The Minnesota Lynx had something happen to them on Sunday afternoon that has only happened one other time this season, and last occurring around the 4th of July.
The Lynx fell to the Atlanta Dream 89-81 on Sunday afternoon in Atlanta, losing their second straight game. The last — and only — other time that happened this season was back in early July when Minnestoa lost to New York on July 3 and Connecticut on July 6.
And, like last week in the loss to Golden State,
Minnesota clinching the No. 1 seed will have to wait at least one more game.
Let’s look at some of the key moments from Sunday’s loss, which dropped the Lynx to 31-9 overall with four games left to play following the FIBA World Cup Break.
Williams Returns, World Cup Departures
After missing the first game of her career due to injury last week, Minnesota got Courtney Williams back on Sunday, with the veteran guard jumping right back into the starting lineup like she never left.
As she always does, whether she was banged up or not, Williams provided energy and plenty of trash talking, ending the game with 11points, four assists, three rebounds and three steals in 30 minutes.
On the other end of Williams’ return, the Lynx were without a few pieces on their bench who have already departed the team to prepare for FIBA World Cup action beginning Sept. 4 in Germany. Dorka Juhász and Antonia Delaere were both inactive and listed as Not With Team, with each of those players representing their home countries in the World Cup. Consistent production from the bench has been somewhat of a weakness for Minnesota all season long, but the absence of two players who are part of that group certainly didn’t help against the Dream.
Lynx Make Late Push
Trailing by seven going into halftime in Atlanta, the wheels started to fall off early in the third quarter when Atlanta went on run to extend its lead to as much as 20 points and looking to be turning the game into a blowout.
However, with 3.5 minutes left in the third quarter, the Lynx went on a run and said ‘not so fast’ to keep the game within reach. Minnesota ended the third frame on a 13-2 run — led by none other than Kayla McBride and Olivia Miles — to narrow the Dream lead to nine entering the fourth quarter.
However, in the final 10 minutes of the contest, the Lynx weren’t able to do enough to get back into the game, with the Dream holding them off to grab a victory at home going into a two-plus-week break.
Miles Makes (More) History
As seems to be the case every single night at this point, Miles made more history for Minnesota in the loss.
When she reached 17 points in the contest, the Lynx rookie recorded her 745th career point, surpassing Seimone Augustus (744 in 2006) to set the Lynx franchise record for most points scored by a rookie in a season.
Miles, who now sits at 749 points after 21 points in Sunday’s game, is currently second all-time in WNBA history in points scored as a rookie, trailing only Caitlin Clark who scored 769 points in 40 games in 2024.
Break Time
Following Sunday’s game, the Lynx and the rest of the WNBA will now take part in a two-plus-week break with the FIBA World Cup taking place in Germany.
The league will take a break from Aug. 31 to Sept. 16, with the final handful of games in the season taking place starting Sept. 17. The World Cup will take place in Berlin, Germany from Sept. 4-13, featuring 16 of the world’s best women’s national teams.
Minnesota will have six members taking part in the action: Chloe Bibby (Australia), Antonia Delaere (Belgium), Eliska Joklova (Czechia), Elena Buenavida (Spain), Napheesa Collier (USA) and Dorka Juhász (Hungary).
The break could come at the perfect time for Minnesota, which hopes to catch a bit of a breather while aiming to finish the regular season strong and enter the postseason ready to make a deep playoff run.
Remaining Schedule
When the regular season resumes mid-September, the Lynx will have four games remaining, two at home and two on the road.
- Sept. 18 — Home vs. New York, 6:30 p.m. CT on ION
- Sept. 20 — Away at Connecticut, 12 p.m. CT on Victory+
- Sept. 22 — Away at Indiana, 7 p.m. CT on ESPN
- Sept. 24 — Home vs. Indiana, 7 p.m. CT on USA Network
