Sylvia Fowles sits with knee injury, Sun sweeps weekend series with Lynx

The Minnesota Lynx further behind in the WNBA playoff race on Sunday night as Sylvia Fowles missed an 86-79 loss to the Connecticut Sun with a knee injury.

Fowles originally injured her knee June 9 against the New York Liberty but has managed the injury since returning on June 23. The Lynx star has averaged 15 points and 9.8 rebounds per game this season but the flare-up comes at a time when the Lynx are pursuing their 12th consecutive playoff spot.

Nikolina Milic started in place of Fowles, putting up 14 points and four rebounds while Aerial Powers added 17 points and four assists from the perimeter.

Despite the effort, the Lynx entered halftime down 42-32 before opening the third quarter on a 15-4 run to take a 47-46 lead midway through the third quarter. Minnesota's lead was short-lived however as the Sun took control from there.

Alyssa Thomas followed up her first career triple-double on Friday night with 15 points, 10 rebounds and five assists and Courtney Williams knocked down a pair of critical 3-pointers down the stretch to win their second straight game against the Lynx.

The loss further complicates the Lynx's path to the playoffs after the Dallas Wings defeated the Indiana Fever to jump ahead of the Atlanta Dream, who lost to the Seattle Storm on Sunday night.

Minnesota will travel to Atlanta on Thursday night trailing the Dream by 2.5 games for the eighth and final playoff spot.