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Coming off of a grind-it-out, low-scoring affair on Thursday, it was Minnesota’s offense which led them to victory on Saturday night, led by Napheesa Collier and Aerial Powers. Phee was fantastic per usual, leading the Lynx in both points (21) and rebounds (9), while Powers poured in 20 points off the bench. In total, the Lynx got 39 points from their bench tonight, which is almost always going to lead to good things for this team.
she's our Queen Phee
— Minnesota Lynx (@minnesotalynx) September 5, 2021
21 pts. / 9 reb. pic.twitter.com/cG47Foa5rw
With her 20 point performance off the bench tonight, @aerial_powers23 becomes the 12th @minnesotalynx reserve player to score 20+ points. She joins @crystald2_ as the the second Lynx player to have such game this season (22 on May 20 vs Seattle).
— Lynx PR (@Lynx_PR) September 5, 2021
Her raw numbers don’t quite jump off the page because she was limited to just 18 minutes, but when Sylvia Fowles was on the floor, she was absolutely dominant. The former MVP was able to rack up 12 & 6 in those 18 minutes, and added another 3 blocks just for good measure.
Athough the Lynx controlled most of the game, the Mystics made a big run in the third quarter to bring the game close again. In typical Lynx fashion, they responded with a 15-0 run of their own in the fourth quarter to shut the door. That’s what great teams do, and it has me excited for this team as the postseason nears.
Another reason to feel good about the Lynx right now? In just the past two games, they’ve shown that they can beat teams in multiple ways, which is the hallmark of a real contender in the postseason. Just two days after a phsyical, ugly, grind-it-out win against the Sparks, the offense got rolling tonight, albeit against a poor Mystics squad. In the fourth quarter on Thursday night, Minnesota allowed just four points, while this evening they poured in 27 points in the fourth to pull away.
Sure, the quality of opponent wasn’t there in either meeting, but again, the ability to play and beat teams in a variety of ways is encouraging. The Lynx are setting themselves up nicely to be a real threat to take make a deep run into the playoffs.
One other quick note — it was nice to see Tina Charles come back from her injury and get back on the court. She was clearly on a pitch count, but it’s always better when we’ve got the best players out on the floor.