Lynx fall to Fever 81-74 in front of Target Center packed to see Caitlin Clark

Target Center was full Sunday, but the Lynx offense hit empty after 30 minutes.

This is becoming an issue.

An announced crowd of 18,978 — the biggest in Lynx regular-season history — came out to watch the Lynx play Indiana, Caitlin Clark’s first WNBA game in Target Center. The hoopla surrounding the game? Before it began, Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve made it clear she didn’t care about that as much as winning.

That didn’t happen. Up seven entering the fourth quarter, the Lynx were outscored 28-14 in the final 10 minutes in an 84-71 loss.

Playing without star forward Napheesa Collier (left foot) for the fourth game in a row, the Lynx lost their second consecutive game and for the fifth time in eight games. The Lynx (16-8) fell into a fourth-place tie with Seattle with one more game before the Olympic break.

“I thought defensively, again, we played mostly well enough to win,” Reeve said. “But our offense put so much pressure on our defense.”

BOXSCORE: Indiana 81, Lynx 74

WNBA standings

Clark scored 10 of her 17 points in the fourth quarter, but she wasn’t the only player who helped the Fever (11-14) turn the tide.

After finishing the third quarter on a 12-3 run to go up seven, the Lynx hit a fourth-quarter wall. Still up seven early in the fourth, Clark hit a free throw after the Lynx were called for defensive three seconds. Then Kelsey Mitchell (21 points) hit an uncontested corner three, just beating the shot clock. The Fever got a stop and Katie Lou Samuelson hit a three to tie the game. The game was still tied when, coming out of a time out with 3:09 left, Aliyah Boston (17 points, 16 rebounds) scored four straight points to put the Fever in the lead for good. Indiana finished the game on a 10-3 run.

“I thought we had end-of-the-shot-clock defense that gave up,” Reeve said.

“We kind of got stagnant,” said Bridget Carleton, who scored 17 points, made five of 10 threes and had seven rebounds and six assists. “We weren’t getting in the paint, we weren’t finding our shooters.”

Simply put, the Lynx weren’t scoring. Certainly not efficiently, something that has plagued the team since it beat New York for the Commissioner’s Cup championship.

Since then, including Sunday, the Lynx have shot below 40% in five of eight games. In the past two games, the Lynx have been outscored 47-21 in the fourth quarter.

“Indiana is not a team that’s hung its hat on defense at this point,” Reeve said. “Our two-point field goal percentage [16-for-39 in the game, 0-for-4 in the fourth quarter] killed us. Some of our attempts, and turnovers at costly times, really hurt us.”

Getting Collier back will help, but that might not happen until after the Olympic break. But Reeve also talked about her team’s inability to get into the paint and put pressure on the rim. The Lynx were outscored 40-20 in the paint Sunday.

Part of the reason was a small lineup — one that featured the 6-foot-1 Carleton at power forward — that Reeve used extensively.

But the bottom line is the Lynx offense didn’t execute down he stretch.

“When we make mistakes and they score, we have to be able to score to keep it competitive,” said center Alanna Smith, who scored 13 of her 18 points in the first quarter. “In the fourth quarter it’s high-pressure. When things you wrong you feel that pressure. We have to work on playing the whole 40 minutes.”