Many of her teammates played a full season overseas since the Minnesota Lynx were last in action.

Diamond Miller, meanwhile, played one game in Hungary, her time overseas cut short by needing knee surgery.

The second-overall pick in the 2023 WNBA draft, Miller anticipated spending the offseason working hard to further develop her game after a rookie campaign that saw her average 12.1 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 26.1 minutes per game in 33 contests and be named to the league’s All-Rookie Team, along with center Dorka Juhász.

Instead, Miller took a long-term career view of having the surgery versus trying to play through the problem.

“This is the best I’ve been feeling since the surgery,” the second year forward said Sunday on the opening day of Lynx training camp. “We’re just constantly working through it, constantly talking to my doctors, talking to (Trainer) Chuck (Barta) doing what I need to do off the court to make sure I can play on the court.”

It took about six months for Miller to get prepared for the rigors of the upcoming 40-game season; that included dribbling while sitting.

“It’s definitely tricky when you’re injured (and) you’re not capable of playing to your full abilities, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get better, it doesn’t mean you can’t work on the
game, it’s just modified,” she said.

If one didn’t know, coach Cheryl Reeve said you couldn’t tell Miller is coming off surgery.

“Players like Diamond are so competitive,” Reeve said. “Diamond hasn’t played in a very long time, but players like that think they can get right back to where they were the last time they played. I think she looks very good. She did everything.”

The Lynx open the regular season on May 14 in Seattle, three days before the teams meet in Minnesota’s first home game. However, the Lynx have their lone home preseason game on Friday.

Backcourt stabilization

Kayla McBride should again start at shooting guard, but the point guard position has been bolstered by the acquisitions of veteran guards Natisha Hiedeman and Courtney Williams.

For Williams, the energy Minnesota showed in wanting her, was key in her wanting to sign with the Lynx as a free agent for her ninth season. The Lynx facilities are also a plus.

“It’s top tier,” she said. “It makes you want to get in the gym, it makes you want to get better.”

Williams started every game the past three seasons for Atlanta (2021), Connecticut (2022) and Chicago (2023). For her career, she’s averaged 12.1 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.

“We really needed Courtney, just her energy, her effort, her intangibles that are not always on the stat sheet, is something that she brings to the table, and it’s something us young cats
constantly need,” Miller said.

Williams knows she’ll be a “talker” on the team.

“I like to show up every day and run my mouth, so I can lead by example,” she said as Miller stood beside laughing. “I’m definitely going to be a voice so she can see it and everybody else can hear and feel it, as well.”

Hiedeman, a five-year veteran acquired from Connecticut via trade, started 40 games for the Sun last season, averaging 8.5 points and 2.7 assists. She is a career 39.2% 3-point shooter, an area where Minnesota struggled last season.

Reeve sees more than just an offensive upgrade with the new additions.

“The defensive side of having some athleticism and speed means we’re going to be able to dictate a little bit more, be a little bit more bothersome at the point of a team’s offense,” Reeve said. “The ability to penetrate and get to the 3-ball there were some really good moments with that today.”

ANAHEIM, Calif. >> For the first three innings of Sunday’s game, the Twins’ offense was held quiet. While that might have been a cause for concern earlier this season, these days, it’s impossible to keep Minnesota down for too long.

The suddenly surging Twins offense broke out in the middle innings of Sunday’s game on the way to the team’s major league-leading seventh straight win. With a11-5 win against the Los Angeles Angels, Minnesota finished a second-straight series sweep and is now over .500 at 14-13.

For the second straight day, the Twins scored double-digit runs and collected 17 hits. Four different players — Ryan Jeffers, Jose Miranda, Christian Vázquez and Willi Castro — finished with three hits apiece.

Miranda, who hit a pair of doubles, drove in the Twins’ first run of the day in the fourth inning, bringing home Byron Buxton, who reached on an Angels’ error, one of three on the day for Los Angeles.

An inning later, the Twins broke through against Angels starter Reid Detmers when rookie Austin Martin capped off a seven-pitch at-bat that saw him go from down 0-2 to working the count full before singling in two runs. Two more runs scored in the inning, giving the Twins a healthy cushion.

It was needed because things came crashing down around Twins starter Pablo López. López, who saw his velocity dip a couple miles per hour in his last start, erased concerns about that by averaging 96.4 mph on his four-seam fastball. He struck out six of the first nine batters he faced and retired 14 straight before he ran into trouble.

With two outs in the fifth, a Logan O’Hoppe double marked the first Angels baserunner of the day against López. Jo Adell followed with a double of his own and the next two batters, Luis Rengifo and Nolan Schanuel, homered. The laborious inning brought the Angels (10-18) back within a run and ended the starter’s day.

Though the game became close briefly, Minnesota was able to tack on late. The Twins were 1 for 19 on the season with the bases loaded before Alex Kirilloff’s pinch-hit, ground-rule double in the seventh inning broke things open once more, pushing Minnesota’s lead back to three runs.

The Twins added another pair of runs in the seventh and two more in the eighth to put the game out of reach and send them back to the Midwest as winners of seven straight.

Phoenix’s lack of a traditional point guard in this series has seemingly played a role in the Suns’ demise.

Minnesota’s defensive pressure has the Suns in a constant state of disarray. And there’s no natural floor general to restore order. Bradley Beal and Devin Booker are generally tasked with getting Phoenix into its offense. But that’s proving taxing for two of the Suns’ three star players, as they’ve consistently been harassed by the likes of Jaden McDaniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker. Every inch of space on the court is earned.

Those matchups played a role in Minnesota wearing down the Suns by the second half of each of the first three contests heading into Sunday evening’s Game 4.

Yes, Phoenix probably could’ve used a point guard. But the lack of one is becoming a familiar sight around the NBA. Teams are passing up on floor generals in exchange for additional size and length.

“They play the more modern style of basketball. A lot of teams are going towards the five guys that can all be around the same size, and they can all handle the ball and try to playmake,” Wolves point guard Mike Conley said. “There is advantages to having a point guard, I still think, to having a traditional one. There’s a lot of smaller guards out there that are really smart, high IQ basketball players who can really help the game.”

Conley is evidence of that. His arrival in Minnesota at last year’s trade deadline stabilized the Timberwolves’ ship. He’s masterfully run a team that features a lot of mouths to feed and is a go-to option to get Minnesota into actions at important junctures.

The Timberwolves have leaned into a point guard-heavy approach at times throughout the season, even playing a three-point guard lineup of Conley, Monte Morris and Jordan McLaughlin in the latter half of the season.

But the roles of McLaughlin and Morris have reduced as the team’s rotation tightened in the playoffs. So, Minnesota’s de facto backup point guard has been Alexander-Walker. Like Booker and Beal, Alexander-Walker is far more wing than floor general.

But the 25-year-old is quickly evolving into a dream-like hybrid between the two. On top of everything he’s done in the series — serving as both a lockdown perimeter defender and a 3-point sharpshooter — Alexander-Walker has also tallied 12 assists to just three turnovers through the first three games.

Not bad for a guy playing on-the-ball for the first time in his playoff career. That, Alexander-Walker noted, is what’s different for him this year versus last year’s series against Denver.

“Last year, I didn’t really play as on-ball. Trying to be a leader, get guys into spots, knowing the offense the way Mike does. I think that’s what we’re doing well this year,” Alexander-Walker said. “When Mike had those minutes out, we were able to sustain leads and get good offense and generate good looks.”

Conley joked he’s “the reason (Alexander-Walker) is who he is today.”

But, actually.

“It’s not too far off from the truth,” Alexander-Walker said.

Alexander-Walker noted he’s had a great mentor and role model in Conley, who he’s played with dating back to their time in Utah.

“(I’m) picking his brain all the time. What is he seeing? Trying to talk to him as much as I can when he’s on the bench just to see if he’s getting a different look or feel so I can get the offense going but also be myself,” Alexander-Walker said. “I’m not going to be Mike, but … I learn from him and how to get our flow and pace going.”

That’s part of Conley’s magic. It’s reading the game and the team and adapting his play accordingly. Conley fills so many gaps the moment they appear.

“He’s someone who doesn’t really want to shoot the ball a lot. He keeps people together. And then when it’s time, you really see another version of Mike that people are surprised by,” Alexander-Walker said. “I always tell him, they don’t know it’s by choice. Mike is choosing to play this way, because he has this view of the bigger picture. Ultimately, it’s helped me. From when I got there in Utah, just how my game changed, I was just a young, eager guy trying to score on every possession.”

Now, he can add “legitimate playmaker” to his resume.

“Whatever the game kind of needs, he has really delivered, whether it be shot-making, or attacking a close out or running the point and then guarding,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “It’s just been incredible.”

That’s Conley-like praise. Conley — who’s 36 years old — is currently cemented as Minnesota’s starting point guard. But there has been a question for awhile as to who his heir-apparent will be.

It may very well be his current mentee.

“Nickeil has been great. He’s been taking some of my moves. He’s learning a little bit. You see those little sidestep 3s he does in the corner, the reads he makes,” Conley said. “It’s stuff that he’s worked on. He’s been preparing himself for this for years. I’m sure he’s going to take over one day and do his thing.”

BRIEFLY

Finch finished third in NBA Coach of the Year voting. Oklahoma City’s Mark Daigneault won the award, while Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley finished second. Finch received one first-place vote.

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