Whatever It Takes

We're talking the Lynx here, the whatever-it-takes, 7-and-0, unbeaten and perhaps unbeatable Lynx. They do what it takes.

Twice in their past 3 games, they took a huge early lead and coasted through the middle of the 3rd, when the opponent (Washington in one case, San Antone in the other) put on a huge rush and got right back into the ballgame. Whereupon the Lynx--everybody now!--DID WHAT IT TAKES.

Last night the Lynx took a 50-29 half-time lead and stretched it to 62-36 at 4:02 of the 3rd. The Silver Stars came back to within 79-70 but that was with just 43 seconds remaining. The Stars got within 4 but with just 1 second left. The final was 83-79.

Several nights before, the Lynx had led the Washington Mystics 51-31 at the half and 59-35 with 6:36 left in the 3rd, and in this case the Lynx were in danger of losing. Instead they rallied in the late going, and Lindsay Whalen scored on a put-back of her own miss with 1 second remaining for the 79-77 win.

In between the Connecticut Sun gave the Lynx a tough game for 3 quarters, leading 56-55 after 3. The Lynx responded to the challenge with a 30-16 4th quarter margin for a final score of 85-72.

Inn all 3 games, the Lynx out-shot their opponents by a wide margin but lost the possession game every time. The Lynx shot 50, 58 and 53 percent and a stellar 52, 61 and 57 percent from 2-point range. Their opponents shot just 48, 32 and 35 percent

But the offensive boards were a cumulative 41-34 in favor of the other guy, while turnovers were 49 for the Lynx versus 32 for the Mystics.

Seimone Augustus scored 51 points across the 3 wins, but Rebekkuh Brunson was the #1 star with 47 points and 30 boards. Whalen and Maya Moore scored 36 points each and Whalen had 22 assists.

Lynx Game Plan

Shoot out the lights √
Win the offensive boards X
Cut back on turnovers X

Imagine only achieving 1 of 3 objectives, and you're still 7-0. This team is going to be fiendishly difficult to beat.