The Minnesota Lynx fell to 15-17 on the season after an 88-74 loss to the Seattle Storm in Minneapolis on Sunday. But more concerning than the team’s record was the lack of effort in a game with playoff implications in front of their home crowd.
After the game, Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve said that the effort was unbecoming of a WNBA playoff team and blasted her team’s inconsistency after it had won in Seattle two days prior.
โWe donโt get it. We donโt get how to have a special season,โ she said. โWe donโt get that you have to win your home games to have a special season. We donโt get how, when you just beat a team on their floor, how theyโre going to come out and play [well]. We donโt get it. Oh look, [we gave up] 20 second-chance points. Oh look, we got out-efforted again.
โSo, weโve got to fix it. If we donโt fix it, then this isnโt going to end like we want it to.โ
The effort needed to be corrected immediately, heading into a two-game set against the Dallas Wings. The Wings lead the WNBA in second-chance points, points in the paint and rebounds per game.
โWeโve got a little bit of time left in the regular season to work on some things, but the next team that comes in here is going to pound the glass and defend the paint and theyโre big,” Reeve said. “So itโs going to be two good games for us to try and figure some things out. And if we donโt have any will to compete for rebounds, then thatโs going to be tough for us.โ
By Thursday night in Dallas, it felt like the pendulum had swung all the way back in Minnesota’s favor. Lynx guard Kayla McBride triumphantly flexed after pulling down the defensive rebound that all but sealed Minnesota’s second win in as many games against the Wings. It was a microcosm of the roller-coaster season it has been in Minnesota.
“We’re just in a great frame of mind, really great frame of mind,” Reeve said after Thursday’s game. “[We] felt the idea if [we] found success today, what it could do for us, and our goals and I was really proud of them.”
The Lynx didnโt turn around and play perfect basketball against Dallas, but Minnesotaโs effort and intensity couldnโt be denied on two nights that felt like the middle of a deep playoff run as opposed to mid-August.
In both the 91-86 win in Minneapolis on Tuesday and the 90-81 win in Dallas on Thursday, the Wings nearly came back from second-half double-digit deficits. Both times, the Lynx endured, and in doing so, they moved into fifth place with just over two weeks left in the regular season.
โItโs a game of runs,โ Lynx guard Tiffany Mitchell said after Thursday’s game. โWeโre not going to hold people down for the entire 40 minutes. We wish we could, but we just have to be able to withstand those runs and answer back.โ
A huge answer in both games was the play of McBride and forward Napheesa Collier, who both scored north of 20 points in each game and combined for 95 of the teamโs 181 points across the two games. Collier, who has been spectacular all season, became just the third player in WNBA history to post consecutive games with at least 25 points, seven rebounds and three steals.
โItโs really fun to play with [McBride], especially in a pick-and-roll,โ Collier said after Thursday’s game. โAlong with Rachel [Banham], sheโs one of the best shooters on our team, so any time Iโm in a pick-and-roll with them, I think we both have so much gravity that we can pretty much get any shot we want. Because if they go with me, sheโs open. If they go with her, Iโm open. So playing with her is really fun. Her pocket pass is really good, her floor awareness and obviously when she gets the ball she can knock it down. I think weโve established that kind of repertoire.โ
The Lynx have yet to clinch a playoff spot, but with a four-game lead on the ninth-place Chicago Sky with six games to go, their magic number stands at three. (In other words, they need three of either Lynx wins or Sky losses to ensure a playoff berth.) And the two gritty wins against Wings, the No. 4 team in the league, could reveal a recipe for playoff success for a Lynx team that has been enigmatic all season.
Collier and McBride staying hot and continuing to exploit pick-and-rolls is a key ingredient in that recipe. The Lynx bench will also need to remain productive. Between shooters Banham and Bridget Carleton and post players Dorka Juhรกsz and Nikolina Miliฤ, the Lynx posted 20-plus bench points in back-to-back games after those four players had scored eight points between them against Seattle.
Shots starting to fall is an obvious boom for any team, but the “competitive will” Reeve mentioned after the Seattle loss clearly showed up in the next two games. The second game in Dallas was particularly impressive, as the Lynx were essentially even on the boards with the best rebounding team in the league. These are all things the Lynx will need to bring come playoff time.
โI think it just shows how weโve grown. Thatโs how you want a season to be; you want to see growth in a team,โ Collier said about the two games against Dallas. โI think youโre seeing that in us for sure โฆ just that toughness, I think you really see that coming through. Just doing what needs to get done, especially rebounding and on defense at the end of the game. Iโm really proud of what weโve been able to accomplish in these two games and in this stretch, so hopefully we take that into our game on Saturday.โ
According to Collier, Banham is one of the best shooters on the team. I would ask, in what universe? And she wasn’t alone. After tonight’s collaborative debacle, take your pick. As has been the modus operandi for the Lynx all season, whatever they might have learned from the two wins against Dallas was left in the locker room for the game against the Liberty. Diamond Miller and Ariel Powers were the leading scorers. By now we all know that we won’t be seeing Powers next year, which is really too bad, but ainsi soit-il. One of the most telling moments was when Coach Reeve walked off the court before the buzzer sounded at halftime. I would guess she wanted to leave earlier than that. There were moments when the expressions on the faces of the Lynx was one of “where are we?” The answer was in the eyes of the fans – “obviously not here.”
This was the ugly side of the enigmatic Lynx. Their record indicates that the pretty side has shown up as well. My question is, what is it about the ugly side that the team finds so attractive?
I’m going to make a few predictions:
1. Nikolina Milic, who will be an unrestricted free agent, will get a great offer from another team.
2. Both Miller and Juhรกsz will be back. As rookies, they both show a lot of promise.
3. Natalie Achonwa (remember her?) and Powers will be gone.
4. Tiffany Mitchell and Lindsay Allen MIGHT be back, depending on free agency and/or the draft.
5. McBride will be back on a 1-year contract.
6. I am not sold on Jess Shepard, but I don’t sign the checks.
7. Phee, of course, is a no-brainer.
8. Now, two fan favorites, Carleton and Banham. 1 or 2 good games here and there are not enough to warrant another contract. Regardless of personal feelings, one has to look objectively at the real contributions of each of these players. The stat line alone is enough to make a decision fairly easy. Ultimately, that’s all that matters. Productivity, not locker room cheerleading. The inconsistency of this team includes everyone, to varying degrees. Change is not only necessary, but something of which this team is in dire need.
A lot has been said about expansion and the need for more opportunities for a wealth of qualified players who get shut out because of the luck of the draw, or the stubbornness and sometimes shortsightedness of coaches and GMs. I refer people to the scene in MONEYBALL where Billy Beane educates Peter Brand about trading, sending down, or cutting a player. Billy Beane also talks about not forming personal relationships with players. Very wise. But most importantly, he says players are professionals and they understand these things.
The Lynx are not a lost cause, not by a long shot. Will they make the playoffs? My guess is yes – just. I am hoping the final five games will feature the team that beat the Liberty, the Sun, the Sparks 4 times and Seattle 3. Let us all hope that the enigma disappears, and a truly dynamic and consistent team emerges.