For much of the season, the Minnesota Lynx have established themselves as one of the WNBA’s most formidable teams. Yet, as the playoffs draw closer, the league leaders have lost their last two games, and after losing their second game, Head Coach Cheryl Reeve now seems to have identified an area where the team appears to be falling short. However, WNBA podcaster Rudy has disagreed, arguing that the Lynx simply got outplayed by two physical teams.
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“I don’t agree with her. I think they’re similar. And her team got punked. Her team got punked. And last year, they kind of got punked, too, as a season towards the end of the year, and a lot of people think that they would have won the championship if Napheesa Collier hadn’t gotten hurt, but they were getting punked by Phoenix in that series also,” he said in Monday’s episode of the Come ON, Now.
“They’re a very finesse-level team. The Lynx are finesse… Natasha Howard is the only one that’s physical… They have no size, and if they don’t shoot the ball well, they’re going to lose.”
Coach Reeve shared her perspective during the post-game press conference after her team’s 89-81 loss against the Atlanta Dream.
“We got to handle physicality. We have to toughen up. And we have to exploit the physicality. We aren’t exploiting it. We’re being guarded in a way that should be illegal, but we’re not putting the referees in a position to let them see it.”
“… If we’re able to do that, then you’re going to be able to play against physicality and have success. So these two games are good for us for sure. And we’ll have to see if we can find it.”
Like the podcaster pointed out, the last two games have seen the Minnesota Lynx face two sides that played with quite an elevated degree of physicality. Their game against the Golden State Valkyries, a side that has gained quite a reputation for its defensive-minded and physical approach, ended in an 80-66 loss that snapped Minnesota’s six-game winning streak.
The Valkyries completely disrupted Minnesota’s rhythm, forcing 17 turnovers that translated directly into 12 steals. They also held the Lynx to a rough 36% shooting from the field. In fact, the core trio of Napheesa Collier, Olivia Miles, and Kayla McBride, who typically carry the offensive load, were also hounded into shooting a combined 9-for-33.
The subsequent game, which was the most recent 89-81 loss against the Atlanta Dream, did not appear to be as intense as the Valkyries game, but the Lynx still failed to overcome the current No. 4 seed.
It was also bad news for the Minnesota Lynx’s quest to secure the No. 1 seed and secure home advantage. The Lynx would’ve been well on their way to securing the home-court advantage had they beaten the Golden State Valkyries.
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Unfortunately, after the loss against the Dream, they’ve once again let that chance slip.
For now, Cheryl Reeve will have the entire 17-day WNBA break due to the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup to regroup and study what went wrong in these two games. After the league resumes on September 17, they’ll take on the New York Liberty on September 18, who have beaten them earlier in the season.
However, she believes that this is always going to be the pattern expected in intense games like the playoffs. And the way she sees it, this was actually a good game, as it prepares the team for what is ahead. Now the question is whether the Lynx can secure the No. 1 seed with four games remaining in their schedule.