Diamond Miller’s Outstanding Performance of 25 points and 5 Steals Helps Lynx Secure Third Consecutive Win against Mercury, 86-76

Despite having to navigate through foul troubles, Diamond Miller put up an exceptional show, hitting career highs with 25 points and five steals. Napheesa Collier also played a significant role, contributing 16 points and nine rebounds in their win against Phoenix Mercury with a score of 86-76. This Saturday night victory marks the Lynx’s third straight win.

Additionally, Rachel Banham had an impressive performance, achieving a season-high score of 13 points within just 15 minutes of playing time for Minnesota.

In a significant moment during the game, six different Lynx players contributed to a 13-2 run, establishing a comfortable 76-63 lead for Lynx with only five minutes remaining in the game. Subsequently, Phoenix lagged behind by a minimum of eight points.

Brittney Griner scored the highest for Phoenix with 23 points, 15 of which she earned in the first half, alongside Moriah Jefferson’s 14 points and a season-high of seven assists. Michaela Onyenwere, Moriah Jefferson, and Sug Sutton managed to add 10 points each, while Brianna Turner made a season-high 13 rebounds.

After an initial rough start to the season, Minnesota (7-9) has managed to string together consecutive victories over the Seattle Storm. The most recent win was courtesy of Collier’s short fadeaway jumper, which led the Lynx to a narrow 99-97 victory with a mere 1.8 seconds left in overtime.

Miller, a star player from Maryland and the second overall pick in this year’s draft, had a close call with her third personal when she fouled Moriah Jefferson. However, Jefferson successfully made the short jumper and the bonus free throw, narrowing down the Mercury’s lag to 34-31 with 3:43 remaining in the first half.

Lynx’s Tiffany Mitchell (wrist), Jessica Shepard (non-COVID illness), and Aerial Powers (ankle) were absent from the game. Shepard is currently leading the Lynx in field-goal percentage (53.2%), rebounds (9.2 per game), and assists (4.4). Powers and Shepard missed their seventh consecutive game, while Mitchell missed her third in a row.

Phoenix, despite being the team with the highest average turnovers per game (17.5), committed only 14 in the first half, which, unfortunately, cost them 15 points to Lynx. This setback led Phoenix to trail behind 46-37 at halftime. Eventually, Phoenix finished with a season-high of 22 turnovers, including 13 steals by Minnesota.

Phoenix (3-12) repeated a dubious record from 2003 of losing 12 of their initial 15 games.

After six consecutive losses and one win in 10 games, Mercury finally managed an 85-63 win against Indiana Fever under the leadership of Nikki Blue, the interim head coach. Blue replaced Vanessa Nygaard, who was terminated following a 97-74 road loss against Seattle Storm that marked the Mercury’s dismal 2-12 start to the season.

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