All of the sudden, the Minnesota Lynx are one of the hottest teams in the WNBA.
A little over a week ago, the talk surrounding the Lynx was focused on what was going wrong as the defending champions struggled early on in the season.
Minnesota appears to have figured that out and corrected whatever was wrong to start the year.
The Lynx rolled past the Las Vegas Aces 88-73 on Sunday evening at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. It was the first time Minnesota traveled to play in Las Vegas since the team relocated from San Antonio before the 2018 season.
With the win, the Lynx also extended their winning streak to four straight, which is the longest active winning streak in the WNBA.
Basically, from the time the ball was tipped up, Minnesota was sitting in the driver’s seat in Sunday’s win.
The Lynx began the game about as well as they could have hoped, going on an early 9-0 run and jumping out to a 21-11 lead after the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Las Vegas fought its way back into the game, cutting Minnesota’s lead to 39-33 heading into halftime. The Aces run was also due in part to the fact that Lynx center Sylvia Fowles was forced to sit for a majority of the second quarter in foul troubles.
Coming out of halftime, the Lynx did what they’ve done well all year long, stepping on the gas pedal in the third quarter.
In the third, Minnesota out-scored Las Vegas 32-20 to grab its largest lead of the game and not look back for the win.
Maya Moore led the way for the Lynx, finishing with 23 points on 8-of-17 shooting while also hauling in six rebounds. It’s the fourth straight game Moore has scored 20-plus points and the 110th time she has done so in her career, which passes Seimone Augustus’ 109 career 20-point games for most in Lynx franchise history.
Fowles ended up having a good game despite the first-half foul trouble, finishing with another double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds. Rebekkah Brunson and Augustus each tallied 11 points and Lindsay Whalen had four points, nine assists and four rebounds.
The bench duo of Cecilia Zandalasini and Danielle Robinson once again stepped up for the Lynx. Zandalasini continues to take advantage of an increase in playing time, logging nearly 18 minutes while recording seven points — all of which were scored in the first quarter. Robinson ended up with six points and three assists in 15-plus minutes.
The Lynx once again shot the ball well en route to the victory, shooting 55.1 percent from the field. Minnesota held Las Vegas to 41.4 percent, also outrebounding the Aces 36-29.
Sunday’s win moves the Lynx to 7-6 overall on the season, putting them above the .500-mark for the first time this year. Minnesota, which is now tied with Atlanta for sixth place, sits three games back of Los Angeles (10-3) for the top spot in the WNBA.
The Lynx will return home to host the Seattle Storm at 7 p.m. Tuesday night back at Target Center. It will be the first time this season that Minnesota will face former forward Natasha Howard, who was traded to Seattle during the free agency period this offseason.
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