Lynx have a request for MVP candidate Napheesa Collier: Shoot more

Maybe it’s a testament to Napheesa Collier’s unselfish nature that, every so often, Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve will have to pull her star forward aside and remind her:

Shoot the darned ball.

Or something to that effect.

Perhaps it’s not a coincidence that, every once in a while, Reeve and her staff will realize that it’s time to be more focused on what it takes to get Collier to her spots, remembering:

Get her the darned ball.

“It’s being more intentional in our play-calling,” Reeve said of Collier, who is one of only two WNBA players averaging better than 20 points and 10 rebounds per game. She is fifth in the league in scoring (20.3), fourth in rebounding (10.0), second in steals (2.2) and ninth in blocks (1.3).

But it’s the scoring. More specifically, the shots, that the Lynx have been focusing on since Collier and Reeve returned from Paris with Olympic gold medals.

Reeve talked about it after Saturday’s 99-83 victory over Washington. Collier got the message as well.

“I mean, when you guys heard it, that’s when I heard it, too, for sure,” Collier said. “She’s like, ‘Shoot!’”

One of the reasons the Lynx (19-8) are in third place in the WNBA with 14 games remaining is their willingness to share the ball.

They will play at fourth-place Las Vegas (17-9) on Wednesday in the first of back-to-back games against the two-time defending WNBA champion Aces. The Lynx enter the game first in the league in assists per game (23.1). They have three of the top four three-point shooters, in terms of percentage: forwards Alanna Smith (43.5) and Bridget Carleton (42.9) and guard Kayla McBride (42.0).

It is unselfish play that has all five starters averaging 9.0 points per game or more.

But the Lynx also have an MVP candidate in Collier.

Collier missed the five games leading up to the Olympics because of plantar fasciitis. At the Olympics she started, played big minutes and was a defensive leader, but she deferred some of her scoring opportunities to A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart.

But even before the Games, Collier was playing well but wasn’t shooting enough. There is team play, and there is finding the team’s best player.

Changing that was a priority.

On Saturday, Collier played one of the most efficient games of her career. She scored 30 points, making 13 of 16 shots overall and two of four threes. She did not miss a shot in the second half. And while the 16 attempts doesn’t seem particularly high, Collier didn’t play much in the fourth quarter of the Lynx’s one-sided victory.

And it wasn’t just the shot total, but where they came. Collier got to her sweet spot in the lane for her trademark fallaway jumper. She attacked the rim. She also willingly took three-pointers.

“If you look at our offense, after winning the Commissioner’s Cup [94-89 in New York on June 25 against the league-leading Liberty], our offense really became very pedestrian,” Reeve said. “And the biggest difference, the most stark difference was points per game for Phee. It was just field-goal attempts. It was just reminding her how important it is for us.”

The 99 points the Lynx scored against Washington on Saturday was the second most by the team in regulation this season. Their 57.8% shooting was a season high. Leading the way was Collier, who became only the second player in the league this season to score 30 points while hitting 80% of their shots in a game. (The other: McBride).

When Collier is getting good looks from good spots and making shots, things get a lot easier for everyone else.

“It’s just getting longer looks at the actions I’m in,” Collier said. “I like to get around the post, so getting long looks there. And we work well with pick and rolls, so getting looks there. That’s been the emphasis. … it was a matter of refocusing on that.”