The Fever have a historic offense. The Lynx showed they can beat them at their own game.
Published in Basketball
MINNEAPOLIS — WNBA teams are scoring more than ever. Offensive actions are more dynamic. Players have greater freedom of movement.
And on Sunday, the league-leading Minnesota Lynx beat the team that’s leading the WNBA’s offensive surge at its own game.
The Lynx extended their win streak to 10 with a 108-100 victory over the league’s highest-scoring team, the Indiana Fever. It’s the team’s longest winning streak since 2016.
The Lynx (25-6) took turns juicing the team’s offensive engine as all five starters finished with at least 10 points.
Olivia Miles scored 23 of her 28 points in the first half. Napheesa Collier finished with 18 points and surpassed Katie Smith for the third-most points in franchise history. Courtney Williams closed the game by scoring 12 of her 27 points in the fourth quarter.
Sunday’s matinee matchup was the first of three late-season meetings between the league’s two highest-scoring teams. The Fever are putting up 96.4 points per game, ahead of only the Lynx (92.2).
The Fever (19-11) extended their WNBA record by scoring at least 100 points for the sixth consecutive game.
Scoring across the WNBA has been at an all-time high this season. Teams are averaging 87.3 points per game, up from 81.7 in 2025. The Fever’s offensive rating is on track to be an all-time league high.
The Lynx are on pace to set a franchise record in points per game, after also doing so last year (86.1). In the franchise’s first season, by comparison, they averaged 63.6 points per game.
Both Reeve and Fever coach Stephanie White noted that this season’s new officiating emphasis on freedom of movement is likely one factor in the uptick in scoring.
But both also said the variety of actions teams are running are, as Reeve put it, “far more dynamic than we’ve ever seen.”
When both White and Reeve entered the league, “you guarded two or three people, and you guarded two or three actions, and that was about it,” White said.
“I don’t know there are very many coaches that think that you can really get somewhere without having a team that defends,” Reeve said. “But I also think it’s true that teams are just far more dynamic than they ever were, and it’s much more challenging to be a good defensive team.”
The Fever’s first trip to Target Center this season also came as the Lynx looked to shake off a July in which Reeve described their defense as “spotty.” The team has largely outscored opponents during its current win streak.
“No. 1 offensive team in the league,” said Reeve, who wore a T-shirt supporting transgender kids at the game after comments made by Fever guard Sophie Cunningham. “That’s about as good a [defensive] test as you’re going to get.”
Both teams got off to a blistering pace. The Lynx were up 36-33 by the end of the first quarter, setting a new season-high for first-quarter points. The teams’ 69 combined first-quarter points tied an all-time WNBA record.
Miles and Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell — who Reeve called, pregame, “the fastest player in the league” — each scored 23 first-half points. The Lynx led 64-53 at half, shooting 65% from the field.
The Lynx were up by as many as 15 in the third quarter, but back-to-back 3-pointers from Aliyah Boston and Mitchell cut the Lynx lead to 98-96 with three minutes to play.
A Natasha Howard putback and a Miles drive to the basket for a 3-point play pushed the Lynx lead to 105-98 with 58.7 seconds to go. Williams hit another late bucket and free throw to see out the win.
Mitchell finished with a game-high 37 points. Caitlin Clark, who the Lynx didn’t face last year during her injury-riddled sophomore season, had 19 points and 10 assists. Boston finished with 15 points.
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