“AT is a monster,” Carleton said. “They pressure the ball. They make it hard on you offensively, they just try to keep the ball. They feed off of that. They’re a physical defensive team. They’re going to bring it.”

The Sun needed all three games to beat the Lynx in last year’s playoff series. They split the first two at home, then went on the road to Minnesota and won 90-75 to advance to the semifinals for the fifth straight season.

“We didn’t play that well in that Game 3, but having playoff experience against them now is important,” Carleton said. “They’ve had long runs in the playoffs for a couple of years. So they’re here and they’ve got experience. Hopefully we can win home games. That’s the biggest thing, especially now with a five-game series and three home games.”

Connecticut swept Indiana and WNBA Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark in a pair of games on Wednesday. The Lynx will host games on Sunday and Tuesday, then the series moves to Connecticut for games on Friday and, if necessary, Sunday. Game 5 was scheduled for Oct. 8 at Target Center.

Taurasi, now 42 and expected to retire after this, her 20th season, is a three-time WNBA champion and two-time Finals MVP who exited with less than three minutes left on the clock. She did not speak to the media but spent the postgame hugging people in the hallway and posing for photos.

“She’s done things the right way,” Carleton said. “I’m really impressed with how good she still is. She still gets her team going. That’s what makes her so special. Hopefully she comes back another year because I love playing against her.”