The Minnesota Lynx answered the ugliest night of their season with no waiting period, burying Indiana 25-4 out of the gate and coasting to an 86-66 win Thursday in their regular-season finale.
There is no dramatic turning point to isolate, because the game turned on the opening tip. By the time the Fever scored their fifth point, Minnesota had already built the kind of lead that ends competitive basketball. The Lynx led by as many as 36 and never once had to consider the outcome.
That matters most because of what it followed. Two nights earlier in Indianapolis, down 23 at halftime, Cheryl Reeve benched her starters for the entire second half of a 96-77 loss, and Napheesa Collier called the performance “embarrassing”. Thursday was the correction, delivered without a word.
Kayla McBride carried it, scoring 22 on 6-of-10 from three, the sort of finishing kick that makes a home finale feel like a statement. Natasha Howard added 21 points and eight rebounds. Courtney Williams orchestrated everything with nine points, seven rebounds and 10 assists, and she did it with Olivia Miles out for a second straight game with a left calf injury.
Indiana, meanwhile, came apart. Caitlin Clark finished with two points on 1-of-12 shooting in under 18 minutes. Kelsey Mitchell managed 10, ending her league-record streak of 27 straight 20-point games on the night it would have stung least. Aliyah Boston left in the second quarter with a lower-leg issue and Ty Harris went down with an ankle in the third, and the Fever dropped to the No. 6 seed.
Minnesota finishes 33-11 and enters the playoffs as the No. 1 seed — a spot it had already secured Tuesday when Golden State fell at Portland, home court locked through a title run that starts next week. They did it shorthanded, against a playoff team, two days after quitting on themselves. The floor and the ceiling both showed up inside the same 48 hours.
From a couch in Chicago, I spent the whole first quarter waiting for Indiana to make it a game, and Indiana never tried.
The honest read is that this team contains both versions. The one that no-shows with a seed on the line and the one that hangs a 30-piece on a healthy opponent are the same roster, and only one of them wins in October.
Miles is the postseason question; the seed was never really one.
