Lynx 94, Sun 70: Not pretty, but Minnesota is a future champion

We’ll see what happens in the final five games but Saturday night’s 94-70 rout for Minnesota over Connecticut at Mohegan Sun Arena seemed more about the quality of the Lynx than how poor the Sun played.

Not that they played well by any stretch, but the top defense in the WNBA was stifling for most of the night, refusing to give the Sun any decent looks (except off second chances, something that could haunt Minnesota deep in the playoffs), and running off those misses.


At the other end, everyone on the Lynx shoots, as the Sun found out in last year’s playoffs (of which the only player on the court for Connecticut from that series is Marina Mabrey although DiJonai Carrington is now on the visiting team).


When the Lynx shoots 15-for-28 from beyond the arc and Napheesa Collier is playing, they are a championship team. They might win a title making half as many. The Sun weren’t giving up dozens of layups as they were in the beginning of the season (or at Dallas on Wednesday), but Connecticut just couldn’t force turnovers, despite Leila Lacan occasionally harassing Courtney Williams.


Just seven turnovers and three steals was never going to get it done, and - again - if the Lynx posts those numbers consistently in the playoffs, well, you know.


Things don’t get easier with three meetings against Atlanta coming up, but although I am far from an expert, I think the Lynx are better than the Dream. Obviously the standings back me up and anything can happen in the playoffs (even a seven-game series), but Minnesota is the clear favorite to win the WNBA title and showed the Sun no mercy, as they shouldn’t.    


What else did we learn Saturday as Lindsay Allen got the start for an injured Bria Hartley?:



  1. Minnesota has plenty of depth - We saw how well DiJonai Carrington played for the Sun last season, and I’m not sure what the heck happened with Dallas, but she showed in 17 minutes tonight what she’s capable of, scoring 18 points and adding three steals. It’s a Lynx bench that also includes Jessica Shepard now and Natisha Hiedeman, both of whom would be starters for most of the rest of the teams in the league. Now it’s just a matter of staying healthy. 

  2. Missing players makes it hard - Bria Hartley and Olivia Nelson-Ododa missed the contest, and you would think the Sun could work around that, but it’s a bit of a domino effect with others having to play more minutes and positions they aren’t used to. The Lynx took advantage of every matchup they had, and although Aaliyah Edwards and Allen played admirably, they were no match for Minnesota’s starters. 

  3. Some comeuppance for Leila Lacan - I mentioned in the preview that it will be interesting to see how the Lynx deal with Lacan at the top of their scouting report, and that did not end well for Lacan, who finished with 6 points, 5 turnovers, a -21, and zero steals. While there were times she was able to pressure Williams, they weren’t consistent, and the Lynx kept her from getting to the rim thanks to Williams and some effective switches.


Player of the game:  Migna Toure - I’m not sure they’ll be able to protect her in the expansion draft, but Toure has been effective in her limited minutes with the Sun. Saturday, she scored 8 points and hit both of her three-point attempts. She gives a lot of the same things that Saniya Rivers does, but it is fun to watch her play.


Inside the numbers : 18 - Number of offensive rebounds for the Sun, which checked in at 42.9%, still really high, but the Sun did have a lot of misses. It is one area where the Lynx are very weak and that could be a problem against a team like Atlanta in the playoffs. 


Under the radar: Minnesota’s spacing made it very hard for the Sun to pressure them, when they did, the Lynx just made an extra pass and had an open three-pointer from someone. When all five players can shoot it, it just makes help so much hard to give. Whether they can stay that hot in every game the rest of the way is obviously an open question.


Marina Mabrey had a decent offensive game with 14 points, but the Lynx attacked her on defense repeatedly, which meant the Sun had to help. Without Nelson-Ododa, the Sun got only two blocks and they were from Allen and Lacan.


Quotable: “We weren’t ready to play this kind of team. We struggled running our offense, they put a lot of pressure on us, pushing us out of our spacing. They shot the ball well, we missed some open shots, and we didn’t play with the same energy we’ve had the last couple weeks. But tonight we just lost to a better basketball team.” - Rachid Meziane


Next up: Monday vs. Atlanta, 1 p.m. EDT



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