PORTLAND, Ore. — The Minnesota Lynx are treating the rest of their regular season schedule like it’s a sprint. A sprint split into two legs, bookending a multi-week WNBA break for the FIBA Women’s World Cup, but a sprint with an intermission still qualifies as a sprint.
It’s the kind of sense of urgency head coach and president of basketball operations Cheryl Reeve says is imperative in order for the Lynx to enter the 2026 playoffs the right way. An aspect that may have been missing from last year’s championship pursuit.
“We were saying we’d rather be battle-tested going into the playoffs than, you know, I thought last season, we had a five-game lead and the way that we finished the season is just not what you hope for going into the playoffs,” Reeve said before Minnesota’s game against the Dallas Wings on August 9 when asked about the remaining strength of schedule. “We talked about this being a sprint. You know, seven games to the break and then four games we have on the other side of the break; basically, playoffs will be starting on the other side of the FIBA Break.”
The Lynx have claimed at least one win against each opponent in the WNBA this season, but of their nine remaining games, eight come against teams firmly in the race for the postseason.
As teams jockey for postseason positioning, every other team currently in a playoff spot has at least three remaining games against teams that aren’t. The Lynx only have one, when they visit Connecticut on September 20. It marks the toughest strength of schedule for remaining games across the league, per Tankathon.
“It’s good for us,” Reeve continued. “I mean, would you rather have seven out of 10 at home? Sure. But when I look up at the end I see there was 22 home games and 22 road games, so that’s still the case.”
Listen now to The IX Sports Podcast and Women’s Sports Daily
We are excited to announce the launch of TWO new podcasts for all the women’s sports fans out there looking for a daily dose of women’s sports news and analysis. Stream on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or anywhere you listen to podcasts, and make sure to subscribe!
The term ‘battle-tested’ was especially poignant as the Lynx embarked on their longest road trip of the regular season on Wednesday night in Portland. The franchise’s first stop in the Rose City since the final season of the first edition of the Fire 24 years ago did not lack for drama, even if it probably should have.
Minnesota had all but extinguished every single ember in the Fire Pit when they took a 64-35 lead early in the third quarter. Midway through the fourth, the lead had been trimmed to one, 78-77, as Portland upped the heat to a point that threatened to boil over.
Minnesota endured through the game’s good, bad and ugly, thanks in no small part to some timely as ever defense from Kayla McBride, who stole the ball on back-to-back possessions in the final 40 seconds of the game.
“McBride just being special like she is,” Reeve said after the game in Portland. “Her leadership, she knows what to do. She’s so darn battle-tested. You know, someone like [Olivia Miles] needs those vets in that time. Obviously, [Miles] herself made some good plays getting to the foul line.
“Ultimately, we’re not happy. 18 points in the paint in the first half, and then we give up a 46 on the game; try to explain that. I guess it was too much fun in the second quarter and they weren’t interested in continuing that.”
McBride’s clutch defense in the final seconds of the game harkened back to the way Minnesota shut down the Fire for three quarters. They held Portland to 51 points on just a tick above 40% shooting before the Fire’s fourth-quarter explosion.
“Defensively, I think they saw when we play the way we want to play, what it looks like,” Reeve said. “And you know, just understanding that it’s never over. It’s never over. Especially [against the Fire.] Especially here, [with] their ability to fire away and shoot threes. If we were looking to be a little more battle-tested, then that happened tonight.”
The certainty the Lynx can take with them out of their final matchup with Portland of the season is that it’s not going to get any easier. After staying an extra day in Portland, the Lynx head to Las Vegas for a rubber match with the Aces and reigning MVP A’ja Wilson. After beating the Aces on their home floor last week, the season series is tied, 1-1, making Saturday’s game in Vegas a potential tie-breaker should the two end up even in the standings at season’s end.
The IX Daily: Six different women’s sports in your inbox every week!
Subscribe now and join us, just $6 a month or $60 a year. It’s the women’s sports media network we all wished for, and now it’s here! Soccer Monday, Tennis Tuesday, Basketball Wednesday, Golf Thursday, Hockey Friday – powered by The Ice Garden — and Gymnastics Saturday.
Their reward for making it through Saturday? A back-to-back/cross-county road trip against the top two defensive teams in the WNBA, the Golden State Valkyries and Washington Mystics respectively.
“It’s super helpful,” Courtney Williams said after Minnesota’s shootaround in Portland. “We’re all kind of figuring out [playoff] positions right now, so whenever you can go get some tough games in before playoffs, it’ll only help you.”
The Lynx currently hold a three-game advantage over the second-place Valkyries and a four-game cushion over the Aces in third place. The sprint to the break has five more games, concluding in Atlanta with Minnesota’s final game against the Dream on August 30.
Monumental Sports and Entertainment, the group that owns the Washington Mystics, holds a minority stake in The IX Sports. The IX Sports’ editorial operations are entirely independent of Monumental and all other business partners.
