Don’t count out the Minnesota Lynx. Thought to be among the bottom feeders in the WNBA this season, the Lynx have been a roller coaster of a team but after starting 0-6 they find themselves with a 13-13 record after three straight wins, including two against a pair of the best teams in the league.
Minnesota beat the Washington Mystics at home last Wednesday and followed up with road victories Friday and Sunday against the New York Liberty and Connecticut Sun, respectively. The Liberty (19-6) own the second best record in the WNBA and the Sun (18-7) are right behind them in third place.
The Lynx now find themselves in sixth place overall and just 1.5 games behind the Atlanta Dream (14-11) and the Dallas Wings (14-11) for fourth and fifth in the WNBA.
Nobody would’ve predicted Minnesota’s current situation, especially not after leading scorer, All-Star Napheesa Collier, suffered a sprained ankle in the win over Washington last Wednesday. Collier, who was expected to miss 7-10 days, could be back in the lineup later this week.
Minnesota has prove-it games Tuesday and Friday in rematches with Connecticut and New York. Those will be tough but if they go in Minnesota’s favor they could really begin to charge because the next four games are against Chicago (10-15), Indiana (6-19) and two against Seattle (6-19).
In fact, things are looking really promising because the Lynx have just six more games against teams with winning records: two against Dallas, two against New York and one each versus Connecticut and Atlanta.
What at first looked like a sprint to one of the top picks in the WNBA Draft is now a battle, realistically, for the fourth overall seed in the playoffs. That would be a remarkable turn of events.
Of course, it’s hard to ignore the fact that finishing at the bottom of the league this year comes with the reward of being able to draft one of three potential superstars in Minnesota native Paige Bueckers, Iowa’s Caitlyn Clark and LSU’s Angel Reese.
