Mercury rally in 4th to beat Lynx 86-81, advance to WNBA Finals.

Alyssa Thomas poured in 23 points, DeWanna Bonner drilled two clutch threes down the stretch, and the Phoenix Mercury stormed back from 13 down in the fourth to stun the short-handed Minnesota Lynx 86-81 on Sunday, clinching a spot in the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2021.

Phoenix now awaits the winner of Indiana vs. Las Vegas. The Fever forced a decisive Game 5 earlier in the day with a 90-83 win at home.

“We knew they were going to push us today, and I’m just proud of how we responded,” Thomas said. “We could’ve folded and been flying to Minnesota right now, but instead we locked in defensively and stayed together.”

The Mercury dropped Game 1 of the semifinal series but rattled off three straight wins to eliminate the top-seeded Lynx. Minnesota was hamstrung by the absence of head coach Cheryl Reeve, suspended for her behavior toward officials in Game 3, and All-Star Napheesa Collier, who sprained her ankle late in that same game.

Down 68-55 entering the fourth, Phoenix mounted its surge. Sami Whitcomb’s three trimmed the deficit to one with 4:46 left. Moments later, Bonner buried back-to-back threes, giving the Mercury their first real cushion at 77-73 with just over two minutes remaining. Minnesota’s Kayla McBride, red-hot from deep all half, nailed her sixth triple to cut it to 77-76, but Bonner steadied Phoenix with two free throws. She scored 11 in the final frame, fueling a 31-point quarter.

“We didn’t have much choice,” Mercury coach Nate Tibbets said. “Down 13, you’ve got to get stops. And when we get stops, our offense flows because we’re not overthinking. We just play.”

Satou Sabally chipped in 21 for Phoenix, which will chase its first championship since 2014.

McBride led the Lynx with 31 points, while Courtney Williams added 20. Minnesota’s fourth-quarter woes — a theme all series — proved costly again.

“Credit to Phoenix for how they defended late,” Lynx associate head coach Eric Thibault said. “Their switching really disrupted us, and we just couldn’t generate enough good looks.”

The night had started Minnesota’s way. The Lynx sprinted out to a 12-1 lead, then used a 23-9 run in the third — capped by three McBride threes — to build another double-digit cushion. But Phoenix kept grinding. Thomas fed Bonner for a buzzer-beating layup to tie it at halftime, 38-38, and the Mercury refused to fold even after Minnesota’s big third-quarter punch.

This Phoenix team is almost unrecognizable from its last Finals run. Only Kahleah Copper and Natasha Mack remain from the 2024 roster, making the Mercury the first team in league history to reach two Finals in a five-year span without a single overlapping player.

“It was ugly at times,” Tibbets admitted. “But we kept fighting.”