With Napheesa Collier sidelined and Cheryl Reeve suspended, the Lynx entered a game as the underdogs for the first time all season. They were the favorites to win the 2025 championship even before the season officially started. Instead, the Lynx’s season ended with an 86-81 loss to the Phoenix Mercury and a lot of disappointment.
The loss was not unexpected. Minnesota was playing without its MVP candidate and championship coach, and the Mercury had given the Lynx serious trouble all series long. It was still far from the ending Lynx players, coaches, and fans had hoped for.
Kayla McBride’s emotional postgame interview only highlighted the Lynx’s heartbreak.
“I’ve been here five years and to be so close and you just want it for the people that grind with you every day…In pro sports, it doesn’t get any better than what we have in our locker room,” McBride said. “To be close two years in a row and hit adverse situations each and every time…it f---ing hurts. So, it’s hard, especially when you lay everything out there.”
Kayla McBride did everything she could to keep the Lynx afloat
With Collier out, all eyes were on Kayla McBride and Courtney Williams. The two All-Stars carried the Lynx’s offense, taking 55 combined shots. Williams scored 20 points and dished out six assists without committing a single turnover. McBride led the Lynx with 31 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block. She hit six 3-pointers and played a game-high 38 minutes.
The 33-year-old did everything in her power to keep the Lynx afloat in a do-or-die game. She got help from Williams and Jessica Shepard, who recorded 14 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals in her first playoff start this season. In the end, it wasn’t enough to beat the Mercury, though. Phoenix got 70 points from Alyssa Thomas, Satou Sabally, Kahleah Copper, and DeWanna Bonner, and overcame a 13-point deficit in the fourth quarter.
After the game, the Mercury made sure to give McBride her flowers.
“Credit to McBride,” Alyssa Thomas said, “She’s a dog. She gave everything she had tonight.”
Mercury coach Nate Tibbets added, “What McBride did was super impressive.”
The Lynx enter an offseason full of uncertainty
For the second time in a row, the Lynx enter the offseason with a bitter taste in their mouths and no fifth championship. This offseason may be the most uncertain one in years. Almost every veteran in the league will be a free agent, and there is still no new CBA. That could delay coaching hires, free agency, and the expansion drafts for the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo.
The Lynx only have two players under contract for the 2026 season: Dorka Juhasz and Anastasiia Kosu. While the Lynx’s core players would probably like another chance to run things back and compete for a title together again, the CBA negotiations and league expansion may make that difficult.