The Minnesota Lynx have been the one of the hottest teams in the WNBA since the Olympic break. They are 9-1 in their last 10 games and hold a 27-9 overall record.
The Lynx took many by surprise when they jumped out to a 7-2 start this season, later improving to 13-3. And yet even when they went beat the New York Liberty in the 2024 Commissioner's Cup, there were still doubts if the four-time WNBA champions were a contender.
Minnesota has a chance to prove just that with two key road games remaining in the regular season against the Liberty (31-6) and the Connecticut Sun (26-10).
"We're not talking playoffs," Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve told media after the team's practice Thursday.
Despite having the best record in the league since the Olympic break, Reeve wants her team focused on the task at hand. Although, Reeve also conceded securing the second overall seed wouldn't be a bad thing.
"The more home games you have in a playoff series, it's not a guarantee, but we value playing at home," Reeve said.
Heart and soul
Any doubts about the staying power of the Lynx were put to rest as the team came surging out the gate following the Olympic break. After a strong start to the season, many were wondering when the regression would come. After all, the Lynx started the year 14-4 when no one expected it. Then, a slight dip came just before the break when Minnesota went just 4-4. With three of its top players -- Napheesa Collier, Bridget Carleton, and Alanna Smith -- as well as its head coach heading to Paris to compete in the Olympics, the Lynx being out of gas for the final stretch of the regular season would not have been a huge surprise.
Instead, the group came back recharged and won seven in a row.
"It didn't hurt it," Reeve said, referring to the time away impacting the Lynx momentum.
Reeve credits guard Kayla McBride and her assistant coaches for keeping the team focused while she and Collier won the eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal USA Basketball.
"[McBride] was the point person in saying, 'We want to be ready when these guys come back and we want to make sure we get off to a good start,'" Reeve said at practice Thursday.
That's exactly what the Lynx did. Collier, who leads the team with 20 points and nearly 10 rebounds per game, earned her second of two Western Conference Player of the Week honors post-Olympics. McBride is averaging over 15 points per game this season while putting in significant work on the defensive end.
Reeve noted that McBride being one of the top-10 ranked wins above replacement players (WARP) in the league speaks to her importance for the Lynx. McBride is ranked eighth overall while Collier is ranked third.
"If you're not a very good player, you're not going to be in that," Reeve said. "[McBride] and [Collier] are the heart and soul of the team and so their synergy together is really special."
On the other side of their home game against Chicago, the Lynx will face the New York Liberty Sunday afternoon at Barclays Center. The Lynx are 3.5 games back of the league leading Liberty. New York needs one win or a Lynx loss to clinch the top seed and homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs.
How Lynx and Liberty stack up
Sunday's matchup will be an interesting test for New York. The Lynx are the only team to beat the Liberty twice this year, even though the Commissioner's Cup result doesn't factor into the regular season record or seeding. Both sides are acutely aware of the raw data.
"It's going to be a statement game, knowing it's the two top teams playing each other," New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu said after a 99-67 win over the Dallas Wings Thursday night. "We have to come out and play our best basketball"
Ionescu is averaging nearly 17 points per game in September while shooting at a 35.3% clip from the perimeter. As a team, the Liberty shoot 35.1% from beyond the arc, good enough for fourth in the league and behind the pacesetting Lynx at 38.1%. Minnesota and it has been helped by Carleton, the Canadian Olympian and one of four Lynx shooters firing at better than 40%.
Carleton tallied 16 points and went 4 for 6 from distance in Minnesota's win over Atlanta on Tuesday.
"We don't run very many plays for [Carleton]," Reeve said on Thursday. "The ball finds [Carleton] in other actions that are run and she knows exactly where to be and fill spaces off of what a defensive rotation gives."
Minnesota has an advantage from the perimeter, but New York tends to control the paint. Expect Jonquel Jones to be a high defensive priority for Reeve come Sunday. The Liberty center is averaging 14.6 points and nine rebounds per game.
However, trying to eliminate her paint touches opens up the lane for Breanna Stewart, while also exposing Minnesota to Jones' perimeter shot. Jones is shooting 39% from deep, the best shooting percentage among New York starters. Leonie Fiebich shoots at the highest percentage (43.8%) for the Liberty.
The Sunday matchup will be the first time the Lynx compete against the Liberty since acquiring Myisha Hines-Allen at the trade deadline. Hines-Allen has played with Collier overseas and has been a recruitment target for the Lynx in years past, Reeve said Thursday. All these things have helped her integrate into the systems relatively seamlessly.
The 6-foot-1 forward played six full seasons with the Washington Mystics and won a title in 2019, something Reeve believes is an advantage for her team. Through nine games, Hines-Allen is averaging nearly seven points per game for Minnesota while offering additional physicality and the ability to push the pace on offense with her passing and ability to get downhill.
"In most of her minutes she's been everything we've hoped for," Reeve said.
The final stretch
Friday begins a three-game stretch against top eight teams in the league, including the Connecticut Sun, who sit one game behind Minnesota in third. The Lynx know they have a chance to take to secure a top-two finish and earn homecourt advantage in the early rounds, or even throughout the postseason if they somehow leapfrog New York.
It's not an easy task, but Minnesota is up for the challenge.
"We're relentless in our ability to stay connected," McBride said after their win Tuesday night. "We have this toughness about us and we want to win every game. We know our goals are big and we have that in mind every time we step on the floor no matter who we're playing."
