For the second time in a week, the Minnesota Lynx defeated the Las Vegas Aces, 92-87, in what could be a preview of the WNBA Finals. The defeat dropped the Aces to third place in the league standings at 24-12. The defending WNBA champions are now five games behind the top-seeded Lynx (29-7) and 1.5 games back from the Golden State Valkyries (24-9) with eight games remaining in the regular season. Olivia Miles led Minnesota with 23 points, 8 assists, 4 rebounds and 1 steal. Napheesa Collier followed with 19 points while grabbing 6 boards. Natasha Howard and Kayla McBride each scored 13 points, and Howard snared 11 rebounds. Courtney Williams and Nia Coffey both contributed 12 points, with Coffey shooting 4-of-5 on 3-pointers.
After going into halftime tied 48-48, the Lynx ran out to a 62-52 lead midway through the third quarter on a 3 by Coffey. But the Aces went on an 10-2 run capped by a Jewell Loyd 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 64-62 with 1:49 remaining in the quarter. Coffey then hit consecutive 3s to put Minnesota back ahead 72-64 and two Miles free throws restored the 10-point margin. In the fourth, Las Vegas closed to within 74-73 with 7:27 left in regulation, but Collier sank 3s on the Lynx's next two possessions to put them back ahead by seven points. The Aces twice cut Minnesota's lead to four points and made it a 90-87 game on a Chelsea Gray 3-pointer with 11.3 seconds remaining. But two free throws by Collier clinched the win. Coffey's bench scoring could be a boost for the Lynx as the playoffs approach. Minnesota is last in the league in points from their reserves, according to StatMuse.
A'ja Wilson led all scorers with 32 points for the Aces with 7 rebounds, while NaLyssa Smith tallied 17 points with 12 boards (9 of them on the offensive side). Gray added 12 points with 9 assists, but shot 5-for-15 from the floor. Jackie Young scored 8 points on 3-for-11 shooting. "Our offensive woes gave us defensive woes," Aces coach Becky Hammon said after the game, via the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "We have to be more efficient offensively against this team, we've gotta shoot the ball a little bit better."
The Aces shot 45% (31-of-69) from the floor, but only connected on 9 of 28 3-pointers (32%). The loss to the Lynx was their second in a week, following last Saturday’s 98-87 defeat in Minnesota. Up next for Las Vegas is a Tuesday matchup with the Atlanta Dream (21-12), while Minnesota is off until Wednesday to visit the Valkyries for a matchup of the WNBA's top two teams.