The Minnesota Lynx made their final preparations for the 2019 WNBA regular season on Sunday afternoon in Las Vegas when they faced off against the Las Vegas Aces in the final preseason game of the year.
And if they took anything away from the game on Sunday afternoon, it’s that the trade for Odyssey Sims that was made during the offseason may already be paying off.
Sims led the Lynx to a 79-75 comeback victory over the Aces at Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas with a team-high 25 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals in 25-plus minutes off the bench. Sims tallied 17 of her 25 points in the second half.
After Las Vegas jumped out to a near double-digit lead to start the game, Minnesota battled back into the game behind Sims’ six points and two assists in the first quarter to even things up at 19-19 after the first frame.
In the second quarter, the Aces continued to push the pace on the Lynx and stayed hot from the field to carry a 40-32 lead heading into halftime.
Las Vegas finished shooting 45.2 percent from the field in the first half. Minnesota, which was held scoreless in the final three-plus minutes of the first half, struggled from the field in shooting 30 percent, including going 3-of-12 from three.
In the second half, the Aces jumped out of halftime right where they left off in the first half, opening the quarter on an early 12-6 run to lead by as much as 14 points.
The Lynx ended up clawing their way back into the game in the third quarter behind the efforts of Sims off the bench. Sims scored 13 of her team-high 25 points during the quarter to help narrow the lead down to 59-58.
With just under six minutes left, Minnesota took its first lead of the game and didn’t look back en route to the comeback victory. A handful of late-game conversions capped off by a three from rookie Jessica Shepard with 15 seconds left put the game out of reach and led the Lynx to the win.
The Lynx, who made just three 3s in the first half, went on to shoot 10 of 29 from deep and tallied a 37 percent shooting percentage from the field in the victory. They outscored the Aces 47-35 in the second half.
For Minnesota in its final preseason game of the year, Sims lead the way in the win, followed by Sylvia Fowles with 12 points and seven rebounds and Lexie Brown with 10 points, seven assists and five rebounds. Damiris Dantas added eight points and four rebounds, Napheesa Collier had six points and three rebounds, Seimone Augustus had six points and three assists and Danielle Robinson added five points and four rebounds.
In its lone preseason game of the year, Las Vegas was led by Kayla McBride with 18 points and five assists, A’ja Wilson with 16 points and six rebounds and rookie Jackie Young with 16 points and four rebounds. Liz Cambage, who the organization acquired in a blockbuster trade with the Dallas Wings a few days ago, did not play in the game but was present on the team’s bench.
Minnesota, which finishes the preseason schedule with a perfect 3-0 record, will continue to narrow down its roster heading into the start of the regular season this weekend. The deadline for the final round of roster cuts is Thursday.
The Lynx will officially begin the regular season slate at 7 p.m. Saturday at Target Center when it hosts former assistant coach and newly hired head coach James Wade and the Chicago Sky in Minneapolis.
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