Courtney

Williams

The Lynx backcourt tandem of Williams and Kayla McBride did what they could on Sunday, combining to score 51 points. However, the absence of Napheesa Collier (ankle) and Phoenix’s superior depth was too much to overcome, ending Minnesota’s season far earlier than expected. Minnesota’s top eight players in minutes per game, including Williams, will be unrestricted free agents, and there’s also an expansion draft (Portland and Toronto) to account for. Remaining in Minnesota would preserve Williams’ fantasy value, but the Lynx roster may look far different in 2026.

After a productive first couple of games in this semifinal series, Williams once again had a positive impact in several ways on Friday. Despite shooting inefficiently, the veteran guard was one of the Lynx’s top scorers in Game 3 — she shot inefficiently from inside the arc but made 40.0 percent of her attempts from deep. Williams also rebounded well and made some contributions as a facilitator. While Friday’s final stat line didn’t compare to the prior two games, Williams was impactful and will likely need to be even better in Game 4 on Sunday if the Lynx want to force a fifth game.

Williams played at an incredibly high level on Tuesday night where she was three rebounds and an assist off a triple-double. Her mid-range pull-ups fell and she distributed the ball well to Kayla McBride, Napheesa Collier and Alanna Smith. Williams has historically been one of the better rebounding guards in the league as she uses her impressive vertical leap to crash the glass. But her downfall was the seven turnovers her play produced, three of which happened in the third quarter when the Mercury outscored the Lynx 22-14 as they mounted their comeback after they were down by as many as 20 points on Tuesday night.

Williams logged her most productive game of the 2025 postseason yet, surpassing 20 points in Game 1 and finishing with a team-high in assists. She shot efficiently from the floor and tallied more points and made field goals on Sunday than she did combined against Golden State in the previous round. The veteran guard also made a huge impact on the defensive end, tying a season-high in steals and recording more than half of Minnesota’s total. She’ll look to build on a hot start to the series when the Lynx host the Mercury for Game 2 on Tuesday.

Three-point shooting was the difference in Tuesday’s game, with Minnesota shooting 2-of-20 while Indiana was 9-of-19. The Lynx’s starting backcourt of Williams and Kayla McBride (four points, two assists and one steal) struggled, shooting a combined 0-of-7 from deep with the latter missing all five of her attempts. However, there should not be too much concern for Minnesota, which played Tuesday’s game without Napheesa Collier and is locked into the one seed for the playoffs. With the Lynx having one more game on their regular-season schedule, that may be an opportunity to get Williams and McBride some rest ahead of the postseason.

Williams had a challenging night in Las Vegas, finishing with as many turnovers as assists (four). However, she extended her streak of games in double figures to five. During this streak, Williams has also recorded nine or more assists on three occasions, which obviously did not occur against the Aces. In three prior matchups with Las Vegas, she averaged 17.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 6.3 assists while shooting 55 percent from the field, so Thursday’s performance was a departure from this season’s norm for Williams.

Williams was her usual productive self on Monday as a passer. She nearly reached double figures in assists, while her efficient shooting led her to a fourth straight game of at least 14 points. Williams wasn’t quite as effective as usual on the glass, but still grabbed a few in her 27 minutes of game action. Overall, she had a solid outing and should be ready to be productive again on Thursday against the Aces.

While Williams’ streak of double-digit assist games ended at two on Saturday, she was more productive than usual on the glass. Her eight rebounds were the most the Lynx guard has corralled in a game since July 30, when Williams was responsible for nine in a win over New York. Williams has been outstanding throughout this season, one reason why Minnesota set a franchise record for regular-season victories and is on its way to clinching home-court advantage throughout the WNBA Playoffs.

On the heels of her second double-double of the season, Williams posted a third on Thursday in another balanced offensive performance. The veteran guard was particularly productive in the second quarter against the Storm, where she scored 10 points and diced up Seattle’s defense to land four assists. Williams was quiet in the third quarter and didn’t contribute much to the box score in the final frame, either. Still, the 2025 all-star had a strong night overall, especially when considering her rebounding numbers and contributions from beyond the arc.

Williams notched her second double-double of the season. Her 10 assists on Sunday night helped Williams break her own Lynx single-season assist record from 2024. She now has 230 assists this season and sits second in total assists this year, just behind the Mercury’s Alyssa Thomas. After struggling in the Lynx’s previous game against the Fever on Friday night, Williams had more of a pep in her step on Sunday where she knocked down a trio of threes in addition to a shot at the rim and one of her classic mid-range pullups from 18-feet. Williams’ 10 assists were to four different teammates. Most were to Maria Kliundikova and she added two apiece to Kayla McBride, Napheesa Collier and Alanna Smith.