The best thing to come out of what happened at Target Center on Thursday night, the most positive thing Lynx fans can take away, is this:
Lynx lose to Sparks 68-51 to close regular season
Napheesa Collier and Kayla McBride did not play, and other Lynx starters saw their minutes limited as they look ahead to a matchup with the Mercury in the first round of the playoffs.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
September 20, 2024 at 4:09AM
It didn’t matter. None of it.
“Flush it, and let’s go,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said after the Lynx finished the regular season with a 68-51 loss to the last-place Los Angeles Sparks.
The Lynx (30-10) entered the game locked into the No. 2 seed, knowing they will start the playoffs at 4 p.m. on Sunday against Phoenix at home. Reeve rested stars Napheesa Collier and Kayla McBride, starting Diamond Miller and Myisha Hines-Allen in their place.
No Lynx player played 30 minutes.
Still: The 51 points matched the lowest scored by a Reeve-coached Lynx team, the lowest since 2010. Minnesota set season lows in points in the first quarter, first half, third quarter and game. On a night when they shot about 40 percent at the rim, the Lynx shot under 30 percent overall (28.6) for the first time this season and had a season-low 11 assists.
“We never found our rhythm,” Natisha Hiedeman said. “We had to be more aggressive on offense. That’s what I saw.”
The Lynx failed to have a player score in double figures for just the second time in franchise history and the first time since July 6, 1999 — Minnesota’s inaugural season — vs. the Houston Comets.
But, again, it didn’t matter.
After finishing with a franchise-record 30 wins, the Lynx (16-4) tied New York for the best home record this season.
“Right now everybody is 0-0,” Hiedeman said. “It doesn’t matter what you did before. I would say we’re prepared, mentally and physically [for the playoffs]. We’re locked in on what we need to get done as a team. Focus is a big part of playing well in the playoffs.”
If there was any frustration on the night for Reeve, it was the difficulty Hines-Allen and Alanna Smith had finishing around the rim. The two combined to go 2-for-11 overall and score 12 points.
“We didn’t get the level of penetration we needed,” Reeve said. “We didn’t get scoring at the rim from our bigs. Our pick-and-roll game was very unproductive and our reads out of that weren’t very good.”
Even so, Reeve appeared perfectly ready to flush it and move on after the Lynx played their fourth game in seven nights. The team will have a rest day Friday, practice Saturday and embark on a quest for the franchise’s fifth WNBA title against a sixth-seeded Mercury team they went 3-1 against this season.
Dearica Hamby, played all 40 minutes for Los Angeles (8-32), which ended an eight-game losing streak.
Cecilia Zandalasini and Miller each had eight points to lead the Lynx. Hiedeman scored seven. Four other players had six.
The loss ended a seven-game winning streak for the Lynx, who nonetheless finished the season winning 14 of their final 16 games.
Down nine entering the fourth quarter, the Lynx pulled within five with 7:29 left when Courtney Williams hit a three, was fouled and made the free throw.
But, out of a timeout, the Sparks scored the next 13 points and finished the game 18-3.
The Lynx on Sunday will start what they hope is a long playoff run. Game 2 is Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. A third game in the best-of-three series, if needed, would be Friday in Phoenix.
“As a top two seed, if you win your home games, you can be in the WNBA finals,” Reeve said. “We like the position we’re in.’’
Don’t be surprised if you spot the WNBA standout jamming at Twin Cities concerts.
