Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve knows it takes a "special mental toughness" to deal with the pressures of the WNBA Finals.
The Lynx are 2-1 down to the New York Liberty following a 77-80 defeat at home on Wednesday.
Minnesota blew a 15-point lead in front of a franchise-record home crowd, but four-time WNBA champion Reeve says the swings in momentum are part and parcel of a Finals series.
"There's so many ups and downs and swings all around, and it takes special mental toughness and physical toughness to sort of weather those swings, and here we are," said Reeve, who has been named WNBA Coach of the Year four times.
"We're disappointed. We're home. We played well and just couldn't come up with the win."
Having sunk half (10/20) of their shots in the opening quarter, the Lynx only converted 19 of 55 for the rest of the game.
They now face the prospect of having to be the first team to overturn a 2-1 deficit heading into the last two fixtures since they won the Finals in 2017.
"I feel like they were making plays at the end of shot clocks and like the coach said, we were getting really good looks," said Napheesa Collier, who finished with a team-leading 22 points for the Lynx.
"We just weren't executing on the offensive end. It's just hard when you get that and then obviously they are a great offensive team."
Breanna Stewart led for the Liberty with 30 points and 11 rebounds.
But Sabrina Ionescu was the hero for New York, with her 3-pointer coming with just two seconds remaining. The Liberty are now just one win away from their first championship.
Ionescu said: "I had to go look at the video really quickly to see how far I was.
"Sometimes it goes in and sometimes it doesn't. I've practiced that shot a thousand times in my head, on the court, and I feel like that’s just something that as athletes, you put yourself in that position to want to be able to make a shot."
Pelicans 'feeling the pressure', says Green after Hawks defeat
Willie Green revealed his New Orleans Pelicans' side are feeling the pressure after slumping to a ninth consecutive defeat against the Atlanta Hawks on Monday.
Trae Young starred for the Hawks in their 124-112 triumph, scoring 12 points and 15 assists for his 15th double-double of the season to lead his side to a fourth-straight victory.
De'Andre Hunter scored a team-high 22 off the bench for the Hawks, while Jalen Johnson added 19 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
The Pelicans were led by CJ McCollum's 29 points, one shy of his season best, with Yves Missi adding 23 points and 12 rebounds in another disappointing defeat.
Dejounte Murray played his first game against his former team after being traded to the Pelicans this offseason, but struggled on his return, scoring just seven points.
The depleted Pelicans (4-18) have lost nine in a row overall, and 11 of 12 on the road this season, with head coach Green saying his players are frustrated by their form.
"They're competitors, and they do feel that pressure," Green said. "They walk into every arena believing they have a chance to win and that's what we want.
"We want guys that have a good game plan and discipline and to go out and fall in love with the competition of the game.
"It's there, but there's frustration and there is supposed to be when you're losing games. You want to do everything you can to help your team win."
New Orleans played Monday's game without Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson, both nursing lower-body injuries, but did start strongly, leading 28-26 after the first quarter.
The Pelicans' point total matched the number they scored in the entire first half on Sunday in a 118-85 defeat against the New York Knicks.
However, Green said their impressive start mattered little after throwing away their advantage, bemoaning his side's inability to keep a consistent level throughout the game.
"I give our guys credit," Green said. "They went out with the right intentions, played hard, competed their tails off.
"But once again just coming up short and not being able to finish four quarters and finish the game with a win."
The Pelicans return home on Thursday night to face the Phoenix Suns.
Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick said it "may not be in the best interests" of LeBron James to feature in all 82 games this season after losing to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Lakers have now lost five of their last seven games after winning six in a row, the latest defeat coming on Monday in a 109-80 thrashing against the Timberwolves.
And four-time MVP James, who turns 40 this month, endured a difficult outing, missing 12 of 16 shots while managing a season-low of just 10 points in 31 minutes.
James also registered more turnovers (six) than assists (four) in the defeat, as the Lakers scored their fewest points since a 122-73 loss to the Dallas Mavericks in January 2017.
After James made it clear that he wanted to play all 82 games earlier this season, coach Redick said he was unsure whether that goal was sustainable.
"We are measuring the players, and we can tell when a guy is running hot. He does a remarkable job of taking care of his body and recovering," Redick said.
"But I don't know if it's in the best interests of him or us if he does that. But if he's feeling well and good, he should play. But obviously, we want to manage that the best we can."
"I've not seen us play the way we played earlier in the year," Redick added. "I mean, I've got to spend all day tomorrow with my staff trying to figure out how we get back to that."
James played in his 1,800th game on Monday between the regular season and playoffs combined, the most all-time by any player, ahead of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1,797).
Despite reaching that landmark, he did not commit either way to continuing to suit up in every game this season amid his recent run of form.
"It's everything," James said when asked what is frustrating him about his game at the moment. "It's the rhythm. I just felt off rhythm the last few, three or four games."
When asked what he would lean on to get his shot back, James replied: "Work. Just work. That's all."
Anthony Davis also had a season low against Minnesota, totalling just 12 points on 4-of-14 shooting with 11 rebounds and five assists.
"We got to get back into our spacing," Davis said. "We are kind of on top of each other when guys are trying to drive.
"When guys are in their spots for shooting, there's a guy right under them. So the spacing is bad."
With one quarter of the regular season completed, the Lakers are 12-9, sitting eighth in the Western Conference with the Miami Heat up next.
Redick labelled his side's season as "inconsistent" so far, with Davies more pointed in his critiques of his team-mates.
"Sometimes we look like a team that can compete with anyone, and sometimes we look like a team that looks terrible and is not going to do anything this season," he said.
"So we have just got to figure out what team we want to be for the rest of the season.
"I think we had games where we were phenomenal, and we had games where we were disgusting, like tonight."
NBA: Timberwolves rout Lakers, Celtics bounce back
Rudy Gobert had 17 points and 12 rebounds while anchoring a superb defensive effort that carried the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 109-80 rout of the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday.
Minnesota earned its second straight win following a season-high four-game losing streak by holding the Lakers to their lowest single-game point total in nearly eight years and keeping their two biggest stars squarely in check. LeBron James missed 12 of 16 shots while managing a season-low 10 points in 31 minutes, while Anthony Davis was limited to 12 points on 4-of-14 shooting.
The 80 total points was the Lakers' fewest in a game since a 122-73 defeat to the Dallas Mavericks on Jan. 22, 2017.
Though the Timberwolves got only eight points on 3-of-13 shooting from top scorer Anthony Edwards, Julius Randle put up 18 points and Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Naz Reid scored 15 each off the bench.
Minnesota held a slim 22-20 edge after one quarter before beginning to pull away in the second. A 12-3 run early in the period increased the lead to 37-27 and the Timberwolves went ahead by as many as 17 points before heading into half-time with a 56-44 advantage.
The Timberwolves took a 79-64 lead into the fourth quarter and dominated the cold-shooting Lakers in the final period, holding Los Angeles to just 16 points over the final 12 minutes while increasing the margin to 29 points by the final whistle.
Celtics return to winning ways by rolling past Heat
Jaylen Brown scored 29 points and Payton Pritchard added 25 off the bench as the Boston Celtics quickly got back on track by cruising to a 108-89 win over the Miami Heat.
After having a seven-game winning streak snapped with Sunday's loss to the NBA-leading Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston bounced back despite resting four key regulars in Kristaps Porziņģis, Jrue Holiday, Al Horford and Sam Hauser on the second night of a back-to-back.
The Celtics did get both Brown and Derrick White back after both sat out Sunday's defeat, with White finishing with 19 points and eight assists. Jayson Tatum chipped in 18 points and 11 rebounds for Boston, which never trailed after taking a 28-25 lead after one quarter on Tatum's 3-pointer shortly before the buzzer.
Miami shot just 22.9 per cent from 3-point range and 35.6 per cent overall while playing without six-time All-Star Jimmy Butler due to a knee injury. Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez led the Heat with 19 points, with Jaquez collecting 10 rebounds in Miami's second straight loss.
After Tatum's shot put the Celtics ahead after one quarter, Boston outscored Miami 32-20 in the second to build a 60-45 advantage at half-time. Pritchard had 11 points for the period and Brown contributed 10.
Boston padded its lead to 85-63 entering the fourth quarter and was up by as many as 27 points in the fourth.
Bulls blow out Nets behind Giddey's triple-double
Josh Giddey compiled a 20-point, 13-rebound, 11-assist triple-double and led a dominant second-half performance that carried the Chicago Bulls to a 128-102 victory over the scuffling Brooklyn Nets.
Giddey secured his first triple-double of the season with 10 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists after half-time as Chicago outscored Brooklyn 72-52 over the final two quarters to pull away and send the Nets to a third consecutive loss.
The Bulls received several other notable efforts in ending a two-game losing streak. Nikola Vucevic recorded 21 points and 10 rebounds, rookie Matas Buzelis scored a season-high 20 points off the bench and Zach LaVine finished with 18 points in just 26 minutes.
Brooklyn was over-matched in the second half of a game in which it played without two of its three top scorers, Cam Thomas and Cameron Johnson. Dariq Whitehead led the Nets with a career-high 18 points while going 6 of 10 from 3-point range, while Dennis Schroder registered 16 points and 10 assists.
Up just 56-50 at half-time, the Bulls began putting the game out of reach with a big third quarter in which they shot 14 of 21 from the field.
Vucevic scored seven points during Chicago's 9-2 run to open the second half, and the lead eventually reached 20 points when LaVine followed a 3-pointer with a layup that extended the Bulls' advantage to 80-60 with four minutes left in the third quarter.
The Nets never threatened from there, as Chicago's lead swelled to as many as 29 points in the fourth quarter.
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