The Minnesota Lynx will attempt to turn in another suffocating defensive performance when they visit the Phoenix Mercury on Wednesday night.
Minnesota (22-8) is currently the hottest team in the WNBA, winning all five of its games since the All-Star break by at least 10 points. The Lynx are riding a six-game winning streak overall, and they most recently beat the Indiana Fever 90-80 on Saturday.
Defense continues to be the driving force behind Minnesota’s success, as no team has been able to shoot 50 percent from the field in a game against the Lynx this year. Opponents are hitting just 41 percent of their shots overall against Minnesota, the lowest mark in the league.
Indiana was held to 43.4 percent shooting on Saturday.
“We showed them some stuff on video,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said of what her players saw. “We just said, ‘If we want to win, we’ve got to be the best defensive team in the league today.’ We can’t (just) have spurts where we play great defense, and so that was our focus.”
Forward Napheesa Collier went for 31 points on 12-for-18 shooting against the Fever, her second performance of at least 30 points in the past four games.
“Just doing whatever needs to be done to win the game, that’s my mindset,” Collier said. “Any one of us could have 30 (points) every night, and that’s the beauty of our team.”
Meanwhile, Phoenix (16-15) has been up and down since the All-Star break, going 3-3.
The Mercury have had trouble locking up shooters on the perimeter as of late, giving up at least nine 3-pointers in each of their past three games. The New York Liberty knocked down 12 (on 29 attempts) on Monday in an 84-70 victory over Phoenix, which committed 22 turnovers.
“Some of that was us, some of that was them,” Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts said after the loss. “It’s just hard to beat a really good team like that.”
Brittney Griner finished with a game-high 22 points against New York. Natasha Cloud added 18, and Kahleah Copper posted 14. Copper ranks second in the WNBA in points per game with 22.6.
Minnesota has already clinched a playoff berth, while Phoenix sits in sixth in the league standings.
Wednesday marks the fourth and final meeting of the season between the teams. The Lynx are 2-1 against the Mercury in 2024.
–Field Level Media
