Anyone who's spoken to Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve knows two things: she has a good idea of what to expect from her troops after the first week in training camp, and she doesn't care about preseason rankings.
It's the latter she chuckles at, and likely did when many of this year's preseason rankings discounted the Lynx as one of the league's best, presumably on the belief that tough times loomed ahead without all-world talent Napheesa Collier.
Surprise! The Lynx (9-2) entered the weekend as the best team in the WNBA and added to that tally with an 88-68 win over the Seattle Storm to open Saturday action. The Dallas Wings are making their case as the No. 1 team, having improved to 7-3 after Friday's win in Los Angeles. But it's the Lynx who are riding a seven-game win streak, the longest earned in this young WNBA season.
Is it really a surprise? The Lynx are the only team with a regular-season winning percentage above .700 since 2024, sitting at .766 with a whopping 73-22 record. They're also the only team in that span with more than 70 wins.
So, what is making this team so good, again? While keeping in mind all of this being done without Collier in the lineup, here are three intangibles why the Lynx are the most dangerous team in the WNBA ...
MILES AHEAD
Rookie Olivia Miles has been the best rookie since the start of the season, end of story. And that is certainly no surprise with the type of veteran support she has around her. She can't go wrong with mentors like veterans like Nia Coffey, Natasha Howard, Courtney Williams, and Kayla McBride.
Entering the weekend the second overall pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft led all rookies in scoring (17.0), assists (6.4), steals (1.5) and efficiency (21.4). She kept up the pace with a 19-point (9-of-14 from the field) output on Saturday, pairing those tallies with six assists and rebounds each.
That was fresh off a career-high 28 points against defensive-minded Golden State on Thursday, which saw her shoot 8-of-11 from three-point range. She also turned in seven assists, four rebounds and three blocks and became the first Lynx rookie to achieve double-figures in scoring in each of her first 10 games. The eight threes were the most by a rookie in WNBA history, while she joined McBride as the only two Lynx players in franchise history to bury eight 3-pointers in a game.
"It's just a testament to my mindset and my confidence," Miles said after Thursday's win. "I think it's a lot of inner work to go in and believe in yourself and to constantly remind yourself that you deserve to be where you're at.
"But I think it's also a mix of the environment that I'm in, the support that I have here to let me be me and to go out there and hoop and be myself. It just allows me to be comfortable. Cheryl has my back, my teammates have my back, so it's just easy when you have that kind of support."
Olivia Miles today 🔥
• 19 points
• 6 rebounds
• 6 assists
• 9/14 FG pic.twitter.com/KBQltc2JmA— Women’s Hoops Network (@WomensHoops_USA) June 6, 2026
DEFENSIVE IDENTITY
The Lynx are undoubtedly the most balanced team in the league: following Saturday's win, they boasted the second-highest scoring offense with 90.3 points per game and the league's best scoring defense that yields 78.4 ppg. Those numbers are inflated and deflated during this win streak, averaging and allowing averages of 92.3 and 73.6 points respectively.
Yet even with four players averaging double figures in scoring, and two more contributing at least 8.3 a game, this is a team that is going to beat you by stopping you. Defense first will always be the mantra of championship teams, and the Lynx have come through and then some in the department. The trend continued against the Storm, as the Lynx limited their Saturday visitors to 35 percent from the field and forced more turnovers (23) than successful shots (22).
Counting Saturday's game, the Lynx has the best defensive rating (97.1), the second-best defensive rebound (28.3) and steal (8.2) outputs, and is fourth-best in blocks. Turning stops into points has been their specialty, as the Lynx were tied for No. 1 with 17.7 points off turnovers entering the weekend. That number no doubt went up after Saturday, as over a quarter of their points (25) came off takeaways.
"I think our identity is pretty strong in what we're doing," Reeve said after Thursday's win over Golden State. "We had Coffey setting records for blocking three-point shots. I just think of all these little things that happen every game that this team does every game. So, I think our identity is pretty strong. We know who we are."
UNEXPECTED X-FACTOR
Reeve admitted that if one is going to be part of her roster, there's a lot of pressure on a second-year player holding a roster spot. This year, it's huge considering where the team is at with its frontcourt: not only is it missing Collier but center Emma Čechová (season-ending torn ACL) and forward Dorka Juhász (wrist) have also been fallen by injuries.
"You've got to play, and you've got to be able to be productive and know what we're doing," Reeve said of her expectations for those who step up.
Enter Anastasiia Kosu, who's quietly been an x-factor by becoming efficient at the rim. She has transitioned her athleticism into physical dominance at times and has given the Lynx quality minutes off the bench.
The 6-foot-1 forward from Russia has appeared in all ten games. and has seen her minutes jump from 3.8 per game last season to 10 this year. Her points have more than doubled, going from 1.7 per contest as a rookie to 4.3 as a sophomore while holding an effective field goal percentage of 56.7. She has been particularly busy over the last three games, playing at least 13 minutes in each, the first yielding a 12-point, six-rebound box score in a 111-77 win in Phoenix on Monday.
"She's worked really, really hard, and she's taken a lot of grief as well," Reeve admitted. "We've all been on her because we know she can help us. For her, it's just locking in and understanding whatever the scheme is."
W.G. Ramirez is a 39-year veteran sports writer and 54-year resident of Southern Nevada who is a Senior Staff Writer at Ballislife.com. Follow him on X at @WillieGRamirez.
