Folks, if you didn't catch the Lynx game against the Washington Mystics, you missed quite the contest. The Lynx's rookie point guard and top pick Renee Montgomery came off the bench to dominate the 4th quarter and overtime with a career-high 21 points on 6-12 shooting and 11 trips to the line in just over 22 minutes. In the last two periods, she was absolutely unstoppable with the ball in her hands, scoring 9 straight points late in the 4th and converting on two big and-ones (including a Foye-esque kamikaze drive down the right side of the lane) when her team needed the points the most. Granted, she only racked up 2 assists but when you have a player going as good as she was, that's splitting hairs.
The second game ball goes to the increasingly dominant Nicky Anosike, who also racked up a career-high 24 points with 4 assists and 3 steals. Nicky is now 2nd in the league in steals...at the 4/5. Anosike does a bit of everything. From winning jump balls to bringing the ball up the court in a pinch to fouling out on a 3 point attempt when the Lynx were up by 3 with 8.6 seconds remaining...well, the last one wasn't anything to write home about.
The end of the game was one of those look-away-from-the-car-crash moments where the Lynx did just about everything in their power to hand the game back to the Mystics. On two straight possessions they fouled a Mystic player on a three point attempt while up by three. They missed a few key defensive rebounds and they even had a 5 second violation that gave the Mystics a chance to win the game in regulation. However, at the end of the day, the play of Montgomery and Anosike overcame an off-night from Candice Wiggins and the Lynx walked away with a victory when former Lynx player Lindsey Harding missed the 3rd free throw after being fouled beyond the arc.
In terms of pure basketball entertainment, this was about as good of a game you will see at the Target Center all year long. Anosike is a fantastic player to watch and here's hoping Montgomery can build on her career (thus far) night. The Lynx's next game is this Friday at the Target Center against San Antonio.
Until later.