MINNEAPOLIS — Through two games in their WNBA semifinal matchup, one thing seems to be clear about the relationship between the Connecticut Sun and Minnesota Lynx, who won Game 2 on Tuesday 77-70.
They’re not — at least in this series — on friendly terms.
What started as a playoff game Tuesday night nearly descended into a 1980s Bulls-Pistons affair as the officiating crew in Minneapolis seemed to blow their whistles far less than they could have. There were hard fouls, cheap shots and endless trash talk. There were even a few moments where it seemed as if a fight might ensue.
“Folks ain’t fighting,” said Lynx guard Courtney Williams, who finished with a team-high 17 points in the victory. “It’s just playoff basketball.”
But Williams also admitted that her team knew it had to match its opponent’s intensity after a loss in Game 1.
“The first game they were chirping and chatting, so we had to give it back to them,” Williams said. “Playoff basketball, man.”
After both teams combined to miss their first 14 shots, the scrappiness that had defined the first game of the series Sunday returned.
Sun standout Marina Mabrey wrestled…
