The Lynx woke up in Phoenix on Wednesday morning a half-game out of a playoff spot.
It was right there, within their reach, thanks to Atlanta's loss the night before. In the jam-packed bottom of the WNBA standings, with a bevy of teams vying for the final playoff spots, the Lynx entered Thursday's game against the short-handed Mercury knowing a win would put them in seventh place with a home game looming against Seattle on Friday.
Count it.
Down five early in the fourth quarter, playing against a Mercury team that found ways to score despite being without both Diana Taurasi and Skylar Diggins-Smith, the Lynx rallied for a 86-77 victory.
Imagine. A team that started the season 3-13 is now in position to extend it's league-record playoff run to a 12th season.
A caveat: The Lynx have to finish this one out, and it won't be easy. They host Seattle on Friday then finish the season Sunday in Connecticut.
But, for now, the Lynx are the WNBA's seventh seed, thanks to tie-breakers over both Phoenix and Atlanta (14-20).
Five Lynx players scored in double figures. Jessica Shepard had a 15-point, 11-rebound double-double. Also: Sylvia Fowles had 16 points and nine rebounds. Aerial Powers came off the bench for 14. Kayla McBride had 18, Napheesa Collier finished with 11. Point guard Moriah Jefferson had six points, 12 assists and six rebounds.
That was enough to fend off Phoenix (14-20), which got 24 points from Sophie Cunningham, 21 from Shey Peddy and 15 from Megan Gustafson.
Down five the comeback started with three McBride free throws, starting a 9-2 run that put them up two. After Phoenix tied it, Fowles' three-point play with 4:15 left put the Lynx up for good.
Both teams struggled at times on the offensive end in the first quarter.
But, down 14-13 late in the quarter, Minnesota finished the quarter with a flourish, out-scoring the Mercury 9-4 over the final 2½ minutes of the quarter.
It started with Rachel Banham's three-pointer. Then Shepard scored on consecutive possessions. Powers' two free throws with 23.3 seconds left put the Lynx up 22-18 entering the second. It was almost 25-18, but Banham's half-court shot after a late Phoenix turnover came a tick after the clock had expired.
Phoenix got three-pointers from both Peddy and Cunningham in an 8-0 run to start the second that put the Mercury up 26-22 on Cunningham's three after a Lynx turnover.
Moments later, with the Lynx back up 29-28, Phoenix scored seven straight to go up 35-29 with 3:08 left. At that point Phoenix had hit six of eight shots overall, three of four three-pointers while starting the second quarter 17-7.
Finally, things changed. In a 13-5 run to end the half, the Lynx went 4-for-8 and got a McBride three-pointer while holding the Mercury to 2-for-7 shooting.
Collier had six points in the run to halftime, including a three-pointer that tied the game with 47.4 seconds left.
In a back-and-forth third quarter it appeared the Lynx were ready to start taking some control of the game. With the score tied at 50, the Lynx got a basket from McBride, a three from Banham and two free throws by Shepard to go up 57-52 with 2:39 left.
But the Lynx were out-scored 8-2 the rest of the quarter. The last six of those came on Cunningham three-pointers, the second from 26 feet with less than a minute to play in the quarter.
The Star Tribune did not travel for this event. This article was written using the television broadcast and video interviews before and/or after the event.