Lynx vs. Tempo: Collier, Miles and Williams Score 16 Apiece as Minnesota Romps to Ninth Straight Win

Toronto actually led after one quarter. Enjoy that sentence, because nothing else about Thursday night at Scotiabank Arena will make a Tempo fan feel good. From the moment the second quarter started, the Minnesota Lynx outscored their hosts 86-53, turned 24 Toronto turnovers into 31 points and treated a crowd of 18,145 to a very thorough lesson in what first place looks like.

Minnesota got 16 apiece from Napheesa Collier, Olivia Miles and Courtney Williams and rolled 104-72 for its ninth straight victory. Eleven Lynx players scored. Nobody played more than 25 minutes. Coaches dream about box scores like this one, usually right before waking up.

The Tempo Had 12 Good Minutes

For a while Toronto looked like the team that came to play. Laura Juskaite and Marina Mabrey helped build a 16-8 lead, and even after Minnesota scored 10 straight to go up 18-16, Juskaite hit a 30-footer with 2.3 seconds left for a 19-18 Tempo edge.

It was tied at 25 midway through the second when the Lynx flipped the switch. A 20-6 run, with Collier scoring seven during it, stretched to a 45-31 lead with 2:31 left in the half. Toronto got a pair of late 3s from Maria Conde and Nyara Sabally to make it 50-41 at the break, which turned out to be the last moment anyone could call this a game.

The third quarter was a wipeout. Minnesota won it 31-14, with Natasha Howard, Kayla McBride and Williams all getting loose and Dorka Juhasz splashing two deep 3s. It was 81-55 going to the fourth, and the Lynx kept their foot on the gas anyway, closing a 9-0 stretch at 97-62 and pushing their biggest lead to 36.

The reserves got the late minutes and made the most of them. Eliska Joklova scored five, Antonia Delaere had seven points and three assists, Anastasiia Olairi Kosu hit a 3, and Maya Caldwell finished with four steals and a plus-15. Toronto's Tima Pouye did score seven points in five minutes, all of them after the result was settled.

Where It Got Away

The real turning point was that 20-6 run in the second quarter, because of how it happened. Between the 6:31 and 4:07 marks, the Tempo turned it over four times. They were making shots all night, finishing at 45% from the field, but they kept giving the ball away before they could get one up. Minnesota took 20 more shots than Toronto, 82 to 62, and that gap is basically the whole story.

It certainly wasn't about pace or size. The Tempo won the fast-break column 12-4, and the Lynx edged the paint by just 38-36. Both teams even attempted 28 3-pointers, with Minnesota making three more. Toronto got buried by the possessions it never finished, and by a 6-of-11 night at the line.

Once the Lynx start forcing turnovers, they don't need a heater from anybody. Their defense does the scoring for them. Howard and Collier were each credited with two blocks and two steals, and every starter except Williams recorded at least two steals. Toronto had no answer for any of it and, from the look of things, no plan B either.

Three 16s and a Weird Stat

Collier, playing just her second game of the season after debuting against Toronto on Tuesday, was the most efficient of the trio: 7 of 12 from the field, 2 of 2 from deep and a plus-17 in only 22 minutes. Williams went 6 of 11 with five assists and no turnovers, and her plus-25 tied McBride for second on the team behind Howard's plus-26. Howard, for her part, added nine points, eight rebounds and four assists to go with the defense.

Miles had the night's oddest line. The No. 2 pick in the 2026 draft scored 16 on 6-of-15 shooting and did not record an assist, the first time that has happened in her WNBA career. Nobody in Minnesota seemed to mind. McBride scored 13, and Juhasz had 12, all of them on 3-pointers.

Juskaite led Toronto with 19 on 7-of-12 shooting, and Mabrey added 16. Sabally had 10 off the bench, and Temi Fagbenle scored six in 19 minutes. Julie Allemand dished six assists without scoring, and Kiki Rice's minus-29 was the worst number on a night full of them. The Tempo played without Brittney Sykes, out with a foot injury.

Stats That Matter

• 24: Toronto's total turnovers, a season worst according to the AP.
• 14: Minnesota steals, a season high according to the AP.
• 31-14: The Lynx margin in the third quarter.
• 13 of 28: Minnesota from 3-point range, good for 46%.
• 14-6: Minnesota's advantage on the offensive glass.

What It Means

Minnesota is 24-6, 13-2 on the road, and the WNBA leader according to the AP. Our recount confirms all nine wins in a row, a streak that began after a loss to Connecticut on July 6. The Lynx also finished a 3-0 sweep of the season series with Toronto, winning by 28, seven and now 32. Indiana comes to Target Center on Sunday, and that should be a lot more interesting.

Toronto fell to 10-18 and 6-11 at home. The Tempo have now lost five straight and nine of 10, by the AP's count and ours, including Tuesday's 100-93 defeat in Minneapolis, which was much closer than this one. They don't get much relief with a trip to Golden State on Sunday.

Not Quite My Tempo

There's a famous movie line for nights like this, courtesy of Whiplash: not quite my tempo. Minnesota delivered it about 24 different times on Thursday, one turnover at a time, and never once had to raise its voice. When a team can win by 32 with its three leading scorers playing fewer than 26 minutes apiece, the rest of the league isn't watching a hot streak anymore. It's watching the conductor.

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