Path to the WNBA Finals: Minnesota Lynx
With a league-best 27-7 regular season record, the Minnesota Lynx head into the 2017 WNBA Playoffs as the top overall seed, and will now play the Los Angeles Sparks in the WNBA Finals best-of-five series.
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- After the Lynx won their first six games of the season, Head Coach Cheryl Reeve was named the WNBA Coach of the Month for May.
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- Center Sylvia Fowles was named the WNBA Western Conference Player of the Month as well. She averaged 20 points, 10.7 rebounds, 2.3 blocks, two steals, and one assist per game in the six games in May.
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- Forward Rebekkah Brunson moved into fifth all-time in Lynx scoring with 21 points in a 100-77 Lynx victory over the Seattle Storm. As of Sept. 7, she has accumulated 3,968 points in 14 seasons.
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- Lindsay Whalen passed Swin Cash as the winningest player in WNBA history in a win over the Washington Mystics. The win was her 295th in the league.
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- The Lynx extended their undefeated streak to nine games, before falling 98-93 to the Connecticut Sun.
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- Fowles was named the Western Conference Player of the Month again in June. She helped lead the Lynx to a WNBA-best 12-1 record, while leading the league in field goal percentage (66%), and ranked second in scoring (20.7 PPG), and rebounding (10.1 RPG). She was also third in steals (1.85 SPG) and blocks (1.77 BPG). At the time, she was the only player in the league to rank in the top five in all five categories.
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- In the first matchup of the season against the 2016 WNBA Champion Los Angeles Sparks, the Lynx won 88-77 at home. Fowles and Renee Montgomery led the team with 20 points each, while Fowles added 14 rebounds for a double-double.
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- Lynx players Maya Moore, Sylvia Folwes, Rebekkah Brunson, and Seimone Augustus, along with the Lynx coaching staff, represented the team in the 2017 WNBA All-Star Weekend in Seattle. Moore competed in the three-point competition, and was awarded All-Star Game MVP honors, with her 23 points in just 23 minutes on the floor. Brunson tallied 12 points and three rebounds, Fowles had eight points and five rebounds, and Augustus had four points and two boards.
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- The Lynx clinched a playoff berth just 21 games into the season, in a 93-82 victory over the Storm. Folwes (29 points), Moore (24 points), and Brunson (20 points) led the way for the Lynx in the victory.
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- For the third time this season and 10th time in her career, Fowles was named the Western Conference Player of the Month. The Lynx went 7-1 in July, led by Fowles’ conference-best 9.4 rebounds per game. She was second in the league in scoring (21.1 PPG), field goal percentage (71.7%), and blocked shots (2.38 BPG). Fowles scored at least 20 points in four of the eight games, finshing the month with two straight 29-point contests.
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- The Lynx reached a franchise best 20-2 record to begin the season after a 69-54 victory against the Atlanta Dream.
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- Minnesota set a new WNBA record in a 111-52 win over the Indiana Fever. The 59-point victory was the highest margin in league history. Six different Lynx players finished the game with double-digit point totals.
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- The middle of August brought a slump, where the Lynx dropped four of six games, including losses to the Fever, Sparks, Storm, and Liberty.
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- The team re-signed Sylvia Fowles to a multi-year contract extension.
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- The Lynx fell to the Sparks, losing the season series 2-1, but finished the season with three straight wins, clinching the league’s top seed and home court advantage throughout the WNBA Playoffs.
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- Seimone Augustus led the top-seeded Lynx to a 101-81 Game 1 victory. She finished the contest with a game-high 24 points, five rebounds, and three assists.
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- Sylvia Fowles was named the WNBA’s Most Valuable Player, before Game 2 of the semifinals. It was her first honor of her 10-year career.
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- The MVP led the way for the Lynx in Game 2, as Minnesota came out on top, 93-83. Fowles had a game-best 25 points, to go with nine rebounds and four assists.
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- Maya Moore led the team in Game 3, as the Lynx closed out the semifinals with an 81-70 victory. Moore had 21 points.
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- Minnesota now heads to its third straight WNBA Finals appearance, as the Lynx will take on the Los Angeles Sparks for the second year in a row. The Sparks, who won the title last season, won two of the teams’ three meetings this season.
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