Lynx vs. Fire: Napheesa Collier Scores 20 as Minnesota Nearly Blows a 29-Point Lead and Escapes Portland

At 8:16 of the third quarter on Wednesday night, the Minnesota Lynx led the Portland Fire 64-35 at Moda Center and looked ready to spend the rest of the evening with their feet up. A little over 12 game minutes later it was 68-64, and nobody in the building was relaxing anymore.

The Lynx survived, 85-81, with Napheesa Collier posting 20 points and nine rebounds and Kayla McBride adding 19. The WNBA-leading Lynx nearly fumbled a 29-point lead against a team with 15 fewer wins, which is either a troubling sign or the most entertaining way possible to go 14-2 on the road.

Two Different Games, One Scoreboard

The first half had its own plot twist. Minnesota went up 26-15 before Portland answered with a 10-0 run that straddled the quarter break and made it 26-25. Then the Lynx turned the second quarter into a demolition, starting it on a 23-4 run that included 14 straight between 5:15 and 3:00. They won the period 31-10 and led 57-33 at the half. The AP spotted a strange detail: 10 Fire players scored in the half, and nobody topped four. That's a weird way to be down 24.

The lead peaked at 64-35 early in the third, and that's when the Fire remembered they had a home crowd. A 14-0 run between 7:55 and 2:45 got them to 64-49. Minnesota scraped back to 68-49, and then Portland ripped off 15 more in a row, starting late in the third and finishing at 6:08 of the fourth for 68-64. That's a 29-4 run across the two periods, and the Fire scored the first 13 of the fourth during it.

From there it became a real fight. Bridget Carleton's 26-foot three at 4:48 cut it to 72-69, Teja Oblak's running jumper made it 74-72, and Carleton's pull-up at 3:18 made it 76-74. Megan DiLeo's layup at 2:16 trimmed it to 78-76, and when Emily Engstler went to the line with 1:44 left, the Fire had a chance to tie it. She made one of two. McBride's drive at 1:25 made it 80-77, and neither team scored again until Olivia Miles hit two free throws inside the final 30 seconds. McBride followed with two more for 84-77, and Engstler's 26-footer with 0.4 seconds left only made the final look closer than the last minute felt.

The Stars Held, Barely

Collier was the steady one, going 7 of 11 with 6 of 7 at the line, plus three blocks and two steals. When Portland got within two or three, she or McBride usually had the answer, including her layup at 4:29 right after Carleton's big three. This was a superstar performance without any fireworks, and Minnesota needed exactly that.

McBride kept her week going. Three days after making a WNBA-record 10 threes in a career-high 43-point game against Dallas, she shot 6 of 10, hit three of Minnesota's six threes and collected four steals. Natasha Howard had 14 points and 12 rebounds on 6 of 8 shooting, and Miles finished with 13 points and seven assists. She shot just 3 of 13, but she went 6 of 7 at the line, and those late free throws mattered more than anything she missed.

Portland's comeback was a group project. Carleton led the way with 16 points against her former team, DiLeo added 12, and Oblak came off the bench for 11 points, six rebounds and nine assists, running the show during the rally. Engstler, for all the frustration of that missed free throw, finished with eight points and seven rebounds. The rally leaned hard on the second unit: Jordan Harrison started and finished minus-12 in 18 minutes, while Oblak played 22 and finished plus-8. Minnesota's reserves, by contrast, were outscored badly, and Nia Brodie's minus-11 in 13 minutes shows where the game started slipping.

One Free Throw Short

The whole night came down to that trip at 1:44. Engstler's first make cut it to 78-77, and a second would have tied a game Portland had trailed by 29. The miss didn't lose the game by itself, but it gave Minnesota one more possession with the lead, and McBride used it to drive for 80-77. From there, Portland scored exactly one point until Engstler's three at the horn.

The Stats That Explain the Panic

• 31-10: The second quarter, Minnesota. The only reason this game was ever a blowout.
• 48-28: The second half, Portland. Almost a perfect mirror.
• 35-9: Portland's edge in bench points, a remarkable gap in a game it lost.
• 19 of 26 vs. 9 of 16: The foul line, and the actual difference. Minnesota made 10 more in a game decided by four.
• 8 of 31: Portland from three, with Carleton going 1 of 7. The Fire nearly erased 29 points without a hot shooting night.

Top of the League, for Now and for Good Reason

Minnesota improved to 28-7, 14-2 on the road, and has won 13 of its last 14. The Lynx had already clinched a playoff spot and now sit 3-0 against Portland this season after wins of 107-74 and 101-93. There's no real alarm here for a team this good, but Saturday's trip to Las Vegas would be a poor time to hand out another 29-4 run.

Portland fell to 13-20, 8-10 at home, and has a quick turnaround with a trip to Seattle on Friday. The Fire don't get a win out of this, but they do get a useful piece of evidence that they can play with anybody for a half.

The McCallister Airport Sprint

Think of the McCallisters in Home Alone, sprinting through the terminal with bags flying and the gate about to close. That was Minnesota, except the Lynx started this trip with a 29-point head start. They left themselves no margin at all, tore through the final minutes on free throws and adrenaline, and made the plane anyway. Great teams get to be sloppy once in a while and still arrive at the gate. Portland just made them run for it.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Context as reported by the Associated Press.