Minnesota Lynx Game 4 Preview vs. Connecticut Sun
The Minnesota Lynx smacked around the Connecticut Sun in Game 3, and now have a shot at clinching on the road.
Admittedly, that's not how I saw Game 3 going, but you can read more about the Sun's shortcomings in their team preview for Game 4.
Here, we'll get into what to look at on the Lynx side of things.
Why The Minnesota Lynx Can Cover In Game 4
The Lynx punked the Sun in Game 3 and the 90-81 final didn't do it justice.
The Lynx repeatedly found success cutting and rolling to the basket while the Sun seemingly failed to effectively rotate to the painted area, allowing their opponents to walk into several layups.
The Lynx also held the Sun to a 3-for-20 display from deep, while only hitting 5-for-15 themselves.
The game was surprisingly fast paced and we had overs hit on totals and team totals for the first time all series. The Lynx scored at least 20 points in all four quarters against the Sun, the first time that's happened against Connecticut all season.
The 90 points were the third most allowed by the Sun all season, with 91 being the season-high, and that's a mark they've been hit with twice, but once in regulation.
The fact that the Lynx did this without hot shooting from deep is pretty damning, but even more so, they shot 65 percent on twos, hitting 30 of 46 from inside the arc.
The Lynx finally got a great scoring effort from their superstar Napheesa Collier, who had 16 first half points and finished with 26 points, clearing her over of 20.5 in the games final minutes and sealing the contest down the stretch.
The Lynx secondary scoring was led by Courtney Williams, who found her rhythm again and early to the tune of 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting, constantly penetrating the Sun defense and finding her spots in the mid-range, also getting to the cup.
Kalya McBride finished at 13 points flat, her series high, but has gotten a third straight under now and narrowly missed going over 2.5 threes by hitting 2-of-6. Bridget Carleton added 12 points and two blocks.
Lynx vs. Sun: Go For The Under In the First Quarter
Betting Pick & Prediction
It's tough to determine what carries over into Game 4, given how much of an oddity Game 3 was. Ultimately, I'll take the Lynx under 19.5 points in the first quarter. Normally, I'd go first half under total instead of first quarter, but this series — for whatever reason — has not broken 39 points in the first quarter, yet every second quarter total has landed between 41 and 45 points. And I think the Sun will make the appropriate defensive changes changes here, but I feel like they're more trustworthy in short bites than over the course of a game because of the Lynx potentially shooting better from the field.
Pick: Lynx Under 19.5 1Q Points
How to Watch Game 4: Time, Channel, Streaming
| Lynx vs. Sun | Sunday, October 6 |
| Start Time: | 5 p.m. ET |
| TV / Streaming: | ESPN / ESPN+, YouTube TV |
| Location: | Mohegan Sun Arena, Montville, Connecticut |
Sun vs. Lynx is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET live from Mohegan Sun Arena in Montville, Connecticut on Sunday. Game 4 of the semifinals WNBA playoff matchup is airing on TV on ESPN and streaming live on ESPN+ and YouTube TV.
Minnesota Lynx Betting Trends
- Lynx are 4-1 in their last 5 games.
- Lynx are 4-1 in their last 5 games against the spread.
- Lynx are 15-6 in their road games against the spread.
- The totals have gone OVER in 1 of Lynx' last 5 games.
- The totals have gone OVER in 5 of Lynx' 20 last games at home.
