The Guru’s WNBA Report: Minnesota Behind Collier Tops New York Missing Stewart; Indiana Stiil No Clark Rides McDonald’s Night to Down Phoenix; Hillmon’s Three at End Propels Atlanta Over Dallas

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

One night after presenting a triple header involving teams just inside and outside the eight-team playoff mix the WNBA on Wednesday offered another triple header involving the top of the league and it was quite the extravaganza.

Deep into the season the 1-2 standings leaders met for the first time since last October when New York edged Minnesota at the finish in overtime in a decisive Game 5 of the finals in Brooklyn for the Liberty’s first WNBA title in their then 28-seasons dating to the league launch in the summer of 1997.

Before a Target Center crowd of 10,824 in Minneapolis the Lynx (23-5) and MVP frontrunner Napheesa Collier bounced back from Sunday’s first home loss, dealt by Atlanta, to make it 15-1 with a 100-93 victory handing the Liberty (17-9) their third straight loss pushing them five games back and closer to the teams right behind them.

The game was a contrast of a healthy team opposed to one hit with injuries.

Minnesota, led by Collier with 30 points and nine boards and Kayla McBride with with 24, have been rolling after since opening day.

“It's fun to compete at a high level against the second best team in the league,” McBride said. “We didn't need a lot of motivation. We had just lost our last home game. The main thing was protecting our home court before anything.”

New York at the season’s outset was right with the Lynx off to a franchise best 9-0 start and Wednesday’s game drew great anticipation though at the time the match drew queries on how the first reunion was so deep in the schedule.

But then finals MVP Jonquel Jones was lost for a month with an ankle injury, returning to the Liberty last week.

However, now a new absence in multi-MVP Breanna Stewart has cropped up and it’s likely to last until the playoffs approach.

“We want to make sure she’s right,” New York coach Sandy Brondello said of not providing a timeline. “But hopefully, we can get her back sooner than that.”

Stewart, the four-time NCAA finals MOP with UConn on their equal string of titles that now number an extended record 12 overall, left early in Saturday’s loss at the finish to Los Angeles at home in the Barclays Center.

Early reports indicated imaging showed no serious damage, which was reversed Wednesday when it was revealed Stewart has a bone bruise in her right knee.

New York’s next stop is Friday at last-place Connecticut and if recently signed Belgian Emma Meesseman can get her visa situation settled some help can come from the post player who was the first reserve one to be named Finals MVP in 2019 with Washington when the Mystics won their only title.

While New York has to figure how to make do, Indiana is starting to gain traction without reigning rookie of the year Caitlin Clark, who remains sidelined with her second groin injury.

The Fever (15-12) won their third straight as recent signee Aari McDonald, a former Arizona standout, had a career-high 27 points and Aliyah Boston scored 22 with 12 boards for a 107-101 home win over Phoenix (16-10) before a Gainbridge Fieldhouse crowd of 17,274 in Indianapolis.

 Though Indiana remains in sixth place one ahead of Las Vegas, the Fever are 1.5 behind third place Phoenix and one behind Atlanta and Seattle, who are both 16-11.

Atlanta barely kept its tie Wednesday in the other game winning 88-85 at 12th-place Dallas (8-20) on Naz Hillmon’s 3-pointer with 2.6 seconds left before a crowd of 5,228 at College Park Center on the campus of Texas-Arlington.

The Wings, who got 21 points from overall No. 1 pick Paige Bueckers, had just beaten New York at home Monday and were contending for a second straight high-quality victory.

On Thursday the league schedule with just one game returns to the back door of the playoff race as eighth-place Washington (13-13), a game behind idle Las Vegas (14-13), hosts ninth place Golden State (12-13) at 7:30 p.m. on Amazon Prime.

The expansion Valkyries, whose All-Star Kayla Thornton recently suffered a season-ending injury and have sold out all their home games in the 18,000+ seats in the Chase Center in San Francisco, are trying to be the first WNBA team to make the playoffs their first year in operation.

Minnesota Threatens Break Away from Pursuers After Topping New York

Though many expected Wednesday night to be a revenge game for Minnesota after the Lynx disputed a foul call that enabled Stewart to force overtime where the Liberty won the title five minutes later, the team, ahead of the first meeting with three more coming over a shortened span next month, treated the controversy as yesterday’s news.

Besides the play of Collier and McBride, Bridget Carleton made a 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter to put the Lynx up 79-66 and under two minutes later she connected from deep again for an 84-69 lead.

Minnesota made 15 3-pointers.

Though the differential grew to 15 at 92–77, the visitors struck with an 11-0 run over two minutes, moving within four before Collier, who was 11-for-16 from the field and 6-for-9 from the line, put on the brakes inside the last minute with a long shot from outside.

It was her fifth game reaching 30 points and the Lynx have hit 100 four times.

“I thought New York played great,” said Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve. “Maybe the time they spent together post Dallas game (long team meeting) showed itself our game.

“They were a handful. Luckily, we scored a little more than them. If the game went a little longer, that might not have been the case. Fourth quarter, not great. But we found a way to win, it’s a good win, because in this league, it’s not easy to do.

“The last time we saw them, they were in confetti, and we were not.”

Alanna Smith added 12 points while Carleton and Natisha Hiedeman each scored 10 and Courtney Williams dealt a personal best 13 assists with six points and nine boards.

New York’s Sabrina Ionescu also had a big game scoring 31 points, while Isabelle Harrison scored 15 and Marine Johannes scored 14.

‘This is one of those losses, we can live with,” Ionescu said. “We came out, we competed. Everyone played as hard as they could. Just proud we played hard and came back. That’s the standard we have to come out every night. We could have made a million excuses, but we didn’t. I’m proud of each and every player.’’

“We never gave up,” Brondello said. "Although we lost it was a good performance after a terrible game we had.”

Minnesota next visits Las Vegas Saturday at 3 p.m. on ABC and ESPN+.

The two teams meet again next month, Aug. 10 in New York at 12:30 p.m. on ABC; back in Minnesota the following Saturday at 2 p.m. on CBS; and back to Brooklyn on Aug. 19 at 7 p.m. on NBA TV.

Indiana Still Missing Clark Beats Phoenix

The Fever, getting closer to the leaders, are now 7-7 in games Caitlin Clark has not played besides her missing the Commissioner’s Cup, the All-Star 3-point contest and the game itself, the latter two at home, of which she was a team captain.

There’s still no timetable for her return from her third injury following a quad and previous groin injury.

Boston has collected four straight double doubles and scored Indiana’s initial 14 points of the fourth quarter for an 88-79 lead.

In the middle of the period Chloe Bibby connected from deep, the Fever’s 10th 3-pointer of the game for a 91-83 lead. Sophie Cunningham added four more by connecting a three and added a foul shot after being sent to the line on the play.

It was the Fever’s third 100+ game and Cunningham and Damiris Dantas each scored 12 points.

The Mercury, who were recently piling up wins, have since lost four of their last five games.

Alyssa Thomas had 32 points for Phoenix with 15 boards and seven assists, the third straight game she has approached adding to her career mark of 17 triple doubles.

Rutgers grad Kahleah Copper out of Philadelphia scored 22 in her 10th game since returning from an injury. Sami Whitcomb scored 18 for the Mercury and made a deep shot going into the half to trail 55-50.

Fever coach Stephanie White, in her locker room speech afterwards posted by the team on their social media, said, “Just a hell of a job. That was a big win. We stacked a day. We got to continue to stack. OK? We ain't got no room for sliding back, OK? No room for slippage. Every day, there's a sense of urgency. OK?”

Indiana next is at Dallas Friday at 7:30 p.m. on the five-game ION broadcasting card. Phoenix is at Atlanta the same time, and so is the New York-Connecticut game besides the Chicago game hosting Golden State. Los Angeles is at Seattle at 10 p.m.

Atlanta Wins at the Buzzer

Naz Hillmon, who had the game-winner for Atlanta in Dallas, had 12 of her career-high 21 points in the final period.

Allisha Gray added 15 points, Brionna Jones scored 14, and Maya Caldwell added 13 for the Dream to stay tied for fourth.

Dallas’ Bueckers, who has 11 20-point games, had nine of her 21 points in the closing five minutes.

In the last minute, Te-Hina Paopao scored on possessions for a two-point Atlanta lead with 34 seconds left but 13 seconds later it was tied again on a shot by Arike Ogunbowale before Hilmon’s game-winner.

As mentioned previously both teams play Friday night.