Lynx close regular season with dominant win
The Minnesota Lynx wrapped up the regular season by defeating the Indiana Fever 86-66 on Thursday night in Minneapolis. Kayla McBride led all scorers with 22 points, connecting on 6 of 10 attempts from 3-point range. Natasha Howard contributed 21 points, and Courtney Williams finished with nine points, seven rebounds and 10 assists. The Lynx were without star point guard Olivia Miles for a second consecutive game due to a left calf injury. The victory came two days after Minnesota suffered a blowout loss to the Fever on the road.[S1]
Fever stumble as Clark struggles
Indiana fell behind 25-4 late in the first quarter and never recovered. Kelsey Mitchell led the Fever with 10 points, while Caitlin Clark scored a season-low two points on 1-for-12 shooting. The Fever, who had beaten the Lynx 96-77 in Indianapolis two days earlier, delivered a lifeless performance that included season lows in both points and field goal percentage. Backup guard Ty Harris left the game in the third quarter with a left ankle injury after landing awkwardly on a drive; she remained on the floor for several minutes before being carried to the locker room.[S1]
Playoff picture takes shape
Minnesota, which had already locked up the No. 1 seed for the second year in a row, finished the regular season with a 33-11 record. The Lynx will open a best-of-three first-round series against New York on Sunday. The Liberty defeated Minnesota in seven games in the 2024 WNBA Finals. Indiana, which ended at 28-16, lost the season-series tiebreaker in a home defeat to Washington four days earlier, and the Mystics moved past the Fever into fifth place by beating Chicago earlier Thursday. Indiana had to wait until the final hour of the regular season to learn whether it would face Golden State or Las Vegas in the first round, pending results on the West Coast.[S1]
