Napheesa Collier’s stellar play has led the Minnesota Lynx to the top of the WNBA
AP Basketball Writer
Napheesa Collier and the Minnesota Lynx have been nearly unbeatable since the Olympic break.
The Lynx star, who helped the United States win its eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal, has been averaging 20.7 points, 9.2 rebounds and 3.1 assists and the team has won 12 of 13 since the Paris Games to surge into second place in the standings.
She’s also been an anchor on the defensive end as the Lynx have only given up an average of 78 points in those games. In the last four contests, including a huge win over the New York Liberty on Sunday, Minnesota hasn’t allowed a team to reach 80 points.
“Each year she knows that if she plays like an MVP that our team has a chance to be highly successful,” Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said. “That’s what we’ve seen this year. Both sides, her impact defensively each night there are different ways you can use her. She’s defensive player of the year and MVP, that’s why were are sitting where we are.”
In any other year where A’ja Wilson wasn’t putting up historic numbers, Collier would be a front runner for the league’s top award. Unfortunately for the Lynx star, Wilson has been truly amazing, becoming the first player in WNBA history to score more than 1,000 points in a season and averaging 27.0 points — the highest in league history.
That doesn’t take away from what Collier and the Lynx have done. Coming into the season, Minnesota wasn’t talked about much as one of the elite teams in the league like Las Vegas, New York or Seattle. The Lynx have broken through, winning the Commissioner’s Cup earlier in the year and now finishing as one of the top three teams in the regular season.
“We have a strong, strong feel for who we are and if I could describe our team, I would say everyone is comfortable in their own skin and we all accept each other for who we are and that just gives us all confidence,” Reeve said.
AP WNBA poll
Minnesota took over the top spot in the AP WNBA poll from New York, marking the first time this season the Lynx have been No. 1 and ending the Liberty’s 10-week run. They fell to No. 2. Las Vegas moved up to third with Connecticut and Indiana next. Seattle, Phoenix and Chicago followed the Fever. Washington and Atlanta were eighth and ninth while Dallas and Los Angeles rounded out the poll.
Caitlin corner
Caitlin Clark continued her assault on the WNBA record books. She broke the rookie single-season scoring record, taking down Seimone Augustus’ mark of 744 points set in 2006. The Indiana Fever rookie had a season-best 35 points in the win over Dallas to do it. Two days earlier, Clark broke the WNBA mark for assists in a single season, passing Alyssa Thomas’ record set last year when she had 316. Clark now has 329 with one game to play in Washington on Thursday.
Rookie impact
Sparks rookie Rickea Jackson had another solid week, averaging 20 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists as Los Angeles lost all three of its games. On the season, the former Tennessee star is averaging 13.4 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists.
Player of the week
Wilson had another impressive set of games to earn AP Player of the Week honors as the Aces star averaged 23.7 points, 12.7 rebounds and 2.3 blocks to help Las Vegas go 3-0 and stay in the hunt for the No. 3 seed. Indiana’s Kelsey Mitchell also received votes.
Game of the week
The WNBA playoffs begin Sunday with all four opening round series playing their Game 1s.
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