Lynx fans, thanks for reading. I (Jason Gonzalez) will be filling in for Roman over the next few days. Please drop me an e-mail at jason.gonzalez@startribune.com if you have any questions. Thanks.

The Lynx return to the court didn't come without a little bit of drama. After avoiding injury during the month-long gold-medal run with Team USA, Seimone Augustus hit the ground in pain during Friday night's 98-69 rout over the Washington Mystics.

Fellow USA teammate Maya Moore cringed when she saw the guard go down, but was relieved to learn it wasn't anything serious. She, like everyone else in the Lynx locker room, understands the value of one of the WNBA's leading scorers and top Olympians.

"A little bit," Moore said about holding her breath after the play. "But she said she was OK."

Augustus was more than OK in the locker room following the impressive return to the WNBA season. She said, if necessary, she could have returned to the game despite rolling her right ankle in the third quarter. But the 20 points she had already contributed were plenty.

"I came down on the defender's foot," Augustus said. "I re-taped it and I'll be fine. I would have come back."

There was no need for the two-time gold medalist to rush back with the Lynx comfortably maintaining a double-digit lead that kept up with their WNBA-best scoring average.

"I told our players it was just really fun to watch," Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. "It was everything I hoped it would be in that game coming back."

Link to game story: www.startribune.com/sports/lynx/166608506.html

JASON GONZALEZ