With it comes a bye into the playoff semifinals and home court throughout.
Coming off the long Olympic break (which was not so much of a break for the four gold medalists on the roster), the Lynx were one game behind the Los Angeles Sparks in the overall WNBA standings with nine games left to play. Six games later, after hanging on to win in San Antonio on Sunday while the Sparks continued their free-fall with a loss to Seattle, the Lynx have clinched the top spot in the league.
If they win their remaining three games (beginning tonight in Chicago, 7:00 pm CDT, ESPN2), they will match the 2014 Phoenix Mercury for most wins in season, though I doubt that’s a particular goal for this team, whose focus is preparing for the playoffs and a run at their fourth title in six years and second in a row, an accomplishment that would put an exclamation point on their run of excellence during this decade.