Napheesa Collier Proved She's the WNBA's Best Player Against the Liberty

Napheesa Collier sat next to Kayla McBride after a 100-93 victory in the first regular-season rematch against the New York Liberty, since the thrilling five-game finals last year. After her 30-point night, a reporter asked Collier if there was a greater effort to get her the ball.

“I don’t know, I thought we were doing our normal stuff. I don’t think there were any more plays run for me than normal,” Collier added. “I kind of black out during the games.”

Collier started to laugh as she finished her final sentence. McBride also burst out laughing.

“We are all consciously trying to get Phee the ball,” he said, “at all times.”

Napheesa Collier was sensational against the Liberty. She scored her 30 points on 11 of 16 shooting. She knocked down a pair of threes (2 of 4), grabbed nine rebounds, had two assists, blocked three shots, and collected a steal.

Collier did all of this while the Liberty threw everything at her on defense. They had former MVP and five-time all-defensive selection Jonquel Jones as the primary matchup on Collier.

Napheesa Collier proved she is the best player in the WNBA against the Liberty.

In the first quarter, Collier started the game off by hitting a three-point shot to give the Lynx their first points. Collier took three out of Minnesota’s first four shot attempts in an obvious effort to ensure she was getting the ball early and often. Her next bucket was a turnaround fading jumper. Collier finished the first with six points in a 24-24 tie ball game.

Even in scoring those six points, Collier had a relatively unproductive quarter by her standards, shooting 2 of 5 and missing a free throw. It appeared that Collier was figuring out what the defense was offering. Jones was matched up on her, meaning Collier was giving up about 5 inches of height on the offensive end. The Liberty were also collapsing their defense on pick-and-rolls to prevent Collier from getting switches or a full sprint to the basket.

She cracked the code in the second quarter. Collier went 5 of 5 for 13 points, all in the last 5:21 of the quarter. She hit a pull-up six-foot mid-range shot, got fouled, and made both free throws.

Collier finished on a diving layup, used her post work to hit on a contested layup, excelled in the pick-and-roll for another bucket at the rim, and drilled a three-point shot on the Lynx’s final possession. 13 points in the blink of an eye. Collier displayed all of her skills, and New York’s defense simply had no answers.

Cheryl Reeve attempted to describe just how good Collier is post game.

“To get all different looks, and what Phee is doing so well now… early on in her career, it’d be paint, paint’s her favorite spot, right?” she said. “Now she’s doing so much work outside the paint. You take something away, she’s going to do something else. You guard her to the right, she goes left, you take away a spin, and she goes up and under. There’s just a way about her that’s a lot of times unguardable.”

The third quarter would start with Collier immediately hitting a layup, but the Liberty defense would adjust. In what appeared to be an all-out gamble to slow down Collier, the Liberty started doubling her on screens, crashing help from both corners, and gluing defenders to Collier even when she wasn’t involved in the play. In doing so, they successfully held Collier to three shots in the third.

However, just like in the second quarter, Collier figured out how to crack the adjusted Liberty defense late in the fourth. With 6:05 left in the game, Collier struck, hitting an 18-footer to put the Lynx up 12.

A minute later, Collier would streak to the basket and knock down a layup to put the Lynx up 15. With 3:37 to go, Collier would get fouled and knock down a one of the two free throws to keep the lead at 14.

The Liberty then went on a 10-0 run to cut the game to four with just 1:02 to go. Collier demanded the ball at half court, dribbled the clock down, and exploded to the basket. She hit on a tough left-handed layup while getting fouled and then sank the free throw to essentially seal the game 95-88 with just 50 seconds to go.

Collier finished the quarter with 8 points in the final six minutes. Most importantly, when they needed her the most, her teammates made sure she got the ball, and Collier displayed the killer instinct to end the game.

While Collier's scoring was remarkable, her defense was also incredible. Playing alongside Alanna Smith, the undersized frontcourt dominated. They combined for 14 rebounds, 1 steal, and six blocks while holding Jones to just 5 of 7 from the field and 12 points.

I asked McBride after the game what it’s like to share the court with Collier when Collier is playing like she did against the Liberty.

“I mean, I black out, too,” McBride laughed. “If you like basketball, you like watching Phee play. Because she does it in so many different ways. She’s very graceful. Her up and unders, her moves, she’s just a good basketball player. … She continues to do everything we ask her, and more, with such grace.”

The Lynx will play New York three more times between August 10 and 19. Presumably, the Liberty will be at full strength in the next game because Breanna Stewart will have returned from a bone bruise. Until then, the Lynx are the top team in the WNBA and have a frontrunner for MVP in Napheesa Collier.