Sylvia Fowles Leads The Way As Lynx Snap Skid

Sun, Jun 23, 2019, 3:01 AM

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The Lynx are back in the win column!

It wasn’t always pretty, but then again what has been this season. The most important thing is a win and the Lynx got one on Saturday night, beating the Liberty 92-83 off of a third-quarter offensive outburst and some clutch free-throw shooting down the stretch. 

While Tina Charles and Kia Nurse got going way more than head coach Cheryl Reeve would have liked, the Lynx’s best players matched them punch for punch, first among them Sylvia Fowles, who dominated in arguably her best game of the season. She scored 19 with 10 boards, but it was her defense that really changed the game. Fowles stole the ball four times and blocked three shots including a rejection of a Tanisha Wright layup attempt with 1:19 left in the game that probably sealed the deal for Minnesota.

Fowles set the tone on Saturday, but Napheesa Collier and Odyssey Sims refused to be outdone. Both put together extremely productive and, importantly, efficient games. Sims had 20 (60-percent shooting) and Collier had 19 (70-percent shooting). Collier also just narrowly missed out on what would have been her first career double-double with nine rebounds and tacked on four steals.

When the Lynx are as efficient as they were on offense on Saturday, they’ll be hard to stop. They shot 51.6 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from three. While Lexie Brown was off and Sims didn’t see a three fall, Collier (3-for-3) and Karima Christmas-Kelly (2-for-3) picked up the slack from deep.

All that being said, the Lynx’s biggest enemy on the offensive end is still themselves—they turned the ball over 19 times. Importantly, they were able to force 17 turnovers and had 30 deflections with their defense which helped make up for their own occasional carelessness and got them the win despite New York shooting a relatively high percentage (46.6) from the field. The Lynx defense was good on Saturday even with the high shooting percentage. Minnesota forced very tough shots—at some point you have to give New York credit.

We got a glimpse into Reeve’s ideal version of Minnesota’s offense in the third quarter when the Lynx were absolutely cooking. They scored 28 points in the period behind a dominant inside-out game between Fowles and Sims and Collier’s intelligent cutting paired with her excellent floor spacing. Additionally, while Danielle Robinson’s totals don’t jump off the page, she was very good pushing the pace in transition. She finished with 10 points and four assists and was a team-high plus 15. She also picked up career assist No. 1,000.

Christmas In June

Karima Christmas-Kelly had her best game in a Lynx uniform on Saturday night, scoring 12 points and showing off both her outside game and her ability to get into the lane. As she works herself back into playing shape coming off a knee surgery about a year ago, she’s starting to be able to do more of what the Lynx expect her to eventually get back to doing all the time.

While her outside shooting is a valuable asset especially on this team, Christmas-Kelly’s ability to get into the lane and use her strength to force the issue at the rim is probably her go-to skill. She’s also a tenacious defender who can guard four positions in the WNBA.

It’s going to take a little time until Christmas-Kelly gets back to where she was before her surgery, but the progress is very encouraging. Getting a glimpse was awesome.

Quick Hits:

  • Damiris Dantas shot the ball horribly but hit a few late free-throws and this absolutely ridiculous shot. Sometimes it’s just one of those nights. 

  • Lexie Brown struggled. Her shot wasn’t falling and that shook her confidence on the defensive end. She’ll be back.

Up Next

The Lynx travel to face the Fever on Tuesday in a 6 p.m. start.

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