Napheesa Collier scored a season-high 38 points as the Minnesota Lynx held off a comeback bid from the Phoenix Mercury to win Game 1 of their first-round playoff series 102-95 on Sunday in Minneapolis.
Collier shot 11-of-19 from the floor and 13-of-14 from the free-throw line while adding six rebounds and four assists for Minnesota, which took a one-game lead over the Mercury in the best-of-three series. Kayla McBride scored 20 points for the Lynx, Bridget Carleton added 12 and Myisha Hines-Allen scored 10.
Natasha Cloud led Phoenix with 33 points and 10 assists, while Diana Taurasi scored 21 points. Kahleah Copper chipped in 16 points and Brittney Griner had 10 points.
The Lynx jumped out to a 26-10 lead towards the end of the first quarter after breaking off a 19-4 run that was capped off by a 3-pointer from Carleton. Minnesota then pushed that lead to 23 points in the second quarter with a 10-2 run, powered by four points and an assist from Hines-Allen.
But by the end of the third quarter, Phoenix had clawed its way back and trimmed Minnesota’s lead to 77-69 after Taurasi and Cloud swished back-to-back 3-pointers from 24 feet out. Taurasi made three of Phoenix’s seven 3-pointers in that quarter.
A 12-5 run to open the final frame for the Mercury cut the Lynx’s advantage to one point after Cloud sank a 13-foot jumper off an assist from Taurasi.
Phoenix even took two brief, one-point advantages — its first leads since the opening quarter — with the second coming with 2:06 to play after Cloud connected on a layup.
Hines-Allen then responded with a layup of her own, Collier made a pair of free throws, Carleton drained a 3-pointer and McBride made two free throws to push Minnesota’s lead back to eight points with 22 seconds left.
Key for Minnesota was its efficiency from the free-throw line, where it made 24 of 25 shots. The Lynx also shared the ball well, tallying 30 assists on 34 made baskets.
–Field Level Media