Diamond Miller’s timely points help Lynx rally past Vegas for chance at Commissioner’s Cup

The buzzword for the 2025 Lynx has been resilience. The ability to overcome a bad stretch, a bad quarter, a bad half.

Well, how about a tough year?

There was a reason why Diamond Miller was talking through tears after the Lynx came back from a tough first half for a 76-62 victory over Las Vegas Tuesday at Target Center. A victory, by the way, that clinched for the 11-1 Lynx the right to host Indiana in the Commissioner’s Cup championship July 1. A victory that came despite playing most of the second half without Napheesa Collier, who hurt her back.

“This moment means a lot to me,” Miller said after coming off the bench to score 12 points on 4-for-5 shooting, making both three-point attempts, providing a spark to a team that very much needed it. “Because it took a lot to get this. I work really hard and sometimes things don’t happen as quickly as you want it.”

Miller was the second overall pick in the 2023 draft. On a Lynx team that was resetting after the dynasty years, she started 32 games, averaged 12.1 points, was part of the league’s all-rookie team.

And then: A knee injury, off-season surgery. Miller worked to get back for the start of last season, but got hurt again. By the time she was healthy, the Lynx had gelled into a team headed for the WNBA finals and Miller watched much of that run from the bench.

Miller started this season in the same situation. But — as teammates Courtney Williams and Natisha Hiedeman said over and over after the game, patting Miller on the back — she kept working. She kept waiting.

Tuesday, an opportunity.

Coach Cheryl Reeve was looking for a spark for a team that was on its way to a season-low 30 first-half points. Midway through the second quarter she put Miller in. Moments later Miller hit a three for the Lynx, who had missed their first 11 three-point attempts. Miller had a team-best seven points in a 26-13 third quarter that turned a nine-point halftime deficit into a four-point lead.

Reeve said she felt a game like this coming from Miller for a while. It was brewing, she said. Tuesday the Lynx were struggling to get into the paint. Enter Miller.

“This momentum is something that Diamond’s had,” Reeve said. “And it came at a really good time for us.”

There were other reasons why the Lynx were able to double-up the Aces (5-6), who were playing without A’ja Wilson, in the second half. Hiedeman sparked the team with 12 points off the bench. Center Alanna Smith had a 10-point, 13-rebound double-double.

Williams, nicknamed Dory (after the cartoon fish with no short-term memory) had a very Dory game, scoring 18 of her 20 points in the second half; Williams was a minus-18 in the first half, a plus-22 in the second.

The Lynx played off their defense in the 46-23 second half, holding the Aces to 26.7% shooting on a night when 21 Vegas turnovers were turned into 27 Lynx points.

But Tuesday was Miller’s night.

“I’m so proud of her,” Williams said. “Because we see the work that Diamond puts in. She was huge, man. She gave me the boost I needed. She’s going to continue to get her opportunities, and she’s gonna show up.”

After the game there were tears. During it, celebration. At one point after a drive to the basket she had words for Vegas star Chelsea Gray. Another time she turned her joy toward the Lynx bench.

She has scored more points in a game this season. But she hasn’t had this type of impact.

“She has been through a lot,” Hiedeman said. “But her bringing her energy, being a good teammate despite all the stuff she’s been through? She just shows up, every day, with a smile on her face. I don’t know how she does that.”

It’s not easy.

“It’s really hard to be in my situation, where you don’t know what’s going to happen from game to game,” Miller said. “And still being resilient to be ready for your moment. God gave me the mental capacity to be ready for today.”