Mohegan — The opening line from Simon and Garfunkel’s “The 59th Street Bridge Song” has come to mind at times watching Morgan Tuck play this WNBA season: “slow down, you move too fast.”

“Sometimes I just rush instead of taking my time, making the read, making the play nice and simple,” said Tuck, a third-year Connecticut Sun forward. “I make it way harder by going way too fast.”

Tuck has slowed down a bit lately and played better because of it. She and Connecticut play host to the defending WNBA champion Minnesota Lynx on Friday (7 p.m., NBCSB) in what may be the last game at Mohegan Sun Arena for the Lynx’s Lindsay Whalen, a former Sun great.

Whalen announced earlier this week that she’s retiring after this season. She was hired in April to be the head women's basketball coach at the University of Minnesota, her alma mater. Whalen helped the Sun reach the WNBA Finals in 2004 and 2005, their only championship appearances.

Connecticut (19-13) and the Lynx (17-15) have both qualified for the playoffs and are playing for seeding. The playoffs begin next week.

Tuck was known for being a reliable leader and mature beyond her years at UConn. Head coach Geno Auriemma once said that he had a hard time yelling at her because she was always in the right place.

Tuck has been the driver going 85 in a 55 mph zone too many times this season and caused herself problems in the process, making mistakes or turning it over.

“It’s just overthinking and trying to make the play before you need to make the play,” Tuck said. “That’s really all it is.”

Tuck’s inconsistency affected her minutes off the bench (13.6) which, in turn, got into her head.

“Sometimes it’s hard to play when you don’t know when you’re going to go in (or) how many minutes you’re going to play,” Tuck said. “If I make a mistake, am I going to come out?”

Knee injuries haven’t helped Tuck, either. They've cost her 20 games over her first two seasons, hurting her development after being the third overall pick in the 2016 WNBA Draft.

Tuck has played more in control of late. She’s averaged 16 minutes and 7.4 points the last seven games and shot 43 percent.

“At this point now, I'm just try to make the most of my minutes,” Tuck said. “I try not to think of anything besides what I’m doing on the floor.

“No one plays perfect, so if I make a mistake. ... I’m just going to keep playing hard.”

Tuck made 5 of 10 shots for 12 points in 21 minutes during Tuesday’s 96-76 win over the Dallas Wings.

“I must have yelled ‘slow down’ to her about three or four times (Tuesday),” Miller said. “I love the fact that she’s in attack mode, but when she finds her pace that she can be successful, she’s really, really talented.

“She creates a lot of things for us and when her shot is going in (and) she finds that pace to be comfortable with, she’s another weapon for us off the bench.”

The final three days of the WNBA regular season could be berserk. Seven teams have clinched one of the playoff eight berths and are jockeying for position. Six of those teams play at least one fellow playoff qualifier this weekend.

The third and fourth seeds get a first-round bye and a home game in the single-elimination second round. Connecticut could finish as high as the third seed, but needs to win out and get help.

The Washington Mystics (21-11) have a two-game lead over the Sun. They’d clinch a top four seed with a win over the Los Angeles Sparks on Friday, or at Minnesota on Sunday.

Connecticut is tied with Los Angeles (19-13) but clinched the head-to-head tiebreaker. They play host to the Sparks on Sunday.

The Phoenix Mercury (18-14) are a game behind the Sun and Sparks. The Mercury won the head-to-head tiebreaker against Connecticut, but Los Angeles holds the tiebreaker over Phoenix.

The Mercury play their final two games at home, vs. the second-place Atlanta Dream (Friday), and the New York Liberty (Sunday), which have lost 11 straight.

Minnesota is 2 1/2 games behind both the Sun and Los Angeles based on head-to-head tiebreakers.

• The Sun will show a short piece during the pregame to both recognize Whalen for her contributions to the franchise. Whalen was the fourth pick overall by Connecticut in 2004 and she became one of the most popular players in team history. She is the all-time franchise leader in assists (964). Whalen was traded to Minnesota in 2010, where she helped a struggling franchise go on one of the greatest runs in WNBA history. She and the Lynx won four WNBA titles to tie the record set by the Houston Comets. Whalen is a three-time All-WNBA first team pick, a two-time second team pick and was named to the WNBA’s Top 20@20 in 2016, honoring the 20 greatest players in the league’s first 20 seasons. She also helped Team USA win gold at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics.

n.griffen@theday.com