The Minnesota Lynx bounced back nicely for much of Friday.
Mixing success inside and outside the arc, often open shots set up by strong ball movement, and the most productive game of the season from their non-starters, the Lynx opened a 29-point first-half lead, overcame a third-quarter lull and beat Phoenix 95-71 in Target Center.
It was a balanced offensive attack.
Per usual, Napheesa Collier had another double-double, this time with 14 points and 11 rebounds, and fellow starter Courtney Williams had 11 points and five assists.
But this one was about the Lynx bench production. Minnesota’s reserves outscored the starters by five points.
“They do an amazing job every single game, so I’m glad we could help them out a little bit today. We’ve got to stay dangerous as a bench,” said Dorka Juhász.
Alissa Pili scored 20 points to lead the non-starters, Juhász added 13, and Cecilia Zandalasini netted a dozen.
That it happened on Native American Heritage Night was not lost on Pili, who is Samoan and Iñupiat.
“My support system has been huge and a big part of that is the Indigenous community. For them to have a night like (this) and have all those fans come out, it means a lot to just represent them because representation has been a huge thing for me as my platform has grown,” Pili said. “I’m just trying to do my best to be a role model for others and continue to impact people.”
Coach Cheryl Reeve could see this night coming for the team’s first-round pick in the April draft.
“There’s moments in practice where there’s really, really little things that I’ve been paying attention to that she’s doing, that she’s getting more assertive and I felt like her confidence has been growing. That opportunity came for her tonight. She made the most of it, so that’s very satisfying.”
Beginning the night leading the WNBA by shooting 45.4% from field, including 37.8% from deep, the Lynx (5-2) finished 49.3% and 40%, respectively. Minnesota shot a season-low 36.9% in Wednesday’s 14-point loss to Las Vegas.
Six players made 3-point shots, led by four from Pili and three from Williams. Collier, Zandalasini and Alanna Smith had two apiece.
Juhász said this game was personal.
“We wanted to come different than how we showed against the Aces. We didn’t really show our best offensive profile. We were fighting and scrambling around, but we know that we can do better and we’re a better team offensively than what we showed. … That’s the motivation that got us into that energy, and the way we came out it showed.”
Minnesota had a season-high 29 assists, including 19 on its 23 first-half made shots. Its previous high for a game was 27 in a double-overtime game two weeks ago.
The Lynx shot 70% in the second quarter, making five of seven shots from deep while outscoring Phoenix 34-19 for a 55-31 lead at intermission.
Minnesota’s bench scored the first 23 points of the quarter and outscored their Phoenix counterparts 50-10 for the game, the third most bench points in a game in Lynx history. The record is 57 in a July 2008 game.
Seeing her first action in three games, Pili had eight points in the rush, including a putback of her own miss and a straight-on 3-pointer that brought many of the 7,035 in attendance to their feet.
Zandalasini swished home a trey and a pair of long jumpers, and Juhász added six points. Nine Lynx players had at least three points in the first half.
Defensive rebounding issues by the Lynx gave Phoenix life in the third quarter — the Mercury had eight of their 10 offensive rebounds after just two in the first half — but the Mercury could only get within 15 points.
Kahleah Copper led Phoenix (3-5) with 21 points. The Mercury got 14 from 19-year veteran Diana Taurasi. Before the game, Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve called Taurasi the “Tom Brady of the WNBA.”