The Game

Lindsay Whalen may have announced her retirement on Monday, but the Lynx still have a season to finish.

Though the celebration of Whalen’s legacy was touching, all that must now be put aside as the Lynx fight for seeding in a playoff race that is shaping up to be a photo finish.

The last time the Lynx played at Target Center, they were beaten by the No. 1 seed Seattle Storm. Now, against a slightly easier opponent in the Chicago Sky, they’ll need to get back in the win column.

What: Sky at Lynx
When: Tuesday, August 14, 7 p.m. CT
Where: Target Center
Watch: NBATV, Fox Sports Go
Listen: Bob 106.1 FM

“At Some Point, You Have To Score”

The Lynx continue to have put out one of the best defenses in the league, but they’ve been struggling to produce much offense in the last few games.

Coach Cheryl Reeve said after Sunday’s loss to the Storm that the Lynx’s defense gave them a chance to win, but at some point, you’ve got to put the ball in the hoop.

In the two games since the break that the Lynx have scored more than 80 points, Maya Moore has scored over 30 of them. It’s unrealistic to expect Moore to have that kind of production every night, so other contributors will need to emerge.

The loss of Danielle Robinson certainly hurts—she was constantly improving in her ability to run the Lynx’s offense before she went down with an ankle injury. The Lynx will be leaning hard on their stars to keep them afloat and the outcome of their season might depend on Moore and Sylvia Fowles’ ability to dominate every night.

Who Is The Sky’s Third Scorer?

It’s fairly obvious that the Sky’s primary option on offense is Allie Quigley. Their starting shooting guard averages 16.0 points per game. Diamond DeShields has established herself as the second option, but behind her, things get a little more difficult to figure out.

Courtney Vandersloot is a great point guard, but she’s more of a distributor than a scorer. Not to sell Vandersloot short, she averages 8.6 assists per game, but those passes have to go somewhere.

The re-emergence of Stefanie Dolson might be the key missing piece for Chicago. Her scoring output has dropped this year—she’s averaging just 10 points per game after averaging almost 15 last year. However, she dropped 20 points on the Sun in the Sky’s last game. The Lynx can’t afford to forget about her.

Projected Starting Lineups

Lynx: PG – Wright, SG – Augustus, SF – Zandalasini, PF – Moore, C – Fowles

Sky: PG – Vandersloot, SG – Quigley, SF – Williams, PF – DeShields, C – Dolson

Injury Report

Lynx: Rebekkah Brunson (concussion), and Danielle Robinson (ankle) are out.

Sky: Jamierra Faulkner (knee) is out for the season.