Minnesota’s identity was on full display in back-to-back wins over the Mystics

The two wins, one in Minneapolis and one in Washington, showed the variety of ways the Lynx have been able to stack up victories this season. In the first game back, Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve’s team had to push through a gritty defensive back-and-forth to get out of Target Center with a 79-68 victory. On Saturday in the nation’s capital, the Lynx turned in one of their finest offensive displays of the season, shooting a season-high 57.8% from the field (37-for-64) in a 99-83 win. 

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Minnesota’s record now stands at 19-8, matching last season’s win total with 13 games left. That sets the stage for an exciting stretch run. The Lynx have designs on securing home court advantage in the playoffs for the first time since 2021.

Both games showed the Lynx still have plenty to work on in order to fulfill their championship aspirations. But after a chaotic week where Reeve and Olympians Napheesa Collier, Alanna Smith and Bridget Carleton got all of one full team practice in before playing competitive WNBA games again, the wins keep the Lynx in prime position to build on everything they’ve accomplished so far in 2024.

“They understood that how we started is really valuable to us,” Reeve said of her team ahead of the first game back on Thursday. “So we’ve talked about it. They’ve talked about it, and they want to make sure that that same energy and mindfulness about getting off to a good start, they’re in that space. We’ll have to see if we can do that.” 

The first game back from the Paris Olympics fell well short of the level of play that should be showcased in the Louvre, but the Lynx escaped with the win. They channeled what’s become their trademark, swarming defense in the fourth quarter, to outscore the Mystics 16-5 down the stretch. 

“We were kind of grinding it out,” Reeve said postgame. “Not real smooth offensively. We had moments that we were able to look like ourselves, but overall, I thought their physicality really impacted us in a way that we’re not used to seeing. So we’ve got to get back to our identity of understanding how to cut, [how to] give yourself up, [how to] play behind those cuts.” 

What may have been more meaningful than the wins this week was simply the team reuniting after a month apart. The chemistry the Lynx have spoken of all season has proven to be anything but a simple training camp cliché; it’s an infectious and authentic part of their winning formula. Returning to each other’s company for Wednesday’s press conference celebrating the Olympians and the pair of games against the Mystics clearly meant a lot to a group that loves playing together. 

“It felt really good,” Collier said of getting a double-double and a win in her first game at Target Center since July 4. “I really missed our team. I just missed how well we play basketball together, the chemistry that we have. I just feel like we play such great fundamental basketball, even though it was rusty tonight at times. Just the camaraderie we have and our ability to push through things. I definitely missed playing here at Target Center in front of our fans with this team.”

When Reeve and Collier arrived at the Minneapolis airport earlier this week, fresh off winning Olympic gold with Team USA, they met an enthusiastic welcome party made up of assistant coaches, players, members of the Lynx organization and fans. 

“We were very excited to get back and just get back to our people,” Reeve said. “That was the feeling — get back to our people. That includes our fans and all of you guys, and just who we are. We love who we are, and it was great to get back here.” 

In Saturday’s rematch against the Mystics, the Lynx got back to who they’ve been for the better part of this season. After a fairly even first half, Minnesota broke the game open in the third quarter, hitting its first 10 shots en route to 33 points in the period. It was its highest third-quarter output of the season and second-highest scoring quarter overall.

Collier turned in an absolute masterpiece, and in the third quarter, she was perfect. The two-time gold medalist made all six of her attempts from the field in the quarter and both her shots from the foul line for 15 of her game-high 30 points. On the day, she converted 13 of her 16 shots, or 81.3%.

Collier became the second player in the league this season to score 30 or more points in a game on better than 80% shooting from the field, joining Lynx guard Kayla McBride. McBride scored 31 points on 83.3% shooting in Atlanta on May 26.  

“Everything was centered around Phee and her play and seeking opportunities, creating some help situations,” Reeve said after the game. “We never worry about Phee taking bad shots. She’s always going to make the right basketball play, but playing to her and causing rotations helped our team overall.

“I thought we were pretty intentional in our transition. We were getting to our drag screens pretty quickly. I thought we overall moved the ball decently and found people in good spots.”

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Carleton, an Olympian for Canada, also lit it up against the Mystics on Saturday, converting three of her five attempts from beyond the arc to finish with 16 points. It was her 12th game of the season with three or more made threes, which ties her with McBride. The only other pair of teammates in the league who’ve done that are Indiana Fever guards Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell, according to Lynx PR.

“I feel like every game Phee plays, she makes it so easy for everybody else that’s on the court,” Carleton said. “… I knew [she] was going crazy in the third quarter, but I did not realize [she] had 30 until after the game. She just makes the right play, the simple play, and it just looks easy for her. It’s just the talent that she has and playing at a high level. She’s capable of doing this every night against anybody, so it’s fun to play with her.”

There are many ways to win a basketball game, and the identity of the Minnesota Lynx this season has been their 3-point shooting and their defense. “When you live by the three, you die by the three,” as the saying goes, and in their first game back, they almost died by the three. Three-point shooting will always be volatile, even for the team leading the league in 3-point shooting percentage. But boasting one of the league’s best defenses (No. 1 in defensive rating, No. 2 in points allowed) is a great way to collect wins even when an invisible lid is on the basket. 

Over the next 13 games, there’s bound to be outings where the Lynx can’t miss as well as outings where they need to grind wins out. They did a bit of both in their two wins against the Mystics.

It’ll only get tougher from here. The next test for Minnesota is another two-game set against the defending champion Las Vegas Aces, who have four gold medalists on their roster. The Aces are 1.5 games behind the Lynx in the fight for home court advantage in the playoffs.