two players on this year\u2019s roster \u2014 Copper and Natasha Mack \u2014 who were with the team in 2024. They are the first team in WNBA history to make two Finals in a five-year span without any of the same players on the two teams.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n