Mitchell Hansen
Web Editorial Associate
Twitter
The Minnesota Lynx held one final practice on Thursday morning before hitting the road for a two-game road trip this weekend.
The Lynx will kick of the road trip on Friday night in the nation’s capital when they take on the Washington Mystics at 6 p.m. at Verizon Center.
“In the Washington game, it’s the same thing that we had when we were going to Seattle (last Saturday), Seattle was the second-best team in the league and we were the first. It’s built as a big matchup and it’s no different now because I think Washington is in second,” Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve said after practice Thursday.
Minnesota comes into the game as the top team in the WNBA, holding a perfect record of 7-0. Washington enters as the second-best team in the league at 6-2 overall.
“I think the big challenge for us in playing Washington is that they are just terrific in three really, really hard areas,” Reeve said. “The three ball, they take five more threes than anybody. . . The thing that Washington will do well is attack us at the rim, which opens up their three ball. The third part is if you guard those things and they miss, their going to get an offensive board, which allows them to get to the foul line. What they are really, really good at is a challenge for our defense and any defense. That’s what our mind is on heading to Washington.”
The second and final game of the road trip falls on Sunday afternoon in Dallas. The Lynx and Wings will square off at 3:30 p.m. at College Park Center in Arlington.
“Winning on the road, your defense and your rebounding have to be in tip-top shape and you have to take care of the ball,” Reeve said. “Those are things we have kind of locked in on.”
The two games away from Xcel Energy Center will mark the sixth time in nine games so far this season that Minnesota has played away from its home court in St. Paul. And although the Lynx also enjoy being home in front of their fans, they’ve gotten off to a nice start on the road in 2017.
“We like being on the road, this is a team that has always done well on the road,” Reeve said. “I, in particular, like being on the road. . . This teams energy on the road has been really, really exceptional. I haven’t had to kind of get them to muster up. Energy to play, energy and passion, they’ve been bringing it. They’ve had a lot of fun. . . What they treasure is the camaraderie and the relationships, and a lot of that happens on the road.”
The Lynx and Mystics will battle at 6 p.m. Friday night in Washington D.C. The game will be aired on WNBA League Pass and 106.1 BOB FM.