Lynx enter All-Star break on high note as McBride leads win over Mercury

The Lynx are headed into the All-Star break on a high note as the clear-cut best team in the WNBA, sporting a sparkling 20-4 record.

Their final matchup of the first half came on Wednesday afternoon against the second-place team in the league, the Mercury, who beat the Lynx last week in Phoenix. And after getting revenge on the Sky on Monday, Minnesota avenged another recent (and rare) loss by taking down the Mercury at Target Center in a weekday matinee designed to get various children's groups in the stands.

Kayla McBride, one day after she was named to the All-Star Game as an injury replacement, led the Lynx with 18 points in an 79-66 win. It was a pretty quiet day for Napheesa Collier (10 points), but she did score in double figures, as did Courtney Williams and Alanna Smith (who hit three three-pointers).

The Mercury remain without Satou Sabally and Kahleah Copper, their top two scorers. Last week, that didn't matter because their best player, Alyssa Thomas, erupted for a career-high 29 points in a game where the Lynx fell apart in crunch time.

This time around, Thomas was held to 12 points on 5-of-16 shooting. The W's assists leader had nine dimes, but she also turned it over five times. As a team, the Mercury shot just 35.7 percent from the floor.

There was no real crunch time in this game, either. The Mercury hung around to a degree, but the Lynx had some healthy separation for most of the second half thanks to a surge in the third quarter. They never trailed in the game after the opening two minutes of the first quarter.

Collier, Williams, and McBride will all play together — with Cheryl Reeve as their head coach — on Team Collier in Saturday's All-Star Game in Indianapolis. The Lynx will then resume their regular season next Tuesday with another matchup against Chicago.

Even if the Liberty beat the Fever on Wednesday night to move into second place, the Lynx will still have a 3.5-game lead atop the WNBA standings at the break.