As the regular season winds down, Tuesday’s meeting between the visiting Minnesota Lynx and Atlanta Dream in College Park, Ga., features teams in vastly different situations.
Minnesota (26-9) has already clinched a playoff berth, the club’s second straight and 13th in the last 14 seasons. The only gray area for the Lynx is what seed they will hold.
Currently in the No. 2 spot in the eight-team playoff with five games remaining, Minnesota sits three games behind the New York Liberty and one game ahead of the third-place Connecticut Sun entering play Tuesday.
The Lynx have won three in a row and 10 of 11, a spurt that began with a July 17 win over Atlanta.
Minnesota earned a 78-71 road victory over the Washington Mystics on Sunday. Napheesa Collier’s 19-point, 12-rebound effort propelled the Lynx to a four-game season sweep against Washington.
Minnesota shot just 40.9 percent from the field but held Washington to 32 second-half points and forced 16 turnovers.
Collier leads the team with 20.6 points per game and 9.8 rebounds, while Kayla McBride adds 15.3 points per game.
For Atlanta (12-23), every game is vital, as just one playoff spot remains. The Dream enter Tuesday one game behind the Chicago Sky for the final spot.
Following Friday’s 16-point comeback win against the Dallas Wings in overtime, Atlanta followed with another overtime game, falling to the Indiana Fever 104-100 on Sunday.
The loss spoiled Rhyne Howard’s 36-point showing as she became the third player in WNBA history to tally at least 30 points and four 3-pointers in three consecutive games.
Howard’s 18.1 points per game lead Atlanta, while Allisha Gray chips in 15.7. Tina Charles contributes 15.0 points and a team-leading 9.4 rebounds per game.
