The Lynx are officially the hottest team in the WNBA. Minnesota has won five games in a row and six of its last seven. It seems like they’re well on their way to rediscovering the brand of basketball that has helped them win four championships since 2011. The last time we checked in, the team was still a little more up in the air, the Lynx had won two straight at home but had yet to prove their work on the road. Today things are different. There’s something noticeably changed about Minnesota’s attitude. There will be ups and downs over the course of the rest of the season, but the Lynx are here to fight.
So, what’s happened? It’s hard to point to one specific thing—a lot has been working for the Lynx. Here are 10 things I’ve noticed from their five-game winning streak that might provide Minnesota a blueprint for success going forward.
1. Moore Maya
It’s hard not to notice Maya Moore when she plays like she’s been playing lately. After a bit of a rough start to the season, she has come on strong in the last few games—highlighted by her incredible 32-point performance against the Storm. Moore has scored over 20 points in every game of the Lynx’s current winning streak, averaging 23.8 points per game. But it’s not just scoring—Moore has been doing everything for the Lynx: she’s averaging 5.8 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.6 steals per game over her last five. Moore is engaged, active and taking things personally. It’s so much fun to watch. Moore is a transcendent talent in this league, don’t ever forget it!
2. Hit The Boards!
Rebounding is a critical piece of the Lynx’s identity—both getting boards themselves, and keeping their opponents away from them. During their winning streak, Minnesota has been highly successful in both areas. Over their last five games, the Lynx are allowing the fewest rebounds to their opponents (28.2) and leading the league in total rebounding percentage (54.6). Because offensive rebounding isn’t a huge part of Minnesota’s game plan, they’re not likely to be leading the league in total rebounds, but those rebounding percentages are telling—the Lynx box out and finish possessions better than anyone else in the league. Fundamentals are called that for a reason; rebounding is a crucial element to every possession—one the Lynx have made synonymous with their style of play
3. Take It Away
The Lynx are not known as a team that forces a ton of turnovers. Minnesota’s defense typically focuses on forcing teams into taking bad shots, not gambling for steals. However, over the course of their win streak, the Lynx have found a balance between staying in position and getting takeaways. Over their last five, the Lynx have forced 15.8 turnovers per game, third most in the league. They also have the second-most steals in the league with 10.0 per game. Minnesota is finding that if they commit to their game plan on defense, they’re put in a position to intercept passing lanes and get steals in traffic. They’re not lunging for every pass, but they’re taking away good options and forcing their opponents into bad decisions. The turnovers and steals aren’t the goal, they’re the result. Playing like this is both effective and sustainable—you won’t get a ton of turnovers every night, but you’ll always be hard to score against. And if the other team is coughing up the ball? Hey, we’re not complaining.
4. Containment Policy
If you get rebounds and you force turnovers, what’s the logical result? You get a lot more shots than your opposition. The Lynx are absolutely excelling in this area. During their winning streak they’ve attempted an average of 70.0 shots per game and only allowed their opponents to 64.2. Ignore Minnesota’s game against a high-volume scoring Storm team, and they lead the league in limiting their opponents’ shot attempts. This stat doesn’t get talked about enough. You know what’s better than forcing a bad shot? Not letting your opponent take a shot at all. Usually, the team that takes more shots in a game wins. It’s such an obvious-sounding thing to write down, but sometimes it’s the obvious things that are the most important. Keep locking it down, Lynx.
5. Moving The Ball
Good teams move the ball around. Even if most of the shots are taken by a few stars, the best shots usually come off the pass. Of course, there are a few players on the Lynx who are great at getting their own shots, but players shoot the ball better when they get it in spots where they can be successful. Teams’ ability to get those types of shots are often reflected in their assist numbers. During their streak, Minnesota has led the league in assists with 22.6 per game. This is a great sign for the Lynx, who have finished in the top two in the league in assists every year since 2011, but had struggled so far this year. This return to form is a major step towards reestablishing the identity the Lynx have cultivated for the past several years—it’s also a great way to win games.
6. Throwback Whay
In the last few weeks we’ve been treated to a couple big-time outings from the Lynx’s starting point guard. Lindsay Whalen’s play against Phoenix and Las Vegas was especially stand-out. Whalen isn’t the scorer she once was, but the crafty veteran still finds ways to get it done. Against the Mercury, she finished with 15 points, three rebounds, two assists and a game-high five steals! Two days later in Las Vegas, she dished out nine assists. The thing about Whalen is she is so willing to do what her team needs from her each and every night. No matter how many minutes she plays, or how many points she scored, Whalen’s only priority is winning games, and as the season progresses, she’s grown more and more in her understanding of the best way to do that with the current roster.
7. Efficient Fowles
The hallmark of a good post player is being able to shoot a high percentage from the field. Fowles is a great post player. She’s not only scored 20-plus points in five of her last seven games, she hasn’t shot under 50 percent from the field since June 3! There’s a reason Fowles won league MVP last year. She does a lot with a little. Need a bucket? Dump it inside to Fowles and let her go to work. She’s saved countless Minnesota possessions with her ability to score one-on-one, and her rebounding gives the Lynx an unstoppable final line of defense on defense. Speaking of rebounding, her 12.3 rebounds per game on the season is a career high. Despite being the focus of the defense almost every night, Fowles has been almost impossible to stop. She’s an all-time great center, and should be in MVP consideration again this year.
8. Bench play
The Lynx’s bench is funny. They don’t produce a lot of stats, but somehow things still feel like they’re going well when they’re in the game. You know those players you watch sometimes where every time they touch the ball you cringe and hope they get rid of it as soon as possible? The Lynx really don’t have anyone like that on the roster. The youngsters, Cecilia Zandalasini, Alexis Jones and Temi Fagbenle, have been making the most of their time of the court, and Danielle Robinson and Tanisha Wright have been exactly the kind of steadying presence that Cheryl Reeve was expecting when she brought them in during the offseason. Robinson, in particular, has grown by leaps and bounds during her time with the team. She still doesn’t score a ton, but that’s not what the Lynx need. Robinson gets the Lynx into their offense masterfully and has cut back on some of the sloppy turnovers we saw from her early in the season. She’s another player who doesn’t always put up numbers, but her ability to lead the team for 20-plus minutes per game is huge for Minnesota.
9. Winning Attitude
It’s great to see the Lynx’s effort showing up in the stat sheet more and more, and obviously, it’s huge that they’re winning games now. Though I would never have said it out loud, things got a little scary there at the beginning! Coach Reeve was very adamant throughout the team’s early-season struggles that a lot of what ailed the Lynx was in their heads. They weren’t playing with the same attitude that they had in past years. That’s changed. Maybe that attitude never went away in the Lynx’s heads, but on the court early in the season, they seemed all too willing to be pushed around. Now they’re pushing back.
10. Flexible Reeve
More so than in many other past years, coach Reeve has had to get creative with her lineups. This is partially due to the talent increase in the WNBA and partially due to the fact that many of the Lynx players simply can’t play as many minutes night in and night out as they used to. Four of the five Minnesota starters are over the age of 30, and though there’s been a lot of lighthearted humor made out of the fact that the Lynx aren’t the youngest team (I see you Kelsey Plum), the practical side of the Lynx being a veteran team is that they need greater contributions from players deeper down the depth chart than they have in the past. The onus then is on Reeve to figure out exactly what areas of Minnesota’s game need to be supplemented on any given night—something that changes with each opponent. Sometimes it’s Zandalasini, sometimes it’s Jones, sometimes it’s Lynetta Kizer. Reeve has gotten better and better at figuring out how to use her Swiss army knife of a bench to get dubs. It looks different every night but that doesn’t mean it’s inconsistent. The constant is winning games.
Highlight Reel:
It’s a double award this week to Moore and Fowles for pretty much every single play of theirs against the Storm. The star duo was darn near unstoppable, scoring from every area of the floor and putting the team on their back on route to 60 combined points. That’s firepower.
Theme of the Week:
Identity. This week the Lynx reminded the rest of the WNBA, and maybe themselves, who they really are. A cornerstone of Minnesota’s identity is being difficult to play against. I think it’s fair to say they’ve found that in a big way lately—although maybe you should ask their opponents. We can say it over and over but it’s still fun to hear… The Lynx are back!!
Quote Corner:
“There is none. What we told our players is that we have a game plan, but it’s only going to last three minutes because she’s so smart that she (Taurasi) is going to go ‘Aha! This is what they’re doing’ and then she’s going to beat you at it. You’ve got to kind of move your game plan around to try to keep her guessing which one we’re in. She’s so smart, I don’t know that we had a game plan to stop her, obviously, she had 23. I hope that it was a hard 23.”—Reeve on game-planning for Diana Taurasi.
“We just didn’t get off to a good start. Every journey is different. We’re mindful of not comparing ourselves to years past but we probably can’t escape that because people are used to years of May and June being months where the Lynx are ready to go. But, for a variety of reasons, we were not. We recognized it and we talked about it. I think we corrected a number of those things. Now we’ve won five of six games and four in a row. We had a week off that really helped us.” –Reeve on the slow start to the Lynx’s season, and their effort to rebound.
“We’re still growing and building. I think everybody has taken the first third of the season in and off to the races. Some teams have been better than what people expected them to be and some not as some people expect. I think as far as our expectations, we are on the right path.” –Moore on the first third of the season.
“I think [Bill] Laimbeer is doing a great job. He’s going young and that’s what you really expect when you’re trying to build a team around good athletes like he has here with Wilson. With Jefferson hopefully returning soon, it gives them a lot of depth with her and McBride being together. They got off to a slow start but that’s a normal bug with teams just to get that groove back. They seem like they’re in sync and they trust his system.” –Fowles on the potential of the Las Vegas Aces.
“To that level, in the same game, I don’t know that it’s ever happened, in their time together. To that level, I mean I’m talking 28 and 17 for Syl. Thirty-two, and seven rebounds from Maya. I told Maya the reason she was able to do what she did tonight was because of what Syl was doing. She was getting so much attention down there, and then Syl finished better. I don’t know that it has ever happened to that level. The two of them getting each 20 has happened, but not someone getting 30 and someone body almost getting 30.” –Reeve on the stellar play of both Moore and Fowles against the Storm.
What’s Next:
The Lynx host the Dream on Friday before flying to Dallas to face the Wings on July 1. Minnesota has beaten Dallas twice already this season but lost their only matchup with the Dream. Next Tuesday, Indiana is in town. There’s no such thing as an easy out, but it’s not unreasonable to expect the Lynx to play well in all of these matchups. This is the type of week Minnesota needs to ace in order to get back into pole position in the WNBA.