The Minnesota Lynx have now lost four of their last five games, including their most recent 96-77 loss to the Indiana Fever. With this string of results, it is definitely safe to say that the team is not in the best form heading into the playoffs. However, how they lost to the Fever has now raised some interesting questions among fans, one of which was discussed by WNBA analyst Zena Keita.
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Speaking on Wednesday’s episode of No Offseason: The Athletic Women’s Basketball Show, she discussed why some people might think the Minnesota Lynx intentionally threw the game to manipulate the playoff seeding.
“Cheryl Reeve benched her entire starting unit in the second half and let the bench kind of put in the work, but it if anything, it caused some conspiracy theories.”
“People are thinking… Were the Lynx angling for the two seed? Were they trying to avoid some smoke?… And were they trying to put themselves in a favorable position matchup against a team that they feel more comfortable beating?” Keita said on the podcast.
“It was interesting to see, especially with the fact that Dallas at this point was in the seventh seed. It’s a lot easier for the Valkyries to look at the Wings that they went 3-0 during the season to say maybe that’s who we want to play. The Lynx probably feel the same way, because they also went undefeated. So yeah, it makes sense to think that maybe the two seed was a great place to be,” she added.
The Minnesota Lynx, at one point in the second quarter, were losing by 29 points, even with their starters on the court. So, to a large extent, the loss also speaks to how the Indiana Fever performed. However, the reason such a theory gained ground among the community was the fact that coach Reeve decided to bench her starters in the second half, when many would have expected them to chase the game and gun for a comeback.
Reeve had a different explanation for taking that decision.
“It was apparent that maybe rest was a better option, with playoffs starting on Sunday. We thought that first group would be better served [by] saving legs and not chasing a win that wasn’t going to happen,”
At the time coach Reeve made the choice to play her reserve players, it still seemed like the No. 1 seed was on the line if they had lost. Cheryl Reeve herself confirming that her decision to take off her starters was deliberate, as she believed it was better to rest them than to chase an already lost game, didn’t help.
Although the Lynx locked in the No. 1 seed because the Golden State Valkyries unexpectedly lost to No. 9 Portland Fire in overtime, the Valkyries were on track to clinch the No. 1 seed themselves.
The Valkyries entered the Fire game on a six-game win streak and were expected to beat Portland, who didn’t even qualify for the playoffs. However, it was more than the Fire playing spoiler to Golden State that took away from the conspiracy angle that Keita discussed.
The Lynx’s bench players came in and actually mounted a threatening chase to get back into the game. They came into the third quarter and went on a blistering 18-0 run, eventually cutting the lead to seven and winning the quarter 30-14.
The reality now is that the Minnesota Lynx are locked into the No. 1 seed, even if they lose their replay against the Indiana Fever. They will now have to play the New York Liberty.
While the Liberty themselves tried to avoid the 8th seed by getting the better of the Atlanta Dream, it was the Dream who maintained their 4th seed. So it’s the Lynx and the Liberty teams that are now set for a highly anticipated rematch of their dramatic 2024 WNBA Finals series, but in the first round of this year’s playoffs.