Napheesa Collier scored 42 to tie a WNBA playoff record for points in a game, and the Minnesota Lynx swept the Phoenix Mercury 101-88 on Wednesday night.
Minnesota Lynx forward Bridget Carleton won third place in the WNBA’s Most Improved Player awards. She received 15 of the 67 votes from a national media panel.
Minnesota won three of four games — all by double digits — against Phoenix during the regular season. The Mercury beat the visiting Lynx 81-80 for their lone victory. The Lynx will host Game 2 at the Target Center on Wednesday. Phoenix will host Game 3 on Thursday if necessary.
More than half of the WNBA playoff seeds are set with the New York Liberty clinching the No. 1 seed. The Liberty topped the Washington Mystics on Tuesday night to earn homecourt throughout the playoffs for the second time in franchise history.
Minnesota Lynx could still earn the top overall seed after Sunday's win over New York. The Lynx trail the Liberty by two games and own the tiebreaker. Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever have clinched the sixth seed in the WNBA playoffs.
Napheesa Collier scored 20 points, and the Minnesota Lynx beat the Chicago Sky 83-66 for their fifth straight victory. Collier also grabbed eight rebounds for Minnesota, which has won 12 of 13 overall.
Napheesa Collier scored 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead five Minnesota players scoring in double figures and the Lynx beat the Washington Mystics 78-71 to win for the 10th times in 11 games.
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