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Getting back in the groove

Lynx hope to build on Thursday's victory in Connecticut

August 24, 2013 at 10:31PM
Minnesota's Devereaux Peters (14) looks to pass against the defense of New York's Toni Young (15) and Kamiko Williams (4) in the second half of the New York Liberty vs. Minnesota Lynx basketball game at Target Center on Sunday, August 18, 2013. The Lynx won the game 88-57.
Minnesota's Devereaux Peters (14) looks to pass against the defense of New York's Toni Young (15) and Kamiko Williams (4) in the second half of the New York Liberty vs. Minnesota Lynx basketball game at Target Center on Sunday, August 18, 2013. The Lynx won the game 88-57. (Tom Wallace — DML - STAR TRIBUNE/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

The Lynx are coming off a one-sided victory Thursday at Connecticut, a game in which the Minnesota offense operated as smoothly as it has all season. The Lynx became the first WNBA team two seasons to have four players with five or more assists. The team shot a season-high 57.6 percent.

And yet coach Cheryl Reeve is not yet convinced the team has pulled itself completely back together after having lost four of five games between Aug. 8 and Aug. 20.

"It's too soon to tell," Reeve said, as she watched her team prepare for tonight's game with Indiana at Target Center. "We're too close to that four out of five stretch. We'll know a lot more after today."

The Lynx are playing a Fever team that ended a three-game losing streak with a 17-point victory over San Antonio Wednesday. The Fever is 12-14. But this is a team – one that beat the Lynx in last year's WNBA finals – that always plays Minnesota tough, with a rough, physical defense. Games with the Fever are usually a grind, and Reeve is eager to see how the Lynx respond to playing such a team.

"Are we ready to handle teams that will punch you in the mouth, so to speak," she said. "Can we handle it and dish it out ourselves? Can we respond when it's the fourth quarter and a tie game?''

If the answer to those questions is yes, then Reeve will have some idea that the Wolves are back in the groove.

To be honest, Reeve said she, in some ways, saw this coming.

"We exerted a lot of energy to go 17-3, and we played great,'' she said. "At the All-Star break I think we lost our edge a little bit. That pouncing mentality, it faded. We weren't going up one more notch like we needed to. We talked about it, but we didn't do it."

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Meanwhile, tonight is the team's annual Breast Health Awareness Game, presented by the Edith Sanford Breast Cancer Foundation. The team will wear pink uniforms, which will be auctioned off to fans after the game ends to support breast cancer research.

I'll get back to you after the game. Have a good evening.

about the writer

about the writer

Kent Youngblood

Reporter

Kent Youngblood has covered sports for the Minnesota Star Tribune for more than 20 years.

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