Lynx vs. Tempo: Rookie Olivia Miles Scores 24 as Minnesota Stretches Its Win Streak to Eight

Olivia Miles laid one in with 6:32 to play and Minnesota was up 89-75, which is usually the moment a team with the best record in the WNBA starts thinking about its evening plans. Toronto had other ideas. The Tempo scored 12 straight in a little over two minutes, and suddenly the Lynx were clinging to a two-point lead at home against a team that had lost seven of its last eight.

Enter Antonia Delaere, who had played a very quiet supporting role until that moment and then hit three threes in less than three minutes to shut the whole thing down. Minnesota won 100-93 at Target Center on Tuesday night, the rookie Miles led the way with 24 points, and the Lynx stretched their winning streak to eight games.

Toronto Threw the First Punch

The Tempo had absolutely no interest in being a speed bump, and they took a 28-25 lead after one quarter. The Lynx took over in the second. A 10-0 run turned 33-33 into 43-33, and Minnesota won the period 28-15 to take a 53-43 lead into the break. Miles already had 15 by then and Kayla McBride had 13, which is a lot of offense to absorb from two players before the break.

Minnesota went on another run in the third, this one an 8-0 stretch that pushed 66-58 to 74-58, and the lead grew to as many as 17. It was 81-68 heading to the fourth. Miles' layup at 6:32 appeared to be the point where everyone could stop paying close attention.

Twelve Straight, Then Three Straight Answers

Toronto's run was pure shot-making. Laura Juskaite's 23-footer off a Marina Mabrey pass and Kia Nurse's 23-footer off a Kiki Rice feed came back to back, and with 4:10 left the scoreboard read 89-87. The Tempo had taken a 14-point game and made it a coin flip.

Twelve seconds later, Delaere answered from 23 feet on a pass from Miles. At 2:49 she did it again, this time off a Napheesa Collier assist, for 95-87. Mabrey wasn't done, drilling a 25-foot step-back and two free throws to get back to 95-92 with 1:20 left. So Delaere took a pass from McBride and hit a third three, from 24 feet, with 1:05 to go. Miles' driving layup at 35.7 made it 100-92. That was the ballgame.

The Rookie, the Sniper and a Stubborn Opponent

Miles played nothing like a first-year player: 9 of 17 from the field, 4 of 5 from three, eight assists and six rebounds in 32 minutes. The most impressive part might be how she bookended that closing stretch, feeding Delaere for the first answer and then getting to the rim to finish things herself. There is nothing tentative about her game, and the numbers say Minnesota is perfectly happy to let a rookie run the show.

McBride was steady as ever with 18 points, four threes, four assists, three steals and no turnovers. Collier finished with 15 points, six rebounds and three assists, and Natasha Howard scored 13 with six rebounds and four assists. Courtney Williams had a rough shooting night at 2 of 11 but still contributed four boards and four assists.

Then there's Delaere's line, which looks like a typo. Twelve points in nine minutes, all of them on threes, 4 of 5 from distance. Most players need a whole game to change one. She needed three possessions.

Toronto deserves real credit, because this was a much better showing than the record suggests. Mabrey was the engine with 25 points, eight rebounds and six assists, going 8 of 8 at the line. Maria Conde put up 20 points and 10 rebounds with four threes. Juskaite scored 18, Julie Allemand had 10 points and seven assists on 4-of-5 shooting, and Temi Fagbenle added nine. The Tempo even won the rebounding battle 36-31.

Twelve Seconds That Saved the Night

The whole game tilted on that first Delaere three. Toronto had just scored 12 straight, Minnesota was stuck, and one more stop would have given the Tempo a shot at the lead. If that shot rims out, the Lynx are sitting on a two-point game with four minutes left and an opponent shooting with full confidence. Instead the lead went right back to five, Minnesota's offense had a pulse again, and Toronto had to go back to chasing. Great teams have a way of killing runs before they fully become a problem, and eight straight wins don't happen by accident.

The Numbers That Separate Them

• 14 of 25: Minnesota from three, or 56 percent. Toronto took 10 more and made one fewer.
• 4 of 5: Delaere from distance in just nine minutes.
• 28-15: The second quarter, the only stretch where the Lynx truly pulled away and made it stick.
• 17 vs. 11: Total turnovers, Tempo against Lynx.
• 42-34: Minnesota's edge in the paint, to go with 26 assists on 37 makes.

Where the Standings Land

Minnesota is 23-6, 11-4 at home, with the best record in the WNBA and an eight-game winning streak. The Lynx have now scored exactly 100 in both meetings with Toronto this season, after a 100-72 win in May.

Toronto falls to 10-17 and 4-7 on the road, with four straight losses and eight in its last nine. There isn't much time to stew about it either. These same two teams meet again on Thursday, this time in Toronto.

Eight Minutes of Screen Time

Judi Dench won an Oscar for about eight minutes in Shakespeare in Love, and Delaere just put together the basketball version. Nine minutes on the floor and three huge threes in the only moments that mattered, in a game where a rookie scored 24 and Collier scored 15. Great ensembles work because somebody can walk on for one scene and steal it. Minnesota has been winning for eight straight games with whoever happens to have the script that night, and Toronto gets a chance on Thursday to find out whether the show plays the same on the road.

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