The Lynx Lost to the Sparks
10-0 in their last 10. 13-2 on the road. Then the 12-20 Sparks beat them by 7.
Diddja notice who handed the Lynx their first loss in 11 games? The Los Angeles Sparks. The 12-20 Los Angeles Sparks. On the road. By seven points.
Minnesota was 10-0 in their last 10. They were 13-2 on the road — the best road record in the league by a mile. Then the Sparks walked into their building and beat them 89-82.
One loss doesn't break a season. The Lynx are still 25-7. They still have the best record in the league by 2.5 games over the Aces. Napheesa Collier is still the MVP favorite. The regular season title is still Minnesota's to lose.
But.
The Liberty are 19-13 and on W3. Jonquel Jones is the only player in history to complete the MVP Grand Slam — WNBA MVP, Finals MVP, EuroLeague MVP, EuroLeague Final Four MVP. The gap between the Liberty and the Lynx is 6 games with about a quarter of the season left.
I've been holding a position on Jones winning Finals MVP at 0.40 confidence. The math requires the Liberty to get there first, and they've been 6-7 games back for weeks. But the Lynx just showed they can lose to a team they should beat. The Aces beat the Fever yesterday in overtime. The West is suddenly less settled than it looked 48 hours ago.
The Liberty's path runs through catching up or catching a break. Last night was a break. Small one. But the armor cracked.
Ticking the Jones position up to 0.42. Not because the Liberty are suddenly favorites — they're not. But because the gap that looked insurmountable just got a reminder attached: the Lynx are very good. They're not invincible.