Lynx vs. Storm: Napheesa Collier Scores 24 in Season Debut as Minnesota Takes League's Best Record Into Break

Here is one way to welcome a player back after surgery on both ankles: give her the ball with the shot clock dying, your lead down to one and a desperation three as the only option left. Napheesa Collier got fouled, stepped to the line and made all three.

That was the moment the Minnesota Lynx stopped sweating on Wednesday afternoon. Collier finished her season debut with 24 points and 10 rebounds, Minnesota closed on a 9-0 run and beat Seattle 86-76 at Climate Pledge Arena, and the Lynx will spend the All-Star break holding the league's best record.

Seattle Would Not Read the Script

The Storm came in having lost five straight, including a three-point heartbreaker against this same team on Monday, and they played like a group with no interest in being anybody's welcome-back party. Seattle led 22-18 after one and 45-44 at the half, with Dominique Malonga on her way to a 9-of-13 shooting day.

Minnesota finally got some separation in the third, winning the quarter 24-15 to lead 68-60, and the margin reached 11 at its peak. Things looked comfortable late. Kayla McBride's free throws made it 75-69 with 3:47 left, and Natasha Howard's layup off a McBride feed made it 77-71 at 3:06.

Then Flau'jae Johnson nearly stole the entire afternoon. Her and-one at 2:01 and a running layup at 1:42 gave her five points in 19 seconds, and it was suddenly 77-76 in front of 13,106.

Minnesota's next trip went badly until it went very well. With the shot clock running down, Collier let fly from three, Awa Fam got her with 1:19 left, and all three free throws dropped. After a Seattle miss, Collier scored from close range at 37.2 to make it 82-76, Olivia Miles and Maya Caldwell each made two at the line, and that was the 9-0 finish.

Collier Did Not Ease In

Twenty-two minutes was all Collier got, and in those minutes she went 9 of 20 from the field, hit two threes, made all four of her free throws, grabbed nine defensive rebounds and committed zero fouls. Minnesota was plus-12 with her on the floor. The AP's reminder of where she has been makes that line even wilder: the injury came in a playoff game last September, when ligaments in her left ankle tore, and both ankles needed surgery in the offseason. The AP also lists her as last season's Defensive Player of the Year and the MVP runner-up.

McBride scored 20 with three threes and three steals, and she brushed up against some rare company. She had scored at least 23 in each of her previous seven games. Three more points and, per the AP, she would have joined Diana Taurasi and A'ja Wilson in the club with eight straight 23-point games.

Miles had 13 points and six assists on a 5-of-15 day. Howard scored 11, and all five of her rebounds came on the offensive end. Courtney Williams went scoreless on 0-of-5 shooting two days after scoring 21, yet still finished plus-9 thanks to six assists and five boards. Winning a game with your starting guard shut out is a useful thing to know you can do.

Malonga was the best player on the other side with 21 points, nine rebounds and four blocks on 9-of-13 shooting. Johnson scored 16 but missed all six of her threes and had six turnovers. Natisha Hiedeman added 12 and Fam finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds. The Storm won the boards 41-36, the paint 48-42 and the fast break 15-6, and they shot a slightly better percentage from the field, 41 to 39. They lost by 10 anyway, because Johnson, Hiedeman, Jade Melbourne and Zia Cooke combined to go 2 of 21 from three and the ball kept ending up in the wrong hands.

One Foul, Three Free Throws

Seattle had just done the hard part. It had cut a six-point lead to one in under two minutes, it had the momentum, and it had pushed the Lynx to the very end of the shot clock with a bad shot coming. A clean contest there means Seattle gets the ball back, down one, with more than a minute to play and every reason to believe.

Instead, the foul handed Minnesota three free throws, and Collier made them look routine. It went from 77-76 to 80-76 without the clock moving, and the Storm never scored again. Their last point came with 1:42 left. For a team that had lost its previous four games by five points or fewer, it was a painfully familiar feeling.

Where the Lynx Pulled Away

• Turnovers: Seattle 19, Minnesota 11. The Lynx scored 19 points off those and gave up 10.
• Steals: Minnesota 13, Seattle 7.
• Three-pointers: Minnesota 9 of 23, Seattle 5 of 32.
• Offensive rebounds: Minnesota 15, Seattle 11.
• Final 1:19: Minnesota 9, Seattle 0.

Best in the League, and Now Whole

Minnesota heads to the break at 22-6 and 12-2 on the road with seven straight wins, and this one finished a 3-0 sweep of the season series with Seattle. Toronto visits on Tuesday.

Seattle is 6-23 and 4-10 at home, with six straight losses and eight in its last nine. Malonga and Johnson give the Storm reasons to keep watching, but 6-23 does not grade on potential. Indiana is next, on Tuesday in Seattle.

The Post-Credits Scene

Minnesota went 21-6 without her. Read that again, then picture the rest of the league reading it over the All-Star break. A team that won 21 of its first 27 games just got back a player who can put up 24 and 10 in 22 minutes on a 9-of-20 day. In movie terms this was the post-credits scene, the one where the door swings open and you realize the sequel is going to be a problem for everybody.

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