Along the baseline of the Lynx court at Target Center, there are four WNBA trophies emblazoned on the hardwood. The last one is from 2017, a team of veterans that is no longer in the league.
Minnesota has a brand-new roster, but that same coach in Cheryl Reeve, and it started a new championship run Sunday afternoon in a 102-95 win over Phoenix.
Napheesa Collier scored a playoff career-high 38 points and after the Lynx blew an early 23-point lead, they rallied late to beat the Mercury in Game 1 of a best-of-three series.
Minnesota, the Western Conference champions and No. 2 seed, turned a 32-19 first-quarter lead into a 50-27 advantage with 5:35 left before halftime. Phoenix whittled nine points off its deficit, trailing 56-42 at intermission, and closed within 77-69 heading to the fourth quarter.
Kahleah Copper scored five points in a 10-2 run and her 3-pointer followed by two free throws by Brittney Griner gave seventh-seeded Phoenix its first lead since scoring the first four points of the game. Natasha Cloud’s layup put the Mercury on top 92-91 with 2:06 left to play, but Myisha Hines-Allen answered with a layup and Bridget Carleton hit a 3-pointer in a 9-0 spurt to pull out the victory.
Collier sank 11 of 19 shots from the floor with three 3-pointers and 13 of 14 free throws for Minnesota. She added six rebounds and four assists. Kayla McBride hit three 3-pointers and all seven of her foul shots, scoring 20. Carleton had 12 points, six boards and four assists, and Hines-Allen added 10 points, five rebounds and three assists off the bench.
Cloud had 33 points, matching her postseason high, and 10 assists to lead Phoenix. Diana Taurasi made half of her 10 3-point attempts and scored 21. Copper added 16 points, and Griner finished with 10 points and six rebounds.
Collier finished four points shy of Breanna Stewart’s playoff-record 42-point effort. Stewart scored 42 points while playing for the Seattle Storm in a 97-92 loss to the Las Vegas Aces in Game 4 of a Western Conference semifinal in 2022.
Collier, already a WNBA all-star and all-WNBA player, finished second to Las Vegas star A'ja Wilson in MVP voting. She's widely believed to be a frontrunner for the WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, and is stacking playoff success on top of all of that now.
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.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.