Lynx Can’t Get Offense Going, Lose To Dream On The Road

The Lynx had their three-game winning streak snapped on Friday night, losing to the Atlanta Dream 60-53.

It’s hard to pick out one specific thing that doomed the Lynx but it’s fair to say that Friday simply wasn’t their night. Whether it was the end of the long road trip, a Dream team starting to play like their season is on the line or a simply bad luck, the Lynx had their worst offensive outing of the season and just couldn’t conjure enough late-game magic to steal the contest.

Coming out of halftime it seemed like things were starting to turn around after a rocky first-quarter defensive performance put the Lynx in a hole they struggled to dig out of. Danielle Robinson hit a few buckets, the defense locked up and the Lynx started getting out in transition. Then the Dream answered with a defensive shutdown of their own and while the contest remained tight until late in the fourth quarter, Minnesota never managed to hold a lead.

The most any team scored in a quarter in the second half of this game was the Dream with 13 in the fourth quarter. The issue on Friday was not the defense. The Lynx actually outshot the Dream 35.4 percent to 33.8 percent. However, the fact that the Dream have the lowest field-goal percentage in the league might have actually worked in their favor on Friday—they’re used to playing in grid-it-out defensive battles (at least when they’re winning). The Lynx on the other hand have seen their offense flourish in the last few weeks and it was clear that not seeing their shots falling was getting to them a bit.

Robinson led the team with 14 points and Sylvia Fowles had 12 points with 12 rebounds (tying her for most double-doubles in WNBA history with Lisa Leslie), but nobody else on the team reached double figures. There were moments of solid play—Steph Talbot had a few, Napheesa Collier had a few—but the overall impression was that of a team that was excited to get home after what has been a tiring road trip.

The best approach to this one might simply be to move on. Shots were coming up short and open looks were rimming off. The Lynx just didn’t look like themselves tonight. Nothing a little home cooking can’t fix—they play the Mercury at Target Center on Sunday.