PHOENIX — The No. 1 seed Minnesota Lynx will be without their star forward Napheesa Collier for Game 4 of the WNBA semifinals, the team announced Saturday.
Collier went down with a left ankle injury with 21.8 seconds remaining in a Game 3 loss to the Phoenix Mercury. Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said afterward Collier ‘probably has a fracture.’ Reeve was also suspended Saturday for her rant against the officiating postgame.
‘When you let the physicality happen, people get hurt, there’s fights and this is the look that our league wants for some reason,’ Reeve said. ‘One of the best players in the league shot zero free throws. Zero. And she had five fouls … She got her shoulder pulled out and finished the game with her leg being taken out.’
The Mercury lead the best-of-five series two games to one and would advance to the WNBA Finals with a victory Sunday at PHX Arena (8 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Here’s what we know about Collier’s injury:
Is Napheesa Collier playing vs. Mercury on Sunday?
The Minnesota Lynx announced Napheesa Collier will not play Sunday in Game 4 of the semifinals.
Napheesa Collier injury timeline
Collier’s injury happened when Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas cleanly swiped the ball from Collier with 23.8 seconds left in Game 3 as the Mercury led 82-76. Thomas appeared to make contact with Collier’s knee, resulting in Collier turning her left ankle. Collier went down clutching her ankle and did not return. No foul was called on the play, infuriating Reeve and leading to her second technical foul and subsequent ejection.
Collier was previously sidelined for seven games with a right ankle sprain after landing awkwardly in Minnesota’s blowout victory over the Las Vegas Aces on Aug. 2. Minnesota went 5-2 during that stretch.The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
