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Napheesa Collier scores 31 for Lynx, better than Caitlin Clark’s 23 in 90-80 win over Fever
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Napheesa Collier scores 31 for Lynx, better than Caitlin Clark’s 23 in 90-80 win over Fever

With the Minnesota Lynx retiring Maya Moore on Saturday night, the home team came out strong and looked set for a big win over the Indiana Fever. The Lynx roared out to a big early lead in the first quarter en route to a 90-80 victory.

Minnesota secured a spot in the play-offs with the win.

However, a Fever team that had won seven of its last nine games and was now playing for a WNBA playoff spot of its own, fought back and essentially turned the first-quarter score around in the second, outscoring Minnesota 28-16 to make it a one-point game at halftime. Indiana came close to falling behind 74-71 in the fourth quarter, but the Lynx went on a 12-0 run from there to close out the game.

Napheesa Collier scored a season-high 31 points with five rebounds for Minnesota, her third straight game with 23 or more points. Kayla McBride followed with 19 points and four assists, while Bridget Carleton had 16 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals.

The Fever were led by Caitlin Clark’s 23 points, along with five rebounds and eight assists. Unfortunately, she also had seven turnovers, giving her a league-leading total of 162 (an average of 5.8 per game). Clark still leads the NBA in assists, however, averaging 8.3 per game. Kelsey Mitchell added 21, while Aliyah Boston grabbed 15 rebounds to round out her 10 points.

Clark reached 500 points and 200 assists in 29 games played, making him the fastest player in WNBA history to reach that number in a season and the first rookie to do so.

The Lynx improved their record to 23-8, third-best in the WNBA, while joining the New York Liberty and Connecticut Sun in the postseason so far. Minnesota has now made the playoffs 13 times in Cheryl Reeve’s 15 seasons.

With the loss, Indiana’s first since the Olympic break, Indiana dropped to 13-16. But that still leaves the Fever in seventh place in the league, which would put them in the playoffs.

The Fever wrap up their two-game road trip at the Atlanta Dream on Monday at 7:30 p.m. ET. Next up for the Lynx is a road game at the Phoenix Mercury on Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET.