Minnesota Lynx star forward Napheesa Collier exited Saturday’s 111-58 road victory over the Las Vegas Aces late in the third quarter with an apparent right ankle injury.
Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said Collier will undergo further testing and imaging.
“We’ll worry. We’ll worry until we know more,” Reeve said after the big win. “There’s no way around it. I can be both happy for our team and worried. Hoping for the best.”
Collier, the WNBA’s leading scorer, was trailing a Minnesota fast break when her feet got tangled with teammate Alanna Smith, who had been bumped by Aces guard Jewell Loyd in a battle for positioning under the basket.
Collier stayed on the court as the players transitioned to the other end of the floor.
Both teams surrounded Collier as she sat on the court with 10.8 seconds left in the third and the Lynx leading 92-49.
Collier rose, only to fall back down to the court, favoring her ankle. She was helped off the court by a member of the team’s medical staff, then walked under her own power into the Lynx locker room.
“Obviously, you hate to see anybody go down, but especially your MVP,” teammate Kayla McBride said. “We just wish the best for (Collier). We just want her to be healthy.
“She’s had such an amazing season and she’s just so impactful for us on both ends of the floor, but more than anything, we just want (Collier), the human being, to be OK.”
Collier had 14 points in the third quarter alone and finished the game with 18. An All-Star this season, she is an MVP candidate with a league-best 23.8 points per game.
–Field Level Media