The Minnesota Lynx locked down the WNBA postseason's No. 1 seed on Tuesday night, but Napheesa Collier wasn't in a celebratory mood. Minnesota clinched the top spot despite losing 96-77 to the Indiana Fever, the franchise's worst defeat since 2024. Head coach Cheryl Reeve sat her starters for the entire second half after they went into the break down 23 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
The Lynx later secured the No. 1 seed after the Golden State Valkyries lost to the Portland Fire in overtime. Collier still wasn't happy about her team's performance. "It's embarrassing," Collier said after the loss, per ESPN's Kareem Copeland.
"We should be disappointed and embarrassed about the product that we put on the floor tonight. Not proud of what we did." Collier scored nine of 24 combined points from Minnesota's starters on Tuesday. The Lynx reserves went on a 30-14 run in the third quarter, but the Fever outscored them by 12 in the fourth quarter.
The five-time All-Star addressed her teammates after the loss and credited the bench for giving Minnesota some life. "I said something," Collier said. "We know that what we did was unacceptable.
I emphasized how proud I was of the group that came in and got us back to the game. "I'm very proud of what they did, but we let them down tonight. So we apologize for that, and we just talked about like these things cannot happen.
We had just met about the things we want to get done in the postseason, and we didn't do any of those things." Tuesday marked Minnesota's fourth loss in five games after previously winning 16 of their last 17. The Lynx have gotten outscored by 41 during that stretch, and the No. 1 seed may not feel like a monumental feat for a club that's better on the road (18-4) than at home (14-7) this season. Minnesota will look to get back on track before the playoffs when ending the regular season with a rematch against the Fever this Thursday night.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
