Mitchell Hansen
Web Editorial Associate
Twitter
The Minnesota Lynx begin their three-game road trip Friday night against the San Antonio Stars at AT&T Center in San Antonio.
The game, which was originally scheduled for 7 p.m., has been moved up to a 6 p.m. start time due to the anticipated weather conditions in the San Antonio area.
“You just have to stay professional. This is our job, not everything is going to be easy, so we just have to stay the course and stay focused,” Jia Perkins said after shootaround on Friday. “Right now, we have all of that in the back of our head, we have a game to play at six and we have to come out here at get this win.”
Minnesota comes in at 23-6 overall and will clinch homecourt advantage in the semifinal round of the WNBA Playoffs with a win against the Stars.
Two members of the Lynx will face off against their former team in the game. Perkins played in San Antonio from 2011-15, while assistant coach James Wade was an assistant with the Stars from 2013-16.
“There are a lot of changes for them and then of course the whole rebuilding process,” Perkins said. “They have a good young team and I think a good future to look forward to.”
The Lynx, who have been down two of their starters in Lindsay Whalen (left hand) and Rebekkah Brunson (left ankle) as of late, have seen their bench step up recently. That was highlighted by a 45-point outburst in Tuesday’s win over Phoenix, led by Perkins’ 18 points.
“Everybody just has to step up and do more. We are down two of our starters,” Perkins said. “Our key bench players need to come up play a different role. We just have to come in and look to pick up the slack and come in and bring energy and try to get some points off the bench.”
Minnesota and San Antonio will battle at 6 p.m. Friday in San Antonio. The game will be live streamed on Twitter and aired on 106.1 BOB FM and TuneIn Radio.