Inside the Minnesota Lynx Seven-Game Win Streak
The Lynx are the hottest team in the WNBA heading into the break. How did they get there?
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While we are all enjoying the Olympics, the WNBA will be back before we know it.Β One team to keep a close eye on in the second portion of the season is the Minnesota Lynx.
The team entered the All-Star/Olympic break in fourth place with a 12-7 record including a seven-game win streak. The way they got to that record is very interesting.
May 14-May 28: An Inauspicious Start to the Season
On May 28, the Lynx lost to the Seattle Storm 82-72 putting the team at an 0-4 record to start the 2021 WNBA season. The game was not as close as the score indicated. Seattle led 77-50 after three quarters, rested their starters the rest of the way, and only scored five points in the fourth quarter.Β
This prompted general manager and head coach Cheryl Reeve to say in postgame media, βOne of the more disappointing nights in my tenure defensively. We have lots of work to do.β She was especially concerned about the 56 points in the paint scored by Seattle.
Kayla McBride, in her first season with the Lynx after seven seasons with the San Antonio Stars/Las Vegas Aces, expressed her dismay more bluntly, βI truly, truly believe in this team. Thatβs why I came here, to be a part of the Minnesota Lynx, and I know weβre going to figure this [expletive] out. Nobody wants to [expletive] lose, especially not like that. Weβve got to figure it out.β
With several new players added to the mix, there was talk around connecting and communicating with teammates and finding the teamβs identity.
There were some extenuating circumstances that led to this point. Neither McBride nor Napheesa Collier had the benefit of training camp due to overseas commitments. McBride was available for the first game, but Collier missed the first three losses. Prior to that, the Lynx announced on May 1 that first round draft pick Rennia Davis from Tennessee would be out indefinitely due to a stress fracture in her foot.
May 30- Jun 19: Turning It Around
The opponent for the the fifth game of the season on May 30 was a formidable 6-1 Connecticut Sun team whose only loss at the time came in overtime at Seattle. It was a short turnaround after the Seattle loss, but there was one big addition to the Lynx roster starting with that game: Layshia Clarendon. The New York Liberty waived Clarendon on May 20 after they appeared in only one game for less than three minutes. They officially signed with the Lynx ten days later. Clarendon contributed immediately with 12 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. The Lynx got their first win of the season 79-74 in overtime and held the Sun to their third-lowest offensive rating of the season despite giving up 27 points in the first quarter and trailing 27-15. In addition to Clarendon, Sylvia Fowles had 24 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks.
To start the month of June, the team defeated the Atlanta Dream two times in a row at home in two very different games, 86-84 and 100-80. This was followed by an uneven 2-3 stretch.
June 23-Jul 11: On A Roll
The Lynx won two close games on Jun 23 and Jun 25 to start the seven-game win streak: the first a 87-85 nail biter in Atlanta followed by a 90-89 overtime victory against an Aces team that was 10-3 at the time.Β
Sylvia Fowles was absolutely unstoppable in those two games. Against the Dream, she had 26 points,19 rebounds, 5 blocks and 2 steals. This was a stat line no other person in WNBA history had done. Two days later, Fowles topped that with 30 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals and 4 blocks. This again was a singular stat line that no one in league history had ever posted. Reeve said of Fowles, βShe's the best center in the history of our league.βΒ
It was truly a team effort to defeat the Aces. Napheesa Collier added 23 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks, while Layshia Clarendon tallied 20 points and 7 assists.
The next five wins leading up to the WNBA All-Star break were impressive because they included four away games and a 15.6 point average margin of victory.
The Lynx have accomplished this largely without the services of free-agent signees Aerial Powers and Natalie Achonwa who have combined to play only 12 games so far due to injuries. Others have stepped up, and there are five players averaging double digits for scoring plus two more averaging over eight points per game.
Different players have stepped up during the streak. Some standouts:
Kayla McBride had a brilliant three-game run June 30-July 7, scoring 26, 24 and 25 points andΒ shooting 11-18 (61%) from 3. She has also been a standout on defense, frequently assigned to the opposing teamβs best offensive threat.
Layshia Clarendon scored in double figures in six of the seven games and averaged 6.4 assists per game during the streak.
After reaching double figures in just two of her previous 14 games, Damiris Dantas accomplished that feat in three of the last four games before the break.
After the July 11 game which ended in the teamβs seventh consecutive victory, Reeve addressed the turnaround by saying, βI think we're doing a pretty good job of understanding how to stop teamsβ runs and how to settle back. I don't think you get that without going through hard times. First, we always say sometimes youβve got to fail before you get to the other side and get to the good stuff. And so for us, we knew coming out of the gates we weren't a very good team. We grew into it as a necessity. And there became a sense of urgency about what we were doing, we had to stop the bleeding, we were 0-4, and now we've hit our stride.
One week later on July 18, Reeve spoke about the streak on the The Cheryl Reeve Show podcast: βThe tough start that we got off to, led to a greater sense of urgency to get where we wanted to be. Stars playing like stars, Sylvia and Napheesa, when that happened it certainly helped our team. And we canβt understate the addition of Layshia Clarendon.βΒ
When asked if she was surprised Clarendon was available, Reeve said, βOftentimes fans and media canβt have all the information. Layshiaβs a good basketball player, it just didnβt work out in New York and weβre thankful. We did talk to Lay about becoming our point guard two years ago when they experienced free agency. We thought at that time that Lay had leadership abilities that would be really valuable to our team as we were still finding our way after the Lindsay Whalen era. And so youβre happy when those things work out.β
You may think that the Lynx do not welcome the All-Star and Olympic break in the midst of a seven-game winning streak, but that is not the case. When asked about that, Reeve said, βNot at all. This has taken a lot out of us and we need a break. We expended a lot of energy to get to this place, and if you're a good team now you're gonna be a good team on the other side of the break.β
With that said, many of the Lynx do not get a break as they are in Tokyo for the Olympics. Reeve is an assistant coach, Fowles and Collier are on Team USA and also played in the All Star game, while Achonwa and Bridget Carleton are playing for Team Canada.
An already strong Lynx team with the possibility of Powers and Achonwa returning from injury after the break are great reasons to be optimistic.
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Inside the Minnesota Lynx Seven-Game Win Streak
Great article.