The Minnesota Lynx's dominant run ended in a disappointing whimper on Tuesday. The Lynx were swept by the New York Liberty in their first-round series in the playoffs after losing in Game 2, 87-71, at Barclays Center.
The Lynx looked hapless on both ends of the floor, as the Liberty made history by becoming the first No. 8 seed to topple the No. 1 seed.
For the second straight year, the Lynx failed to capture the biggest prize despite having the best record in the regular season. Coach Cheryl Reeve admitted that they “ran into the wrong team,” as reported by ESPN's Alexa Philippou.
“I thought the playoffs would be hard for our team, regardless of who we were playing in the first round. We probably needed a little better matchup to do some of the things that we did all season long, but that's not how it works,” said Reeve.
The 60-year-old Reeve, who was recently named Coach of the Year for the fifth time, rued their inability to go to a higher level in the playoffs. She, however, also shouldered the blame for their early exit.
Article Continues Below“What we're doing is sort of maybe exceeding expectations in the regular season, and then when it comes playoffs, maybe we don't quite have the right group to be effective,” added the outspoken tactician.
“I just know we have some work to do. I have to help us. I have to get us the appropriate help to do it, make the hard decisions to do that. I couldn't get us there in this series, and so it's on me. I have to help them win in the playoffs.”
The Lynx tallied a 33-11 record in the regular season, the second-most wins in team history, just one shy of their 34-10 card in 2025.
They have not won the championship since 2017.