Napheesa Collier lifts Lynx past Caitlin Clark and Fever 90-80 in front of 19,000-plus

A flurry of days filled with games, honors and nostalgia reached its peak Saturday night at Target Center.

The red-hot Lynx were hosting the upstart Indiana Fever. The announced crowd of 19,023 — the biggest in franchise regular-season history — was loud. Some cheering for Fever rookie Caitlin Clark. Most cheering for the Lynx.

Everyone waiting for Maya Moore Irons.

19,023.

Fitting, given what happened after the Lynx out-lasted the Fever 90-80. In an emotional ceremony after the game, Moore Irons’ No. 23 jersey was retired, lifted into the arena rafters to join former teammates Seimone Augustus, Lindsay Whalen, Sylvia Fowles and Rebekkah Brunson.

The way the Lynx set the table was worthy of the night.

It wasn’t pretty, the victory. The Lynx were playing for the third time in four nights while Indiana hadn’t played in nearly a week. The Lynx were coming off back-to-back elegant wins over defending champion Las Vegas, the most recent late Friday night.

BOXSCORE: Lynx 90, Fever 80

WNBA standings

This one had more grit, especially after coach Cheryl Reeve got into the team at halftime after a defensively challenged second quarter.

“We responded,’’ Reeve said. “We didn’t have time to think about [being tired]. We have to win our home games. We knew this weekend was a special weekend. The special nature of having our legends back in the building. We all felt that.’’

Ultimately, Napheesa Collier and Kayla McBride wouldn’t let there be a letdown. The result was a sixth consecutive victory for the Lynx (22-8).

Battling through the fatigue, dogged by the Fever most of the night, Collier and McBride led a 14-2 fourth-quarter run that turned a three-point lead into a 15-point edge on Collier’s jumper with 3:23 left.

Collier tied her season high with 31 points on 12-for-18 shooting. McBride scored 15 of her 19 points in the second half, eight in the fourth quarter, seven in that decisive run.

“Three games in four days is tough,” McBride said. “I’m proud of our toughness, overall.”

The Lynx officially clinched a playoff spot with the victory, which came despite the Fever outrebounding the Lynx 40-27, with 15 of those Indiana rebounds coming at the offensive end.

But, in the decisive 10 minutes, the Fever grabbed one offensive board. The Lynx? They got points from five players. Reeve went to a bigger lineup with Collier at the 3 and Myisha Hines-Allen playing the final 10 minutes.

The Lynx did what was necessary. For the third game in a row, five Minnesota players scored 10 or more points: Bridget Carleton had 16 and Courtney Williams and Natisha Hiedeman 10 each. For the fourth consecutive game, the Lynx shot better than 50%.

“It was a special night,” Collier said. “With Maya and her retirement. “You do what you have to do. I felt the fatigue, but we had a game to win.”

That was enough to beat a young Fever team, on fresh legs, that got 23 points and eight assists from Clark, a 10-point, 15-rebound double-double from Aliyah Boston and 21 points from Kelsey Mitchell.

The decisive run began after Indiana’s Lexie Hull scored with 6:16 left to make it a three-point game.

What followed was a McBride attack. She hit a 16-footer. Moments later she hit the first of consecutive threes. By the time Collier scored with 3:23 left the Lynx led by 15.

Collier continued her torrid play since returning from the Olympic break. In five games since returning from Paris, she has scored 128 points in five games — 25.6 per game — and shot a combined 51 for 77 from the field. Over her last four games, Collier has become the first player in league history to score 110 points or more while shooting better than 70%.

McBride, meanwhile, reached 600 made threes the third-quickest in league history after hitting four of 10 threes. Only Diana Taurasi and current Lynx associate head coach Katie Smith did it faster.