The Minnesota Lynx are the one WNBA workforce to have clinched a playoff berth, and they’re in a powerful place to assert the No. 1 seed.
The injury-plagued Indiana Fever are attempting to stabilize their playoff prospects as they put together to host the Lynx on Friday at Indianapolis within the first sport of a home-and-home set over three days.
The Fever (19-16) can be enjoying their first sport since dropping guard Sophie Cunningham, their most correct 3-point shooter, to a season-ending knee harm. All-Star guard Caitlin Clark is anticipated to overlook her 14th consecutive sport due to a groin harm, and he or she reportedly just lately sustained a bone bruise in her left ankle.
Indiana additionally misplaced two extra guards (Aari McDonald and Sydney Colson) to season-ending accidents this month. The Fever shook off the Cunningham loss and rallied from a 21-point deficit to defeat the host Connecticut Solar 99-93 in time beyond regulation on Sunday.
“This group is selfless,” Indiana coach Stephanie White mentioned. “They’re robust. They do not care who will get the credit score. They do not care whose day it’s. They’ve simply received one thing inside them that you would be able to’t educate and so they convey it out of one another. It permits us to undergo these extremely robust occasions that we’re going by way of and at all times offers us an opportunity.”
White mentioned the 4 days between video games got here at a very good time.
“We would have liked the remaining. We would have liked the restoration,” she mentioned. “Now we have gamers which have performed heavy minutes. We would have liked time to recalibrate. We had to determine who can play in sure roles and what our substitution patterns are going to be, what sort of wrinkles we will throw on the market.”
The Friday sport is the primary of three between the groups in 19 days. Indiana gained the one earlier assembly, 74-59 within the Commissioner’s Cup championship sport on July 1.
Minnesota (28-7) had gained six video games in a row getting into this week earlier than dropping consecutive video games for the primary time all season — 85-75 at New York on Tuesday and 75-73 at Atlanta on Thursday.
“We’ll have time to work by way of some of these items, basic items,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve mentioned after the Thursday loss. “We weren’t ok. We did not get a lot out of our bench. We simply could not put ball within the gap sufficient (41.4 % taking pictures). I would like us to be higher subsequent time we play.”
Lynx star ahead Napheesa Collier (ankle) has missed the previous six video games however seems near returning.
–Area Degree Media
