Indiana Fever have no answer for Napheesa Collier in loss to Lynx

MINNEAPOLIS — The Indiana Fever dropped its rematch to the Minnesota Lynx, 90-80, at the Target Center on Saturday night, breaking Indiana’s two-game win streak.

The Lynx clinched a playoff spot with the win, while the Fever dropped to 13-16 on the season. Indiana is still in seventh place in the WNBA standings, ahead of the Sky, who are 11-17.

‘Pace and passing’:Lynx coach reveals Caitlin Clark’s biggest assets for Fever

Here are three observations:

Fever can’t match MVP candidate Napheesa Collier

The first time the Fever were in the Target Center, they got a commanding victory over one of the top-3 teams in the league. It was part of the turnaround for the Fever, who are now firmly in playoff position.

It was a good win for the Fever — a surprising one that rejuvenated them. But it also came as the Lynx’s best player and league MVP candidate, Napheesa Collier, was out with a foot injury.

This time around, she was fully healthy — and it didn’t even look like it was her third game in four days. Collier was coming off of a 23-point, 18-rebound effort to lead the Lynx to a win over the Las Vegas Aces, and she had more to give on Saturday.

Collier stymied the Fever’s defense, with the coaching staff putting multiple players on the Lynx star. No one could keep her at bay, as she scored 31 points on 12-of-18 shooting in 35 minutes to lead Minnesota to a 10-point win.

Temi Fagbenle returns to rotation

Fever forward Temi Fagbenle started the season with a lot of potential to start the season — she impressed as a training camp invitee, earning a spot on the roster and then cracked the starting lineup early in the season.

Then, she injured her foot, putting her out for a month. Right after she recovered from her foot injury, she suffered an injury to her thumb and was shut down just three games later. In all, heading into Saturday, Fagbenle had played just 11 games.

Finally, she could make it 12.

She had a wrap around her right thumb, but that didn’t stop her from immediately making an impact defensively. The Fever’s defense was noticeably better when Fagbenle, as well as backup center Damiris Dantas, was on the floor. They erased a 12-point first-quarter deficit to go into halftime trailing by just one point.

Fagbenle, who took over NaLyssa Smith’s starting spot before her injury, quickly cut into Smith’s time on the court. Smith still started the game, but she ended up playing just 10 minutes. Fagbenle played 16 in her return from injury, going 2-of-4 from the field and grabbing five rebounds.

Lexie Hull gets significant minutes off the bench

Fever guard Lexie Hull has always been known as the Fever’s defensive maestro, typically taking the toughest defensive assignment. But Hull made a name for herself last Sunday on the offensive end, knocking down 6-of-7 3-pointers for a career-high 22 points in a win against the Storm.

Nearly a week later, that has translated into increased minutes for the third-year guard.

Hull ended up playing 25 minutes Saturday at the 3 against the Lynx; it took some minutes from starter Katie Lou Samuelson, who played just 14.

Hull continued to get a defensive threat, making sure her hands were in opponents faces and mainly taking on the job of guarding Collier and Lynx guard Kayla McBride. Multiple people, including Smith and Fagbenle, had the job of guarding Collier on Saturday night, as well.

How many points did Caitlin Clark score against Lynx?

Clark became the first rookie and the fastest player in WNBA history to get to 500+ points and 200+ assists in her career on Saturday night.

Clark ended the game with 23 points (8-of-18 shooting), eight assists, five rebounds and seven turnovers.