Lynx enter All-Star break with WNBA’s best record after cruising past Mercury 79-66

The home crowd at Target Center carried a notably higher pitch Wednesday.

Swaths of local children filled the stands for the Lynx’s annual camp game. They cheered (or, rather, screeched) for their hometown team and belted along to Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club” and Travis Scott’s “FE!N” in a slightly off-key chorus. The Lynx starters, taking in the scene from the bench before tip-off, chuckled.

The young campers in attendance had plenty to cheer about on Wednesday afternoon as the Lynx dismantled the Phoenix Mercury, 79-66, in front of a crowd of over 16,000.

Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve shouted out the level of engagement from the young fans after the win.

“[Assistant Lindsay Whalen] was especially impressed with them knowing the words to every song that was played,” Reeve said. “They gave us energy ... we got to hit our non-camp day fans and say, ‘Hey, you need to take a lesson there.’ That was impressive what they were doing and it fired our players up.”

The Lynx are a league-best 20-4 heading into Saturday’s All-Star Game in Indianapolis. The Mercury dropped to 15-7.

Wednesday was an all-around team performance for the Lynx, with all 10 active players recording points. Shooting guard Kayla McBride, fresh off her late addition to the All-Star roster on Tuesday, led the way for Minnesota with 18 points.

“We go to war every day for each other, with each other,” McBride said, “so to have this inflection point of, we’re all here at the All-Star game together and having this great season we’re having ... it’s just a cool inflection point for our organization.”

Fellow All-Stars Courtney Williams and Napheesa Collier combined for 22 points and 12 rebounds. Williams also added five assists, and Jessica Shepard had a team-high eight rebounds.

The Lynx ripped off a 14-3 run to close the first quarter. The bench was responsible for the last five baskets of that run, with Diamond Miller, Shepard and Maria Kliundikova attacking the rim through dribble drives and interior feeds.

Phoenix, facing an 11-point deficit, responded by outscoring the Lynx 10-4 to start the second quarter. The Mercury continued to claw back in bits and pieces, led by All-Star Alyssa Thomas and her fiancée DeWanna Bonner. The couple scored or assisted on all but one field goal in the second quarter, helping cut the Mercury’s deficit to two points with under a minute left in the half.

McBride drew a foul soon after and sank both free throws, giving the Lynx a 37-33 halftime edge.

The Lynx found a bit more separation midway through the third quarter when two straight dishes from Williams to Collier extended the lead to 48-41. From there, Alanna Smith and Bridget Carleton knocked down back-to-back threes to put the Lynx ahead by 13.

Chants of “Whose house? Our house!” began to erupt from the home crowd as the Lynx closed out the third quarter with a Collier three-pointer and Shepard putback tip-in at the buzzer.

That pushed Minnesota ahead 64-49 after three quarters.

The Lynx had been here before — a comfortable lead late against the Mercury — just a week ago. Last Wednesday on the road, the Lynx collapsed in the final minutes, giving up a season-high 27 fourth-quarter points as Thomas went on a trademark late-game surge, part of her 29-point career-high performance.

This time around, the Lynx were ready. Minnesota’s defense held strong, limiting the Mercury to 15 points in the final quarter to close out the win.

After the game, Shepard shouted out Collier for her defense on Thomas, who scored a team-high 12 points but was limited to 5-of-16 shooting.

“We had a different game plan the first time we played them, but Phee did a great job of being physical,” Shepard said. “Obviously, A.T. is a very physically gifted player, but I think Phee was able to frustrate her a bit with her length.”