Game Story
The Minnesota Lynx rode into Barclays Arena winners of six games in a row. This included two straight against the New York Liberty, both teams missing their best player. Not much would change entering their third match in just 10 days, as both Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart were still sidelined. The former, and rightful front-runner for Most Valuable Player, continued to inch closer to game action though, as she ruled out just hours before tipoff.
Minnesota had little to nothing to prove in this
game.
They certainly played like it in the first quarter.
It took less than five minutes of game action for the home team to march out to a 10-point advantage. Jonquel Jones was sharp, scoring seven of her team’s first 12 points. They peppered the Lynx both inside and out. A four of 10 mark was coupled with a 14 to six rebounding advantage in the opening stanza. However, as we’ve come to know from this Lynx team, they refused to acquiesce.
Super sub, Natisha Hiedeman spearheaded a late 8-0 Minnesota rally to keep the score close at the end of the first quarter. This carried over into the second, where their defense stepped up to force a slew of New York turnovers.
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Dijonai Carrington was excellent off the bench, posting a team-best +6 in the first half. Unfortunately, her efforts wouldn’t be enough as the Liberty uncorked a bevy of triples. Sabrina Ionescu and the aforementioned Jones combined to go four of five from beyond the arc while the Lynx went zero for seven as a team. This allowed New York to easily storm back ahead by double digits.
It felt like the Liberty just kept landing haymaker after haymaker. For every Minnesota bucket, New York seemed to respond with a triple. Every trey seemed to cut deeper and deeper, considering how the Lynx went through an 0 for 11 stretch from beyond the arc. It wasn’t until Courtney Williams hit a triple at the end of the third period, somehow bringing the Lynx within 60-66 after a dreadful quarter.
As New York continued to bomb away from perimeter, Minnesota held steady and scrapped their way to within 75-79 and less than two minutes remaining. Williams, who had started to heat up, missed two crucial mid-range jumpers before Ionescu sealed the game with, you guessed it, a three pointer. Not only was she fouled on the make, it was upgraded to a flagrant foul on a reckless closeout by Maria Kliundikova.
The New York faithful had reason to celebrate, avoiding a season sweep. They ultimately shot an impressive 13 of 32 from beyond the arc. Minnesota, the most accurate three-point shooting team in the league, went 6 of 22. Their bench came to, with three players scoring in double digits, but the starters just could not get it done. Only Williams scored in double digits.
The Lynx will live to fight another day, as Collier’s return is just around the corner with a 6.0 game lead on first place to boot.
Highlights
Coming soon
Box Score
Up Next
The Lynx fly out soon for stop number two on their three game trip. They visit the Atlanta Dream on Thursday, August 21st at 6:30 PM CT. This will be their final game against the surging two-seed in the league.
In their first meeting, Minnesota snuck by with a four-point overtime victory at Atlanta, but they were repaid the favor as the Dream went to Target Center and snapped the Lynx 14-game win streak by just four points as well.
