WNBA Finals | Maya Moore beats buzzer, propels Lynx to 2-1

Indiana won Game 1 of that series as well en route to the franchise’s only championship.

Now, the Fever and their star forward find themselves in that exact situation: another must-win game.

“I challenged Bri to lead this team”, Catchings said postgame. “We have that grit amongst ourselves, that character that we’re not going to stop fighting”. “Either one of them, and we need more from them”. “You can see the passion and see we’re playing for each other”.

But the Fever could muster up some confidence from a 4-0 record this season in elimination games, 8-2 since 2012, and a body of work that boasts a sustained level of excellence few other teams in the league can match. Lynx assistant coach Jim Petersen found the video on YouTube of Moore’s Georgia Metros team. Throwing the well-oiled machine that was the Lynx attack off, Indiana got to settle into a groove thanks to the transition game. “She’s still a big part of their offense, whether she’s actually scoring it”. “You really don’t have anything to lose, you just go out and play your best”. “They’re a tough out”.

Cold-blooded! With that clock running out, Maya Moore stepped right to the side and she drained that shot to give her team the win. Averaging 21 points per game in the Finals going into Game 3, Fowles was again as close to unstoppable as can be. So do the Phoenix Mercury, especially if Diana Taurasi returns in 2016.

“First and foremost, I thought it was an unbelievable basketball game”, said Reeve. Game 3 demonstrated more than just the usual routine of physical play. “They collapsed on me and left Maya wide open”, Fowles said of the winning shot. And in the Reeve’s effort to help Moore get to legend-status player, she’s pointed out these small but nagging little things that can sometimes add up to subtract from greatness. Because of that it is a hard out. If the Minnesota Lynx win on Sunday, they will be crowned the 2015 WNBA Champions.

“1.7 seconds is a lot of time, ” said Moore. The Fever has had offensive breakdowns at the end of the past two games, both losses.

Moore hopes to be on the court more.

Maya Moore’s minutes were limited due to foul trouble, but that didn’t slow her down.

Moore finished with 24 points on 10-of-18 shooting in 22 minutes, with seven rebounds.

BENCH PLAY: Minnesota’s reserves led by Renee Montgomery, Anna Cruz and Devereaux Peters were key to the Lynx’s victory.

Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul, who was in China for an National Basketball Association preseason game, tweeted about it, posting video of the game-winner that already had been retweeted 2,400 times. Can both stay on the court in Sunday night’s contest. Indiana is trying to become the first No. 3 seed to win a title. The team that has won Game 3 has won 70 percent of the titles since the WNBA went to a best-of-five format in 2005.

HOMECOURT ADVANTAGE: Indiana had over 16,000 fans in attendance for Friday night, which created an incredible atmosphere.