As the regular season winds down, Tuesday’s meeting between the visiting Minnesota Lynx and Atlanta Dream in College Park, Ga., features teams in vastly different situations.
Minnesota (26-9) has already clinched a playoff berth, the club’s second straight and 13th in the last 14 seasons. The only gray area for the Lynx is what seed they will hold.
Currently in the No. 2 spot in the eight-team playoff with five games remaining, Minnesota sits three games behind the New York Liberty and one game ahead of the third-place Connecticut Sun entering play Tuesday.
The Lynx have won three in a row and 10 of 11, a spurt that began with a July 17 win over Atlanta.
Minnesota earned a 78-71 road victory over the Washington Mystics on Sunday. Napheesa Collier’s 19-point, 12-rebound effort propelled the Lynx to a four-game season sweep against Washington.
“You can’t take any game off. The competition is too stiff,” Collier said. “We have to come in with our A-game every day.”
Minnesota shot just 40.9 percent from the field but held Washington to 32 second-half points and forced 16 turnovers.
“We know that our defense is going to help us win games when we don’t have it offensively,” said Natisha Hiedeman, who scored 10 points off the bench. “Really cranking up the defense in the second half is what allowed us to win this game.”
Collier leads the team with 20.6 points per game and 9.8 rebounds, while Kayla McBride adds 15.3 points per game.
For Atlanta (12-23), every game is vital, as just one playoff spot remains. The Dream enter Tuesday one game behind the Chicago Sky for the final spot.
Following Friday’s 16-point comeback win against the Dallas Wings in overtime, Atlanta followed with another overtime game, falling to the Indiana Fever 104-100 on Sunday.
The loss spoiled Rhyne Howard’s 36-point showing as she became the third player in WNBA history to tally at least 30 points and four 3-pointers in three consecutive games.
“Rhyne is playing with a ton of confidence,” Atlanta head coach Tanisha Wright said. “I think she’s doing a great job of making the right reads whenever the defense changes things up on her. … She’s just doing what great players do. Making plays at times when you need it the most.”
Howard’s 18.1 points per game lead Atlanta, while Allisha Gray chips in 15.7. Tina Charles contributes 15.0 points and a team-leading 9.4 rebounds per game.
–Field Level Media