Napheesa Collier’s performance takes center stage in Game 1

The comprehensive nature of her performance can’t be overlooked either. To score that many points while also grabbing six rebounds, dishing out four assists and adding a blocked shot for good measure (while playing all but nine seconds of the game) makes for a playoff stat line as singular as it is spectacular. 

“First player in league playoff history,” head coach and president of basketball operations Cheryl Reeve said as she read through Collier’s stat line after No. 2 Minnesota’s 102-95 win over No. 7 Phoenix on Sunday. “So Phee just kind of continues on this tear of being the first to do these things. The great thing about Phee is it’s just so much more than scoring. That’s why it’s so special. That’s why she’s first in league history to do so many things because she’s a boxscore stuffer, it’s well beyond scoring.”

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Collier’s performance in 39 minutes and 51 seconds of phenomenal basketball (or Phee-nomenal) is only the latest chapter added to the story of her MVP runner-up season.  

“I think I was just taking open shots, and my teammates got me a lot of easy shots,” Collier said. “Playing with Courtney [Williams] in the pick and roll, finding situations where we could take advantage of their defense. Really, the same as every game with my team, I think we just play so well together. We have so many assists on all of our baskets, and I got a lot of easy shots because of the unselfishness with our team.” 

Ball movement and unselfish play have been a trademark of the Lynx all year. The team not only led the league in total assists (921 for an average of 23.0 assists per game), but it was also tops in assists percentage for both 2-point field goals (66.8%) and 3-pointers (97.4%). 

In Sunday’s Game 1, the Lynx out-assisted the Mercury 30-19, and all seven Lynx who played seven or more minutes had at least three assists. While 11 of Minnesota’s made baskets came by way of their superstar, the rest of the Lynx accounted for 23 more by staying ready to attack the openings provided by Collier’s gravitational pull. 

“Phee’s an MVP runner-up to a historical season by A’ja Wilson,” Reeve said. “Phee’s season has been just terrific in terms of the way that she carries us, creates easy opportunities for other people. … When Phee’s playing like that, when your best player plays like the MVP that she is, that bodes well for the rest of the group.”

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Minnesota’s counterpunch in Game 1’s fourth quarter served as a perfect microcosm for the season. When Collier got the ball she scored or got fouled. When Phoenix threw all it could to stop her from scoring, Williams and 2019 WNBA Champion Myisha-Hines Allen ignited the pick and roll. When it came time to deliver the final blow, Minnesota’s designated dagger-thrower Bridget Carleton drilled a step-back 3-pointer. 

“I mean you’ve got to guard Phee, when we’re in the pick and roll (that means) leaving me open sometimes, hesitating a little bit, so it makes the game easier for me for sure,” Williams said of how Collier opens things up for her teammates at shootaround before Game 2. “It’s super special. Phee’s been doing this all season. For it to be highlighted on the (playoff) stage, I think that’s just a testament to the player she is.”

“It’s been incredible. She had 38 the other night, and it looked so easy,” Carleton added at Wednesday’s shootaround. “She works so hard, and how she plays the game is so smooth and so fluid. She never forces anything. She makes tough shots but she makes it look easy for her. 

“How she is as a leader to us and as a teammate to us, she’s one of one. I’m really thankful to be her teammate and to be a friend of hers and get to know her off the court as well. She’s just been so incredible, and she just wants to win. She doesn’t care how many points she scores. She cheers for everyone more than she cheers for herself, and I think that’s really special about her.”

Collier’s performance on Sunday, and her season to date, can certainly be categorized as one of one in this era of Minnesota Lynx basketball. How does an all-world player, gold medalist and MVP runner-up pace themselves to unleash such a performance?

“I feel like I don’t really pace myself,” Collier said with a smile after Game 1. “I try to play as hard as I can every possession. I try to put myself in that position where I’m in shape enough to do that. I mean I feel good. It doesn’t feel like I played the whole game. I could still play more. You’re such in the heat of the moment, you’re not thinking about being tired, you’re thinking about what needs to happen for you to win that possession.”

Winning the next possession and winning the next game is as forward thinking as the Lynx have allowed themselves to be all season. It’s how they steadily built a regular season resume deserving of the league’s No. 2 seed, and how they withstood a furious Phoenix rally that would have spelled disaster for many teams. 

Maintaining that mindset they’ve had all year will be essential towards achieving the first of many goals the Lynx have this postseason of advancing to the semifinals. 

“We’ve talked a lot about how this is not going to be easy, we’re in the playoffs,” Collier said after Game 1. “Everyone is fighting for their lives and we’re playing against really good teams. So when we get in those situations, I think just staying calm and executing what we have to do on the other end and getting stops when we come back on defense.”

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