Kayla McBride steps up in Napheesa Collier’s absence as Lynx pull away late to defeat Sparks 82-66

The Lynx had a one-point lead with 7 minutes left when Kayla McBride checked into the game for the last time Saturday night. With 1:20 left, she sat back down.

Here’s what happened in between: 15 points, four three-pointers, one three-point play.

Dominance.

“You don’t know when it’s coming, OK?” McBride said. “That’s the best part about it.”

McBride pushed the Lynx to an 82-66 victory over the Los Angeles Sparks at Target Center. At times it seemed she was doing it seemingly singlehandedly. McBride, who finished with 29 points, removed the suspense with a wave of her potent shooting hand. She turned a one-point game into a rout, helped keep the Lynx (12-1) alone atop the WNBA standings, treated the 8,777 fans at the team’s Pride Night to a quarter’s worth of vintage KMac.

With Napheesa Collier, the WNBA’s leading scorer, watching the game from the bench because of a sore lower back, McBride shook off two straight cold games with a big-time heater. She made five of six shots in the fourth quarter, four of five threes, both free throws. All within 5 minutes.

“Man, I was hype,” said Courtney Williams, who scored 18 points on 8-for-13 shooting — the starting Lynx backcourt combined to go 17-for-26, 7-for-12 on threes, for 47 points — with six assists. “When KMac gets it going, man, we are a dangerous team. Obviously, we knew it was gonna come.”

Without Collier the offense was a grind. Well, until it wasn’t. But the team’s trademark defense was there from start to finish. The Sparks scored just 66 points, never reached 20 in a quarter and shot under 37%.

It wasn’t all McBride. Williams was key, especially her defense on Kelsey Plum. Recently signed Maria Kliundikova, making only her second career start and her first since 2019, scored 12 points with eight rebounds, three steals and two blocks against the team that cut her in training camp. Her effectiveness in the pick and roll was a big reason why McBride found herself open late.

But Saturday was McBride’s night.

Here’s how it broke down:

• With 5:48 left she took a pass from Williams and hit a three. Lynx by four.

• With 5:12 left McBride drove the rim, scored, was fouled, hit the free throw. Lynx by seven.

• With 4:16 left Williams fed McBride for another three. Lynx by 10.

• Just 31 seconds later McBride hit another three. Lynx by 13.

• McBride’s three with 3 minutes left had the Lynx up 14.

The Lynx finished the game on a 24-7 run, fueled by McBride.

“This is KMac, this is what she does,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. “She knew this kind of game was just around the corner.”

BOXSCORE: Lynx 82, Los Angeles 66

WNBA standings

McBride entered the game having gone 0-for-12 on threes the previous two games. Saturday, she joked about the flak she was getting from sports bettors. But she’s a shooter, and shooters eventually come out of slumps.

“I’m at my best when I’m playing with joy and playing with this group,” she said. “And that’s all it was. I wanted to be on edge and be in that competitive mode. I wanted to bring that energy and have fun again.”

A joyful McBride is an effective McBride. Her 29 points was her season high and the most in 35 games, including playoffs, dating to last season.

“I’ve been doing this way too long to get bogged down by a couple of bad shooting nights,” McBride said. “I just wanted to, like I said, enjoy it.”