Colliding with two defenders on a drive to the hoop midway through the third quarter, Napheesa Collier fell hard to the floor as the ball was blocked out of bounds.
The Target Center crowd voiced its displeasure at the lack of a foul call when a replay was shown.
Off the inbounds, Collier simply took a pass from Courtney Williams and scored on a layup.
Yep, Phee is back. And playing like she hasn’t missed a beat.
Collier scored 32 points, grabbed nine rebounds and had two steals in her return after missing seven games with a sprained right ankle and the Lynx topped Indiana 97-84 Sunday.
“It definitely felt good. I felt like I had to knock a little bit of the rust off, but more than anything it just felt so good to be back with the team,” said Collier. She finished 11 of 16 from the field and was one basket shy of tying her season high of 34 points.
“Could always imagine more. She’s that darn good,” coach Cheryl Reeve said with a smirk. “Having her play kind of makes it easier for everybody else to kind of settle back into a role, things we like to do.”
Added Williams: “It feels good to have Phee back, and it showed.”
Playing at full strength, Minnesota shot 57.1% both overall (36-63) and from 3-point range (12-21), had 28 assists on 36 baskets and made 13 of 14 free throws.
At 30-7, Minnesota’s magic number to secure home court throughout the postseason is now two. The 30 wins ties last year’s team for the franchise record for wins in a season.
And with this team now at full strength?
“We been a problem, now we really a problem,” Williams said with a big smile.
“It’s a good time to be a Lynx,” Collier said.
Following a 14-point first half, Collier hit a jumper and a 3-pointer in the opening minutes of the second half for a 57-45 Minnesota lead.
The quintet of points capped a 16-0 Minnesota run around the break. Maria Kliundikova scored nine points in an 11-0 stretch to end the opening 20 minutes.
Kliundikova finished with a season-high 13 points off the bench — all in the second quarter — and the 6-foot-4 center created an interior presence Minnesota lacked early in allowing the Fever to open a 10-point lead in the opening quarter.
“She gave us great minutes with what she was able to do on both ends of the court. She’s so long so on defense it’s so hard to get shots around her, she’s a problem for the post players and gives them a different kind of look as well. And on offense she’s so versatile,” Collier said.
“We don’t want to limit her in any way, we just want her to play,” added Reeve.
In addition to no turnovers and a key late block, Williams finished with 14 points and 10 assists, the latter of which gives her a franchise-record 230 for the season, surpassing the 221 she had last season.
That included a quarterback-type pass to Alanna Smith for a fast-break layup and 93-78 lead with 3:05 left, much to the delight of most of the 15,124 in attendance. Based on apparel, many of whom surely bought tickets to see Caitlin Clark, but the Fever guard remains out with a groin injury.
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