Diamond Miller's return sparks Lynx over Storm; Napheesa Collier has career-high 33 points

Cheryl Reeve suggested that Diamond Miller give her Lynx jersey a subtle pull if she needed a breather at any point in her first game back from a near monthlong absence.

Miller added the Jordan shrug for good measure.

She glanced to her coach only moments after she rocked the arena into applause with a nifty step-through finish, hunching her shoulders as if to say:

I'm back.

"I can't remember," Miller said when asked about the celebration. "Sometimes in the game I just do some crazy stuff."

The No. 2 overall pick seemed to supply enough swagger for all who were involved in Minnesota's 104-93 Tuesday victory over the Seattle Storm at Target Center. The Lynx proved stellar offensively from start to finish, with a flow that looked as good as it has all season.

And they're now 5-9 because of it.

"Being aggressive really [helped]," Lynx star forward Napheesa Collier said. "I think Diamond really actually came in and set that precedent for us. We're so much harder to guard and to play against when we're aggressively attacking the paint instead of going around the three-point line."

Collier finished with a career-high 33 points on 11-for-21 shooting with a perfect 9-for-9 mark at the free-throw line. That was nothing new. The extent to which Collier's supporting cast complemented her play appeared to be the difference.

Miller, in her first game back after spraining her right ankle May 30 against Dallas, added an efficient 18 points to go along with five assists and four rebounds in 31 minutes, but the notable performances didn't stop there.

All of Reeve's five starters produced especially well, each of whom ended with double-figure points.

"Both teams probably were happy with their offense, probably not so happy with team defense," Reeve said.

She chalked up WNBA scoring leader Jewell Loyd's sluggish 14-point performance on 4-for-18 shooting to mere chance. Perhaps it just wasn't her night, said Reeve, who saw the opposite from her team's offense.

It indeed was one of those nights for the Lynx — a reality that appeared no clearer than when Rachel Banham launched an off-the-dribble three-pointer that bounced off the back of the rim, aligned with the top of the backboard and still somehow trickled through the bottom of the net.

Everything seemed to fall for the home team, especially early.

Minnesota spotted itself a 15-point advantage after an opening quarter in which starting guards Lindsey Allen and Kayla McBride matched Miller's activity.

Allen, who notched her fourth start in place of an injured Tiffany Mitchell (left wrist sprain), almost immediately tallied three assists, one of which was a swift chest pass to McBride for the game's first points.

"It was probably Lindsay's best game of the season for us," Reeve said.

The play was a catch-and-shoot three set up by several different screens, a call by Reeve that set the tone for McBride, who only attempted three field goals last Thursday. Allen finished with 11 points and nine assists. McBride added 18 points.

"It's just the life of a shooter that you're going to go through tough stretches," Reeve said of McBride.

"You're open, you have to shoot it. You can't turn down shots, which I thought last game she wasn't nearly as aggressive as we needed her to be."

Rookie center Dorka Juhász made her first five layups as the Lynx, who made 41 shots at a 53.2% clip, had 25 assists to only eight turnovers by game's end.

"We're doing a really good job of learning from our mistakes instead of trying to push past it," Collier said.