Lynx vs. Wings: Natasha Howard Scores 26 and Minnesota Steals a 90-86 Win in Arlington

Every good heist movie hits the same beat: the crew looks finished, the clock is running out, and somebody strolls out the front door with the money anyway. The Minnesota Lynx trailed for most of Thursday night. Dallas held the lead for 83 percent of the game, Minnesota for 10. Then, with 51 seconds left and the score tied at 85, Olivia Miles and Natasha Howard ran a pick-and-roll so clean that nobody got within a zip code of Howard on her way to the rim.

That layup broke the tie, and the Lynx held on for a 90-86 win at College Park Center. Howard scored 26, Courtney Williams added 21 on 9-of-10 shooting, and the Dallas Wings wasted 27 points from Paige Bueckers in front of a crowd of 5,982.

Dallas Led All Night, Until It Mattered

The Wings came out like a team that had the Lynx figured out. Bueckers scored or assisted on nearly everything early, a 9-0 run made it 11-6, and Maddy Siegrist went a perfect five for five in the first quarter to help build a 28-18 lead. Dallas pushed it to 12 before Minnesota answered with nine straight in the second to get within 34-32, but the Wings closed the half strong and went to the locker room up 48-40.

That was the high point of the Wings' comfort. Minnesota opened the second half by outscoring Dallas 15-6 in under five minutes, and Kayla McBride's two free throws put the Lynx ahead 55-54, the first time they had led since the opening minutes. Dallas had an answer for that, too, and Odyssey Sims supplied the prettiest one, a running 3 at the horn that sent the Wings to the fourth ahead 70-68, part of an 8-0 Dallas run that carried into the final period.

With 3:26 left, Dallas was up 83-79 and seemed to have finally shaken free. It had not. Howard scored twice in 41 seconds, first off a Williams feed and then off a Miles pass, to tie it at 83. Sims hit an 18-footer to go back ahead. Miles drove and tied it right back up at 85 with 1:25 left. After Sims missed a running layup, Minnesota went to the same action one more time.

Howard, Williams and a Lot of Efficiency

Howard's night was close to absurd: 11 of 14 from the field, four offensive rebounds, three blocks and three of Minnesota's last four baskets. She also had seven turnovers, which would normally earn a long film session, but it is hard to stay mad at anyone this good around the rim.

Williams may have been even better on a per-shot basis. She missed one field goal all night and hit three of her four 3s, and her 13 first-half points were the reason the Lynx were still in striking distance at the break. Miles, a rookie, finished with 15 points and six assists, including the pass on the go-ahead basket. Nia Brodie was the sneaky fourth star with 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting, 3 of 3 from deep and eight rebounds. McBride scored 11 despite going 1 of 7 from the floor, because she went 9 of 11 at the line and made the free throws that decided it.

Bueckers did everything she could for Dallas. She finished with 27 points on 7-of-13 shooting, went 10 of 11 at the line and handed out eight assists, seven of them in the first half, which the Wings say is a new career-best for a single half. The team also says her streak of eight straight games with at least 15 points and two assists is the longest active run in the WNBA. Siegrist scored all 17 of her points before halftime on 7-of-10 shooting, a career high for one half, and Azzi Fudd, the No. 1 overall pick, had a career-high eight in her second WNBA game and first in front of the home crowd.

Arike Ogunbowale had a rough one, going 2 of 11 for six points.

The Lynx did lose someone along the way. Rookie free agent Emma Cechova, who had averaged 11 points in two games off the bench, left at 2:31 of the third with what the AP described as a non-contact knee injury.

The Minute That Changed It

The decisive sequence started with a Dallas miss. Sims' running layup rolled off with 59 seconds left, and Minnesota had the ball in a tie game. Everyone in the building knew what was coming and it did not help. Miles and Howard ran the pick-and-roll, the Wings got caught in between, and Howard's layup made it 87-85. Sims missed again from seven feet with 27.6 seconds left, McBride made one of two at the line, Bueckers made one of two, and McBride closed it with two more. Dallas did not make a field goal over the final 1:32.

Stats That Matter

• 25 of 30: Howard, Williams and Brodie from the field, combined. Minnesota shot 60 percent as a team, and the Wings say only the Aces had hit that mark in a game this season.
• 19-15: Points off turnovers in Minnesota's favor, with the Lynx scoring 19 off 13 Dallas giveaways while Dallas managed 15 off 17 from Minnesota. That is a four-point edge in a four-point game.
• 18-9: Minnesota's advantage in second-chance points, per the Wings.
• 48-40: The Lynx in the paint.
• 29-4: Bench scoring, in Dallas' favor. Minnesota's starters scored 86 of the team's 90 points, which is a fun way to live for one night and a stressful way to live for a season.

Road Warriors, Home Worries

Minnesota is 2-1 and 2-0 on the road, with two straight wins since a one-point home loss to Atlanta in the opener. The Lynx host Chicago on Sunday, with Cechova's status the big question.

Dallas is 1-2 and has dropped two straight since its opening-night win at Indiana, both at home. The Wings say they have now lost five straight to the Lynx, dating to the 2024 regular season. They finish a three-game homestand against Washington on Monday, still looking for their first win at College Park Center this season.

Five Is Enough

The league loves to tell you that depth wins in the regular season, and Dallas got 29 points from its reserves to prove the point. Minnesota's bench scored four. The Lynx simply had five players who almost never missed, a guard who understood exactly when to hit the roll man, and the nerve to run the same play in the biggest moment of the game. Dallas had the lead, the crowd and the marquee names. Minnesota left with the win, and the getaway car was already running.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details as reported by the Associated Press. Team notes from the Dallas Wings team recap.