Though there may have been brief moments when the Minnesota Lynx relinquished the top spot in the WNBA standings, there's no doubt who the best team in the league has been since day one of the 2026 campaign. Their recent 10-game win streak has simply added an exclamation point.
Tipping off the 10-game run, coach Cheryl Reeve became the WNBA's all-time winningest coach on July 8, 2026, surpassing Mike Thibault's previous record. She's currently at 389 regular-season victories.
With 13 games left on their schedule, the Lynx will take their streak into the second game of a four-game homestand on Thursday. They host the Los Angeles Sparks, fueled by the same type of momentum we saw from the reigning champion Las Vegas Aces last season.
The Aces won their final 16 games of the regular season before going 9-3 in the postseason to win the 2025 WNBA title.
Considering the Sparks traded away arguably the best player on their team just before the deadline, it's conceivable they've conceded this season to a rebuild, and the Lynx should have no trouble notching their 11th straight win.
10 years later and we’re on a 10-game win streak again. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/W1sG10dGO8
— Minnesota Lynx (@minnesotalynx) August 4, 2026
Phee-Nomenal
The most amazing thing about the Lynx during their dominant start to the season was that they held their own without perennial MVP candidate Napheesa Collier.
The Lynx went 21-6 while she continued to recover from offseason surgery on both ankles, outscoring teams by an average score of 91.7 to 83.1, as Reeve has gotten the most out of her roster behind a consistent offense based on constant movement, quick decisions, unselfish passing, and spacing rather than isolation basketball.
At the time, through July 20, the Lynx ranked second in the WNBA in scoring and field-goal percentage (.484), including the league's highest 3-point shooting percentage (.379).
Stepping in for Collier was offseason acquisition Natasha Howard, a 13-year veteran who is enjoying her fifth-best season in scoring and earned her third career All-Star selection.
Howard is scoring 15.5 points per game on a career-best .583 shooting percentage while grabbing a career third-highest 7.8 rebounds per game.
Her immediate impact during Collier's absence has allowed the Lynx to operate without disrupting the integrity of their veteran backcourt with Courtney Williams and Kayla McBride, and newcomer Olivia Miles.
The former Florida State star is third on the team in scoring and first in rebounding and has continued to play an integral role to help keep the Lynx's unblemished record during the streak intact.
And, since Collier's return, the Lynx are 4-0 and are averaging 99.5 points per game, nearly eight points more than what they averaged in their first 28 games.
Miles Ahead
And while Howard has been holding it down in the paint, Miles has been stealing headlines across the league and remains the frontrunner for Rookie of the Year.
The WNBA freshman leads the team with 19.7 points and 5.8 assists per game and is one of two Lynx regular-rotation players (20+ games) who are shooting better than 50 percent from the floor.
Miles has played in nine games during Minnesota's 10-game run and seen an uptick in her scoring average to 22.3 ppg. She's also recorded 6.1 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game.
The 23-year-old spark plug's combination of elite court vision, scoring efficiency, pace control, and basketball IQ has allowed her game to translate almost seamlessly from college to the professional level, quickly answering anyone who questioned whether she could consistently score against veteran professionals.
Miles looks nothing like a rookie when she attacks within the flow of the offense, finishes creatively around the basket, knocks down open jumpers, or punishes defenders who go under screens.
OLIVIA MILES TODAY 🔥
• 28 POINTS
• 6 ASSISTS
• 4 REBOUNDS
• 3/6 3PM
• 11/14 FG pic.twitter.com/5klBKxeokS— Women’s Hoops Network (@WomensHoops_USA) August 2, 2026
The Vets
It would be disrespectful to discuss the success of this year's team without mentioning one of the league's most experienced and intelligent guard groups, with Williams and McBride accompanying Miles during her initial WNBA journey.
Though Miles runs the offense, Williams controls tempo while creating opportunities for everyone else. The 11th-year veteran is scoring 15.3 points, grabbing 5.2 rebounds and dishing 4.2 assists per game. Her scoring clip is a career second-highest.
And the never-wavering McBride remains one of the league's deadliest perimeter shooters while embracing being one of the league's most underrated stars. The 13-year veteran is on the brink of a career-high in scoring with 17.8 points per game. She scored 18.2 points per game in 2018, when she was still with the Aces.
The tandem's scoring average is up nearly three points, to a combined 36.2 points per game, during Minnesota's 10-game spree.
Most impressively, behind Williams and McBride's guidance, the trio of guards rarely forces bad shots and consistently finds ways to make winning plays.
JAW DROPPING PLAY 😱
Olivia Miles with the insane through the legs dish to Kayla McBride for three!
TOR-MIN | League Pass
Tap to watch: https://t.co/eNsuCDf3wY pic.twitter.com/PAanqbdxId— WNBA (@WNBA) July 29, 2026
Favorites
Heading into Wednesday's action, the Lynx were the overwhelming favorites to win the WNBA title, sitting at -105 at FanDuel, with the closest contender being Las Vegas (+480).
If the playoffs started Wednesday, the No. 1 seed Lynx would open the postseason against the spunky eighth-seeded Washington Mystics (+12,500).
From there, the winner of that series would face the winner of a highly anticipated matchup between the fourth-place Dallas Wings and fifth-seeded Indiana Fever.
The remaining field on the other side of the bracket would consist of No. 2 Aces (+480), third-seeded Golden State Valkyries (+1,000), No. 6 Atlanta Dream (+900) and seventh-place New York Liberty (+1,100).
The Lynx are a combined 9-4 against teams in the current playoff landscape, including a cumulative 5-1 against the three teams they'd face in the first two rounds en route to the WNBA Finals.
W.G. Ramirez is a veteran sports writer from Las Vegas and a Senior Staff Writer at Ballislife.com. Follow him on X at @WillieGRamirez.
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