The Phoenix Mercury were blown out in the first quarter and looked to have a rough road ahead of them down by as much as 23, but they put up a valiant effort by taking the lead in the fourth quarter, ultimately falling short, however, 102-95 to the Minnesota Lynx in Game 1 of the WNBA Playoffs on Sunday afternoon. Napheesa Collier had herself a day, going off for 38 points, six rebounds and four assists for the Lynx (1-0). Kayla McBride added 20 points and Bridget Carleton tacked on 12 in the massive first round series opener Natasha Cloud put the Mercury (0-1) on her back with a gigantic 33-point performance and Diana Taurasi pitched in with 21.
Collier dominates, Mercury make it a game late In possibly the final postseason run of Taurasi’s 20-year career, Phoenix wanted to start off with a bang in Game 1, but the Lynx had other ideas. Making the Associated Press’ 2024 All-WNBA First Team and named the Defensive Player of the Year earlier on Sunday, Collier backed up why she has received as many accolades as she has while also being considered one of the best players in the league. After it was 7-6 Lynx near the beginning, Minnesota went on an explosive 17-2 run and set the tone.
Collier scored 13 points by herself while the Mercury as a team had 19, with Minnesota leading 32-19 at the end of the first quarter. “This is a team that puts you in a lot of different positions with their shooting and the way they move it [the ball] side-to-side. You kind of have a choice to.