Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve says her team did not respond well to a tough test against the Atlanta Dream as they suffered their first home loss of the season.
The Lynx had won all 14 of their games at home before Sunday, but suffered a 90-86 loss to the Dream thanks to a stellar performance from Brittney Griner.
They are now 14-1 at Target Center after an uncharacteristic defensive display, with Atlanta gaining the upper hand at the free throw line.
Napheesa Collier attempted to bring Minnesota back into the game, finishing with 32 points on 14-for-18 shooting and adding eight rebounds, seven assists, four steals and two blocked shots.
But it was not enough for the Lynx, and despite a strong finish to the game, Reeve was not impressed as the scoreline did not reflect it.
"I guess it's one of those that we're supposed to be excited [about] because we started scrambling and having a sense of urgency," Reeve said about the improved ending.
"Yeah, we didn't lie down, but that doesn't mean a whole lot to us. That's what you're supposed to do. We had bigger problems.
"We just didn't come to play defensively. We were really easy to play against in the first half, and offensively, we gave into their physicality. We just didn't handle it well.
"We had a bunch of long faces because it wasn't easy, and we just respond to hard very well at all."
Griner scored a season-high 22 points as she helped the Dream improve their record to 15-10, with Jordin Canada adding 18 and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough scoring 12 off the bench on 5-for-5 shooting.
Only one in her last five games has Griner failed to score double-digits, while her three assists on Sunday were her highest total during that run.
But she refused to take credit for her standout performance, acknowledging her team-mates’ influence.
"The first half of the season, if I had to grade myself, I probably would've given myself a pretty good grade, but I wanted to turn that up, play the ball I knew I could play," she said.
"My team-mates believe in me so much, I've got to give the credit to them for what I'm doing out there. I credit them for my success."
