Napheesa Collier showed no signs of rust after a three-week absence caused by a sprained ankle.
The next question is whether Collier can maintain her dominant play in back-to-back games.
Collier will answer that question when the Minnesota Lynx (30-7) take on the Seattle Storm (20-19) on Thursday night in Minneapolis.
In her return, Collier scored 32 points on 11-for-16 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the Lynx to a 90-85 win over the Indiana Fever on Sunday. Yet she deflected praise for her performance on offense and instead called attention to her teammates’ effort on the other end of the court.
“When we are playing our defense, I don’t think there’s anyone who can beat us,” Collier said. “It’s a good time to be a Lynx. … I just felt really good.”
The Lynx will try to stay hot after winning their past two games and eight of their past 10.
Seattle also has played well as of late, winning three of its past four games and four of six. However, the Storm are looking to bounce back after a 95-75 loss to the Indiana Fever on Tuesday.
Nneka Ogwumike, who leads the Storm with averages of 18.3 points and 7.0 rebounds per game, said it was important for her and her teammates to bounce back against the Lynx after a lackluster performance in Indianapolis.
“I think everyone is locked in when it comes to being physically ready for the games,” Ogwumike said. “There’s no excuse for what happened (Tuesday) other than not matching the energy of the other team. As far as I know, everybody was ready to go. But we have to get to a space where we can match or exceed our opponent’s energy.”
Storm coach Noelle Quinn will look for that intensity to be better from the first moments on Thursday.
“The energy level wasn’t where we needed it to be,” Quinn said. “It started with the jump ball.”
After Ogwumike, Skylar Diggins is next on the team with 15.4 points per game. Brittney Sykes ranks third with 12.7 ppg, and Gabby Williams rounds out the top four with 11.9 ppg.
Collier is Minnesota’s top scorer with 23.9 points per game, and she adds 7.6 rebounds per contest. Kayla McBride ranks second with 14.9 ppg, and Courtney Williams is third with 13.8 ppg.
While the Lynx are closing in on clinching the No. 1 seed for the playoffs, the Storm are tied with the expansion Golden State Valkyries for the last two playoff spots, with the Los Angeles Sparks just 1 1/2 games back.
Minnesota is 18-1 at home this season. Seattle is 12-9 on the road.
–Field Level Media
