With Napheesa Collier sidelined and expected to miss significant time at the start of the season, it was expected that the Minnesota Lynx would suffer without her. However, it looks almost certain that they will finish the regular season as the top seed, much to the surprise of anyone, including Olivia Miles, who has been one of the main anchors of this team. Miles recently made an honest admission while reflecting on the team’s losses this season, when Sports Illustrated reporter Andrew Dukowitz asked her how he handles losses this season.
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“Depends on the loss. The last game I took really hard just because it just wasn’t a great game; our flow wasn’t great. We just didn’t show up, and it always hurts more to lose at home… I thought I’d be losing a lot more… but we’re really good … so it’s kind of the same feeling I would get in college, where it feels like the end of the world when you would lose,” said Miles in a post on X by Andrew Dukowitz.
Olivia Miles grinned when saying that they expected more losses. This perhaps tells all a viewer needs to know. The Minnesota Lynx were flying high last season and made the playoffs after a 34-10 record in the regular season. However, they suffered a surprise early exit in the playoffs, losing 1-3 to the Phoenix Mercury in the semifinals.
Much of this exit was blamed on the Lynx’s Napheesa Collier, who suffered a grade two tear in the left ankle in the semifinals and was expected to be out for much of the 2026 season as well.
Indeed, Collier, who finished second in the MVP rankings last season, behind only A’ja Wilson, did not feature for the Lynx for the first 27 games of this season while recovering from her surgery.
Nobody expected the Lynx to reach the levels of their 2025 season.
However, the math completely flipped as the Lynx still emerged as title contenders, courtesy of Olivia Miles, the second overall pick from the 2026 draft.
Miles has emerged as the main playmaker of this Lynx team. She is averaging 19.7 points, 4.6 rebounds, 6.2 assists, and 1.3 steals per game this season for the Lynx. She has emerged as their primary offensive weapon, leading the Minnesota team in points and assists.
A recent ESPN ranking for the top 50 players this season placed Olivia Miles at a staggering fourth place, reflecting her meteoric rise in the short time she has been in the league.
Her high usage rate of 27.5%, per Basketball-Reference, reflects the trust and reliance that coach Cheryl Reeve has placed on her shoulders. Miles is not just a high-volume scorer; she has been quite efficient in getting on the board as well, registering an FG% of 49.5 and a 3P% of 39.7.
And Miles’ presence has enabled the elevation of the game of other Lynx players as well. Lynx players Kayla McBride, Courtney Williams, and Natasha Howard are also enjoying rich scoring form, as all of them are averaging more than 14 points per game this season.
Olivia Miles also contributes a whopping 31.7% of the Lynx’s assists. This high production was instrumental in her surpassing the WNBA record for the fastest player to 700 points and 200 assists. She reached this milestone in just 36 games, breaking the previous mark held by Caitlin Clark.
With a 31-8 record, the Lynx have most likely confirmed their spot as the top seed and can even improve their record from last season if they win all of their remaining games.
Now that they have Napheesa Collier back and firing, the Lynx will look to make a deep run in the playoffs. In just 11 starts this season, Collier looks to pick up where she left off and is averaging 18.1 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game.
Now that the Olivia Miles and Co. have set the bar high in the regular season, Minnesota fans are hoping to bring the title home for the first time since 2017.