The Minnesota Lynx were coming into this game, red hot after Kayla McBride and Olivia Miles combine for 70 points. This team has been special to watch all season long and they will be sending three players (Howard,Miles,Williams) and Coach Reeve to All Star Weekend in Chicago. The scary part of this whole situation is the fact that Napheesa Collier is on her way back sooner than later. The Lynx have been exceptionally good this season without her, but the return of the queen is on the horizon hopefully before All-Star break, but if it happens after the team is in good hands regardless.
Today, the Los Angeles Sparks were in town to face, Olivia Miles and the Minnesota Lynx during the day. The sparks came out aggressive today in Minnesota, which is kind of unheard of the sea as it would’ve been 10 AM in Los Angeles. Usually West Coast teams struggle with day games, but the Sparks were well prepared and ready to go. Minnesota, on the other hand, came out kind of flat as they weren’t able to hit too many shots in the beginning of the game. A huge shout out to Kosu who came in and gave this team instant energy with deflections steals and even had a breakaway layup to get the team going. That’s the beautiful thing about this Minnesota team. They have a lot of depth on the bench and that was on full display today.
The Lynx have a huge three headed monster offensively right now between Miles, Williams, and McBride. Speaking of McBride, she has been on a heater the last couple of games and she brought that into today’s game as well finishing with 24 points. McBride plays hard on both ends of the floor and it was on full display against the Sparks today as she wasn’t letting off the gas at all. The best part of Kayla McBride’s game besides her jumper is her defensive awareness with deflections and steals. She’s one of the best players on both ends of the floor when it comes to energy and hard work ethic and it pays off every game. Kayla is extremely smart when it comes to making her opponent foul her as well on a jumper as she throws the ball up as soon as she feels contact. You can tell she’s playing with a true sense of joy, especially with Olivia Miles passing heard the ball.
Courtney Williams really stepped up for the Lynx when Olivia Miles went down with a tweaked ankle as it looked like. William finished with 19 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists. Courtney brings that energy and that swagger when she’s on the court, and her mid range jumper is automatic. Courtney being one of the leaders on the team with Kayla. They both were able to hold it down when Olivia didn’t play much in the fourth quarter. This teams togetherness has been amazing all year, and it goes from coaching all the way down to the players. Olivia Miles tweaked her ankle and went out after playing 26 minutes but she finished with 18 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists. Miles was finding her teammates and getting to the rim whenever she wanted to against the Los Angeles Sparks before leaving the game. The Minnesota Lynx have a clear path to the WNBA Finals once they get Napheesa Collier back in the lineup and there is nothing that the WNBA can do about it. All of the teams that Minnesota lost to this season if you add Collier to the mix, they probably would’ve won so get ready to buckle up for an amazing rest of the season if you’re a Minnesota Lynx fan.
The Los Angeles Sparks played really well today as Nneka & Rae combined for 47 points. They were able to get to their spots when they wanted too but the Lynx defense down the stretch in the 2nd and 4th quarters shut them down. The Sparks need to get back to 100% healthy to make sure they can make a late push in the 2nd half of the season. The Sparks were without Plum today and they still need to work on adjustments throughout the season.
The Minnesota Lynx play the Portland Fire on Saturday as they will be going for their 20th win of the season.
Photo Credit: David Berding | Getty Images
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