Leading by nine at halftime, the first four minutes of the second half on Thursday gave the Minnesota Lynx even more room to breathe.
The team’s offensive efficiency started with their defense, a hallmark that has been a challenge this month for the top squad in the WNBA.
Minnesota netted 14 of the first 18 points in the third quarter and cruised to a 104-72 victory in Toronto. The Lynx outscored the Tempo 54-31 in the final half.
With nine consecutive wins, Minnesota (23-6) has scored over 100 points in five of their last seven games and nine times overall. However, this game highlighted how effective their defense can be when it’s fully engaged.
“Tonight was a perfect example of what we’re capable of and we just need to make sure we’re maintaining that and continue to be on the rise,” said Napheesa Collier, who contributed 16 points, matched by Courtney Williams and Olivia Miles. Inside presence Natasha Howard added nine points and grabbed eight rebounds.
Minnesota’s defensive rating over 11 games in July is at 109.9, ranking them 10th in the league during this period, while they allowed an average of 89.5 points during their first eight games of this winning streak. Toronto (10-18) wouldn’t come close to that point total.
The Tempo turned over the ball two dozen times (the most by any Lynx opponent in 2026), resulting in 31 points for Minnesota. Additionally, they tied their season high with 14 steals.
After critiquing her guards’ defensive efforts a few games ago, coach Cheryl Reeve praised Williams’s performance on Thursday.
“(Kayla) Mc Bride is going to be the one that’s flying around, guarding team’s best players, deflecting, giving everything she has,” said Reeve. “I thought it was important tonight that we had others that would carry their load and it doesn’t all fall to her. I thought Courtney had some really terrific moments defensively. I know that she’s super proud of and I want to make sure that we shouted her out because I know that was a focus for her.”
“Her hands are really quick the way she’s able to stay in front of people,” Collier added. “When Courtney’s clicking it gives us a lot of energy too.”
Minnesota dominated rebounding with a margin of 36-26 overall, including an impressive offensive rebound count of 14-6. Howard achieved five offensive rebounds for the sixth time this season; her season high is seven.
“I appreciate their commitment there,” Reeve stated. “And I even thought defensive rebounding; we were pretty darn good. Phee got some hard ones under some physicality, Dorka (Juhasz) using her body well. We just know we have to be a good rebounding team to be successful.”
The Lynx shot 40 out of 83 attempts (48.2%) from the field and improved significantly with a shooting percentage of 55.7% (34 for 61) during the last three quarters.
Starting off up by 50-41 at halftime, Collier made a cutting layup followed by a steal soon after. Howard then secured an offensive rebound leading into another layup.
A steal by Howard led Mc Bride to hit one of her three-pointers making it jump to 57-41 on the scoreboard before adding another steal following Toronto’s timeout; however, Minnesota failed to capitalize on it immediately afterward. Later on, Howard grabbed two offensive rebounds along with one from Collier before Howard’s putback extended their lead to sixteen points. A steal and three-pointer from Mc Bride pushed things further ahead at 64-45 as they continued dominating play.
Source link
Source link
