Alanna Smith has truly been a spectacle to watch throughout the regular season. Her contribution to the No. 2-seeded Minnesota Lynx was clear with her career-best 10.1 scoring average. Even during the postseason, she maintained the same pace. In the last two games against the New York Liberty, she solely added 23 points to the team’s total. However, Lynx seems to have taken a bit of a hit with her injury in Game 3.

As the Lynx tied 1-1 after their Game 2 loss to the Liberty, many hopes were on Smith for today’s showdown. But it appears those were dashed as the Lynx’s “X factor” left the court with ice packs on her lower back. Shortly after, Lynx PR announced on X, “Alanna Smith (Back) is QUESTIONABLE to return to tonight’s game.”

It all happened after she committed her third foul in today’s game against Jonquel Jones. She seems to have taken a fall in the process after being knocked down by Jones, leaving with two points, five rebounds, and four assists in 16 minutes of play. She was later spotted struggling to move up and down the court, returning for the second half.

Smith has been a standout for the Lynx all season, being one of their best interior defenders. In fact, she was named to the All-Defensive Second Team. But her prowess was limited in Game 3. Even on the offensive side, she was 0-of-3 from the field and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line. Her absence seems to have bore some impact as they ended up with a 77-80 defeat against the Liberty, giving New York a 2-1 edge in the series.

Her current performance is a stark contract to where she was two years earlier

In 2022, the 6-foot-4 forward played her first nine games with the Fever but was released by the end of May despite signing for the offseason. “I was in the mindset that I wasn’t going to play in the W again…I didn’t really want to,” Smith shared in the post-conference for Game 2 of the finals. All of this now seems like a distant memory as Smith, who admits she’s “self-reflective to a fault,” took in the scene.

According to her, she tries to remember her WNBA journey before each game. “Two years ago, you were at home, not even thinking about the WNBA… It’s a nice little reminder that anything can happen,” she added. In 2023, she hit free agency once again after a short run with the Chicago Sky.

And, as the Lynx suited her best, she came all the way to support her former teammate, Courtney Williams, here. This past season, she appeared in 39 games for the Lynx, averaging over 26 minutes of gameplay as the starting center. Averaging 10.1 points with 5.6 rebounds, she also features an impressive 75% shooting from the free-throw line.

Well, as she said, anything can happen, and it did. But this time, not in a positive way, as she ended up getting hurt at a crucial time for the Lynx. Now, her return in Game 4 is questionable – a final chance for the Lynx to stay in the game.