The Minnesota Lynx’s afternoon in Las Vegas was going completely till the closing seconds of the third quarter, when MVP frontrunner Napheesa Collier limped off the courtroom with an obvious ankle damage. Although the Lynx nonetheless cruised to a 111-58 win over the Aces — the biggest street victory in WNBA historical past and second-largest total — the outcome means little after Collier’s damage.
As time wound down within the third quarter, the Lynx had been out on a fastbreak seeking to prolong their 43-point lead. Natisha Hiedeman went up for a layup that didn’t go down, and Collier stepped on Alanna Smith’s foot whereas trailing the play. Collier’s ankle rolled severely and she or he instantly collapsed to the bottom.
The Lynx referred to as a timeout to cease the sport, and Collier tried to face up with the help of Jessica Shepard and Aces star A’ja Wilson. Nevertheless, the ache was an excessive amount of and Collier sat again down as soon as the Lynx’s athletic coach arrived on the scene. Finally, Collier was capable of get to her ft and hobble off the courtroom with the assistance of the coach. She instantly went to the locker room and didn’t return.
It is too early to say how lengthy Collier could also be sidelined, however the early indicators weren’t good. There will likely be loads of questions on why she was nonetheless within the recreation contemplating the time and rating, however there’s nothing the Lynx can do about that now. They will must hope that the damage seemed worse than it really was.
After Saturday’s win, the Lynx improved to 24-5 and prolonged their lead over the New York Liberty within the race for the No. 1 total seed to 6 video games. With simply 15 video games remaining within the common season, the Lynx ought to have greater than sufficient of a cushion to earn homecourt benefit all through the playoffs even when Collier faces a protracted spell on the sidelines.
On the flip aspect, the truth that there’s solely six weeks remaining within the common season means there’s much less time for Collier to not solely get better, however return to motion and regain a rhythm earlier than the playoffs begin ought to she miss prolonged time. The Lynx hope to compete for a title after shedding to the Liberty within the Finals final season in heartbreaking trend. To take action, they will want Collier at full energy.
Zooming out, Collier’s damage throws a possible wrench in a number of award races. Most notably, Collier entered Saturday averaging 23.8 factors, 7.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.7 blocks on 53.7% taking pictures and was the clear favourite to win MVP. She was additionally a number one candidate for Defensive Participant of the 12 months, an honor she received final season. Ought to Collier be sidelined for an prolonged interval, there’s simply sufficient time left within the season for different gamers to make their case.