Minnesota Lynx 73 vs. Atlanta Dream 67 – WNBA Finals Game-3 Second Half Analysis
Third Quarter
Trailing by 37-33 at halftime, Minnesota Lynx came out strong in the second half, getting a nice lift from Seimone Augustus and Maya Moore.
Lynx recovered from their first half mistakes and shored their defence big time. They converted the halftime deficit into a 41-39 lead early in the third.
Atlanta Dream forward centre Erika de Souza answered with a jumper and tied the game at 41 with 06:51 to go in the third. Minnesota however went on an 8-2 run to go ahead by 49-43 before Miller hit a jumper to make it 49-45.
Guard Candice Wiggins, who led the Lynx with nine points in the first half, hit a free throw and Brunson closed the third period on a lay-up, propelling the Lynx to a sizeable 52-45 lead heading into the fourth.
Dream completely went cold in the third period and managed only eight points.
Fourth Quarter
After a third quarter melt down, Dream started brightly and trimmed the Lynx’s lead to three, 52-49 early. Minnesota however had smelled victory and within the next few minutes, they widened their lead to 61-53.
Dream were however not willing to give up the fight just yet. Keyed by their forward Angel McCoughtry, they rattled off a 10-3 run to make it a one point game at 64-63.
However Atlanta could not handle Minnesota down the stretch one again and conceded all the remaining points on free throw to lose the WNBA Final, the second time running.
Seimone Augustus led the Lynx with 16 points on 7 for 12 shooting from the field, grabbed five rebounds and dished out four assists in the victory. She was named as the Finals MVP.
For Dream, McCoughtry pounded a game-high 22 points and five rebounds while Erika de Souza recorded a double-double with a game-best 15 rebounds and 11 points in the loss.
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