Collier propels Lynx to Finals: ‘A lot of work to do’

MINNEAPOLIS — As fans cheered and exchanged high-fives around her, Napheesa Collier ran toward the front row and wrapped former Minnesota Lynx star Lindsay Whalen in a bear hug. Then, she danced with her teammates as Kool & The Gang’s “Celebration” echoed throughout the Target Center.

Collier added another triumph to her burgeoning legacy, leading a blue-collar collection of talent to the WNBA Finals with Tuesday night’s 88-77 victory over the Connecticut Sun in Game 5. The Lynx will face the New York Liberty for the championship, stamping a new chapter for a franchise that dominated the WNBA during a run of four titles from 2011 to 2017 but will be making its first Finals appearance since.

“The fact that we have worked so hard and we genuinely just like each other so much, it just makes it all sweeter,” said Collier, who finished with 27 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 blocks. “It makes you want to win for them, too. It’s not just like you want to get the accolade of winning a championship. You want to do it for your teammates as well. I think that makes the ride so much sweeter. We want to keep playing because we want to stay together.”

Minneapolis is a town full of young sports stars, but Collier is the queen now. Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards and Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson are two of the best players in their respective leagues, but only Collier can boast that she has led her team to the brink of a championship.

Throughout the playoffs, Collier been fearless. In the first round, she said she wanted to retire Phoenix Mercury star Diana Taurasi, who had toyed with the possibility of ending her decorated career throughout the 2024 season. Collier scored 42 points in Game 2 of that series, tying a WNBA postseason record. She also said she planned to challenge A’ja Wilson next season for the MVP award, and now she will tussle with a Liberty squad that beat Wilson and the Las Vegas Aces in the semifinals.

“She’s skilled,” Sun head coach Stephanie White said of Collier. “She has got incredible footwork, her pace, her poise. She doesn’t get rushed. You think about how she played in college and just the development to become a guard, essentially. She shoots the 3. She attacks off the bounce. She’s got great post moves. She’s got great touch around the rim. She’s just the combination of everything you’d want in a player.”

As a child, Collier watched Maya Moore and tried to emulate her hometown hero who, like her, grew up in Jefferson City, Missouri, and played at UConn. But Moore competed with a team full of future Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame athletes, as they won four WNBA titles together. As a result, the jerseys of Moore, Whalen, Rebekkah Brunson and Seimone Augustus are retired and hanging in the rafters of the Target Center, a tangible symbol that the Lynx once ran this league.

But Collier, who was picked sixth in the 2019 WNBA draft, anchored a group this season that lacked that collective star power. The grit, chemistry and versatility of the top 3-point shooting team and the No. 2 defensive crew in the WNBA, however, were the key traits on a memorable run to the Finals, perhaps the most impressive journey of coach Cheryl Reeve’s career.

The Atlanta Dream cut Courtney Williams, who finished with 24 points Tuesday, in 2021. That same year, the Sun released Bridget Carleton (44.4% from 3 line this season) after just four appearances with the franchise. And the Indiana Fever cut Alanna Smith (seven points, two blocks in Game 5), who made just one start in the first four years of her WNBA career.

“We didn’t scare anybody,” Reeve said. “I’m not sure that anybody at any point in the season was like, ‘Yeah, they have a real shot at winning a championship’ other than the people that are in our corner. And I think we’re continuing to have to make believers.”

The Lynx got off to a blistering start Tuesday. They grabbed control when Kayla McBride (19 points) hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give Minnesota an 11-point lead late in the first quarter, held her arms out and looked at the crowd, as if to ask, “Are you not entertained?” And they piled on when Williams connected on a 3-pointer and drew a foul on Dijonai Carrington late in the second quarter. After she made her free throw to complete the four-point play, the Lynx led 48-30 with 1:59 left in the half.

The Sun had given up 53 points by halftime and entered the break with a 19-point deficit, both season highs for the No. 1 defense in the WNBA.

“I can’t even tell you what happened,” Sun star DeWanna Bonner said. “I think they just kind of punched us in the face and we got shell-shocked. We couldn’t fight back.”

The fast-paced, energized brand of basketball the Lynx played Tuesday appears more capable of manufacturing an upset at the Barclays Center next week than the Sun’s methodical, defensive approach.

The task ahead will not resemble anything the Lynx have faced in the playoffs thus far, though. The Liberty are playing their best basketball, and the Aces had few answers for Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu.

With Collier at the helm, however, the odds have not mattered much to the Lynx this season. They have a 3-1 record against the Liberty this season, with Collier averaging 17.2 points in those four games.

“It is really gratifying to be here, but we have a lot of work to do yet,” Collier said. “It feels good. I think we’re enjoying the ride. I mean, it’d be nice to close [the WNBA Finals] out in three [games] and not have to go to five to stay together.”

Reeve interrupted.

“That’s where you have to cut her off,” the coach joked.

The problem in the playoffs thus far, however, is that no team has been able to do that to Collier.