Reusse: Napheesa Collier elevates Lynx beyond season’s modest expectations

Napheesa Collier was in position Tuesday night to move the Lynx into the WNBA Finals for the first time in seven seasons and make her perhaps the most impactful individual player in franchise history.

Maya Moore came in from UConn (where else?) in 2011, won the Lynx’s first title as a rookie and won three more in alternating seasons through 2017. The deal with those dynastic Lynx was that there were other established tremendous players — Seimone Augustus and Lindsay Whalen, and Sylvia Fowles for the final pair of titles.

Throw in the reliable-as-could-be Rebekkah Brunson, and Moore’s Lynx always went into a season with great expectations.

That has not been the case for Collier, a 6-1 forward (from UConn, of course) who fell into basketball boss Cheryl Reeve’s waiting arms with the sixth selection in the 2019 WNBA draft. Jackie Young and Arike Ogunbowale were a pair of exceptional players who went earlier, but Collier at No. 6 … an amazing bargain.

Collier became a mother during the 2022 season and then averaged 21.5 points and finished fourth in the WNBA MVP voting in 2023. The Lynx were bounced in the first round in a best-of-three series with the Connecticut Sun.

Reeve went quickly and aggressively into the free-agent market for Courtney Williams and Alanna Smith, allowed returnees Bridget Carleton and Kayla McBride to fire away in a ball-moving attack on the perimeter, and a team predicted for a middling finish in the WNBA at best started to win.

There were solid and determined players around Collier, although certainly not the stars who were there to assist Moore on those championship rides.

Collier was in the Olympics with Reeve’s U.S. gold medalists this summer. Carleton was in Paris with Canada and Smith with Australia. The Lynx came back from the break to win 13 of 14 games, finishing 30-10 for the second playoff seed.

The aged Phoenix Mercury were easy work in a 2-0 sweep, and then came this semifinal series with those same Sun who did in the Lynx a year ago.

The series reached 2-2 when the Sun dominated a second half Sunday in Connecticut.

The first two games at Target Center last week had been wrestling matches, and that figured to be the Sun’s best chance to fight their way out of Minneapolis and advance to the Finals against the top-seeded New York Liberty.

They had no chance from the get-go Tuesday night.

While in Connecticut for Games 3 and 4, Coach Reeve’s fiery temper gained some publicity with a report that she was yelling admonitions at the Sun after their victory in Game 1 at Target Center.

On this night, it was clear that Reeve aimed her famous fire at her club. Before the game, she mentioned point guard Williams’ poor defense in the Game 4 loss — without ever mentioning Williams by name.

Williams was electric immediately Tuesday. She went 6-for-6 with 15 points in the first half. McBride also was on fire, and then there was Collier — all-everything, almost all the time.

The Lynx shot 55.3%, and it was a 53-34 at the half. There was an irritating start to the second half as the Sun scored the first seven points, but the home team steadied and was never in jeopardy.

Final: Lynx 88, Sun 77.

Collier was magnificent, on this night and through this 5-2 playoff push to the Finals. She had one clunker, going 3-for-14 and scoring nine points in Game 2 vs. the Sun — a physical battle the Lynx somehow won 77-70.

In six other playoff games, Collier has averaged 30 points. On Tuesday, she was 10-for-16, scored 27 points and added her usual double figures on the boards — 11 to lead a Lynx team that is undersized and not exactly a rebounding machine.

Stephanie White, the Sun’s coach, referred back to when Collier was a college player with some shortcomings and said that at this moment:

“She is everything you want in a player. She doesn’t get rushed. … She started imposing her will in the post.”

DeWanna Bonner, a 6-foot-4 standout for the Sun, was asked about Collier’s impact. Bonner gave a quizzical look and said: “She’s a great player. She led her team all night. She’s been doing things like that all year. I didn’t think that would change tonight.”

If Collier hasn’t yet become a grand enough star on our crowded local sports scene, she came to the postgame media session carrying 2-year-old Mila with her. And when Mila got a bit restless, the little gal was carried away and saying, “Mommy, I want Mommy,” as she left.

Sorry, Mila.

Mommy’s got duties, perhaps for another week-and-a-half, as she tries to lead the Lynx to their fifth and most unlikely title.