After missing the playoffs for the first time in over a decade last season, the Minnesota Lynx started this WNBA season 0-6 and appeared destined for another trip to the lottery, if not an extensive rebuild. Fast forward two months, and they’re back to .500 at 13-13 and closer to a top-four seed than missing out on the playoffs.
Their remarkable in-season turnaround continued on Sunday afternoon with a thrilling 87-83 victory over the Connecticut Sun. They’ve now won three games in a row, and four of their last five, with the last two coming against the New York Liberty and Sun despite the absence of All-Star forward Napheesa Collier, who is sidelined with an ankle injury.
“We’re understanding what it takes a little bit more as the season wears on, and was really happy for them,” head coach Cheryl Reeve said. “The way that we came out, the way we’re getting stops, getting rebounds, that sort of thing. Really happy for them to feel it. It’s one thing to talk about it and hope that they do it. It’s another when they do it and feel the success, and I feel really happy for them.”
All four victories during this hot streak have come by five points or fewer, which is fitting because their impressive performances in close games have defined their change in direction. For the season they are now 8-3 in five-point games. Not only have they played the most such games, they have the best winning percentage in them of any team. Here’s how that mark compares to the rest of the league:
Team records in five-point games
Lynx
8-3
Liberty
5-2
Aces
2-1
Wings
5-3
Sun
3-2
Sky
3-3
Dream
2-2
Mystics
2-4
Sparks
2-4
Mercury
1-2
Fever
3-7
Storm
1-4
When you watch them execute down the stretch and look at their “clutch” numbers, it’s no surprise that they’ve had such success in close games. Since their winless start, they’ve played in 12 games with “clutch” situations, defined as the score being within five point points with less than five minutes remaining. They are 10-2 in those contests with a staggering plus-24.5 net rating in those minutes.
While their offense has been fine in late-game situations, it’s their defense that has carried them. Opponents are shooting 31.1% from the field and 17.6% from 3-point land in “clutch” situations against the Lynx over those 12 games, and have turned the ball over on 18% of their possessions.
Minnesota’s stout defense with the game on the line was on full display against the Sun. Clinging to a two-point lead with time winding down, the Lynx needed one stop to win the game. The Sun, as expected, put the ball in DeWanna Bonner’s hands, and asked her to make a play. She was unable to do so, however, as rookie center Dorka Juhasz stayed in front of her, then lunged for a perfectly timed block to seal the game.
The Lynx are not a perfect team, but since their 0-6 start only the Las Vegas Aces, Liberty and Sun have a better winning percentage, and no one has been better under pressure.
“I’m not easy to be around,” Reeve said. “When we have poor shootarounds or we have practices where I’m going ‘that’s not it,’ I’m really on them. What I appreciate about them is that they respond. I think that comes from the level-headed emotional maturity of most of the players and the belief in what they’re doing.
“And I think it’s contagious when you have success. You don’t have to keep saying it. They know, they know why we’re having success.”
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