Last year, when the Minnesota Lynx fell in a heartbreaker Game 5 of the WNBA Finals against the New York Liberty, Cheryl Reeve didn’t hold back. She said the championship title was “stolen” from her team, blaming what she deemed “incredibly disappointing” officiating in the 67-62 OT loss. “All the headlines will be, ‘Reeve cries foul.’ Bring it on,” she had declared. A year later, the story almost felt like déjà vu. The 2025 WNBA semifinals ended on a similarly bitter note for the Lynx, with playoff frustration boiling over. But this time, there’s a new voice in the spotlight!

While he had stayed quiet after Game 3, Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts finally spoke up during the pregame conference for Game 4. When asked about competitiveness against the Lynx and what it takes to win, Tibbetts steered the conversation toward the league’s physicality.

“Yeah, I mean, I think there’s a lot of talk about physicality and all this in the playoffs, but anytime you get into a five- or seven-game series, it’s about effort and toughness and all of that. I mean, it’s what it becomes… And, you know, each game you play in the playoffs, it gets tougher and tougher, and this is going to be tough here today. Yeah, I think it just, it’s, you know, it’s our players’ personality,” he said.

Well, yes, physicality had been a part of postgame press conferences for every other game throughout the season. So, in the playoffs, where the game gets tougher, it’s somewhat expected. And Reeve? She’s experienced it up close in last season, too, especially in Game 5 when a foul was called on Alanna Smith that sent Breanna Stewart to the free-throw line with 5.2 seconds remaining. With that, Stewie made game-tying free throws and sent the game to OT, where the Lynx lost. Now, in Game 3 of the 2025 semis, it is no different—just the names of the players have changed.

This time, tensions boiled over in the final seconds when Alyssa Thomas stole the ball from Napheesa Collier. The Lynx forward was at the three-point line when Thomas collided with Collier, causing her ankle to roll. Of course, it’s gut-wrenching to see your star player go down like this, so Reeve got frustrated and threw herself at the refs.

She had to be held back by her staff and Natisha Hiedeman and was later ejected with 21.8 seconds left in the fourth quarter. But it didn’t stop Reeve from giving her perspective to the media. She called the judgment by officials “f’—— malpractice” and then added, “One of the best players in the league (Collier) shot zero free throws, and she had five fouls, got her shoulder pulled out, and finished the game with her leg being taken out, and probably has a fracture.”

And this conduct from Reeve ended up with a Game 4 suspension. But the entire situation created a mess around Alyssa Thomas, who was involved in the play. Well, yes, AT was part of the incident, but she never did it intentionally. As evident from the replays, she stole and converted into a layup, and in the process, Collier’s ankle got twisted.

It was purely unintentional, as Nate Tibbetts puts it better: “You hate seeing a player, any player, especially a player of her caliber, to go down in a series like this…. The second thing is if anyone has a glimmer to think that AT made that play on purpose, that that was a dirty play, it is just straight up out of line, in my opinion. So, yeah, I mean, obviously there was a lot of stuff that went on at the end of that game, but we’re here focused today.” he said in the same pregame press conference.

So, yes, that was how the entire Game 3 controversy unfolded, but it didn’t stop there. While Reeve made her comments, Nate Tibbetts ensured he had the last laugh!

Phoenix Mercury Overcame the Lynx to Clinch Finals Berth!

When the Lynx entered PHX Arena to play in front of the X-Factor, they were on the weaker side already. It was because they had to play without Napheesa Collier on the court, and their head coach was suspended for Game 4. None could’ve expected this kind of fate for a first-round sweep in the playoffs for the Lynx.

Though the remaining roster fought back and forth from the opening jump for a win. They even won the first quarter by 25-14, but Mercury dominated the second quarter by 24-13, and the game was tied at 38-38 at halftime. In the third quarter, the Lynx pushed back by winning the 10 minutes 20-17 and took the lead into the fourth quarter, but Mercury came back.“We knew they were going to challenge us today, and I’m just proud of how we responded,” Thomas said in the postgame press conference. “We could have easily given up and beheaded to Minnesota right now. But we stuck together and dug deep on defense.”

And yes, they did stick together. Mercury made a 14-2 run to make it a one-point game, 70-69, and with an 86-81 win, Mercury sealed their Finals berth. The entire sellout crowd of 16,919 rose to their feet, making every Lynx possession feel heavier. But the spotlight remained on Mercury’s defense in the last quarter. The team outrebounded the Lynx with 38 rebounds, including 7 offensive and 31 defensive rebounds.

“Got to give Phoenix credit for the way they defended in the fourth quarters,” Lynx associate head coach Eric Thibault admitted. “They switched and made it hard on us. We didn’t get enough quality shots down the stretch.” And this was how Mercury overcame a 13-point deficit in the fourth quarter to secure their place in the championship Finals for the first time since 2021. A perfect way to take redemption, isn’t it?