The Minnesota Lynx had the No. 1 overall seed sitting on the table Tuesday night in Indianapolis, and they walked past it. Indiana raced to a 29-point first-half lead, Cheryl Reeve pulled all five of her starters in the second quarter, and the Fever cruised to a 96-77 win that was decided before halftime.
There was no run to point to because there was no fight to interrupt. Minnesota came out flat, Indiana punished it, and by the time Reeve had seen enough — 5:33 left in the second quarter — the deficit was already a crater. She sat her starters to send a message, and everyone in the building heard it.
Napheesa Collier played the first half, scored nine, and spent the rest of the night on the bench with everyone else who started. Olivia Miles, two days after passing Caitlin Clark for the most points by a rookie in a WNBA season, was a late scratch with left calf soreness. Take the rookie’s scoring off this team, lean on a half-night from Collier, and Tuesday is what you get.
Clark carried Indiana with 27 points, nine assists, seven rebounds and four steals, the sort of half that makes a coach’s decision for her. Kelsey Mitchell added 20 to stretch her league-record streak of 20-point games to 27, and Aliyah Boston went for 17 and seven boards. Indiana led by as many as 29 and never had to sweat.
Minnesota’s night turned into a bench audition. Chloe Bibby scored all 15 of her points on threes, Liatu King added 12, and the reserves combined for a season-high 53 before running out of legs late. As a group the Lynx shot 37.5 percent and never once threatened.
I went back through the second quarter looking for the possession that made Reeve quit on the night, and there isn’t one. There’s just all of them.
Here is what it means. Minnesota drops to 32-11, a half-game up on Golden State at 31-11, and the top seed is still theirs to clinch: a win over Indiana in Thursday’s home finale, or a single Golden State loss, and the Lynx lock up home court throughout the playoffs. Second is their floor. Ugly as it looked, the math held.
Honesty is the harder part. This is a team that can no-show with a No. 1 seed in front of it, and Reeve emptying her bench in the second quarter tells you she saw exactly what you saw. Miles being out is a real excuse. Not a full one.
Tuesday, this team quit on itself.
