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Lynx’s Collier has 32 in return from ankle injury

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Lynx’s Collier has 32 in return from ankle injury


Napheesa Collier resumed her MVP campaign Sunday night as she returned from an ankle sprain that had kept her out for the past three weeks. It didn’t take much time for her to get back up to speed as she scored 32 points on 11-of-16 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds in the Minnesota Lynx‘s 97-84 win over the Indiana Fever.

“I had to knock some of the rust off,” Collier said, joking that teammate Courtney Williams would have finished with 11 assists if she hadn’t missed her first few shots. “It feels like you’re on the outside when you’re not playing. I’m having so much FOMO, so it feels good to be on the court with them again.”

Williams added, “I told [Collier] before the game, I’m sick of taking 18, 20 shots. I’m ready to be back to 10 or 12. So it feels good to have Phee back.”

Collier was injured in the third quarter of the Lynx’s Aug. 2 game against the Las Vegas Aces. Imaging revealed she avoided a major injury, sources told ESPN, and the issue ultimately held her out seven games. Minnesota went 5-2 without Collier during that stretch.

The crowd erupted as Collier was introduced into the starting lineup, and her team was just as excited to have her back. Collier managed to play 31 minutes.

“She’s that darn good,” Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said. “Obviously, she was ready to play. Having her play makes it easier for everyone else. We can all settle back into our roles and things we like to do.”

Since Collier went down, the Lynx made three roster additions, including trading for DiJonai Carrington at the trade deadline.

Now finally healthy, Williams called this Minnesota team “a real problem” as they head toward the postseason.

The Lynx found themselves trailing the Fever by as much as 10 points in the first quarter but slowly clawed their way back in. Then, in the final two minutes of the second quarter, the Lynx put together an 11-0 run to retake the lead.

With 77 seconds to go in the first half, Collier hit a turnaround jump shot — her 13th and 14th points of the night — to give Minnesota its first lead since the first 20 seconds of the game. When the Lynx returned from halftime, they never slowed back down.

“It all stemmed from being more active defensively, that’s how we got going,” Reeve said. “We just had more flow … that second quarter, we felt that shift. We felt that shift in how we were playing, and I felt like we held that for most of the rest of the game.”

With just seven games left on their regular-season schedule, the Lynx (30-7) have the best record in the WNBA and hold a six-game advantage over the Atlanta Dream in the standings. The Lynx are the only team to have clinched a playoff spot.



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The Commanders are coming up empty on this season’s ‘luck dashboard’

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After benefiting from good fortune in 2024, Washington is among the NFL’s unluckiest teams in 2025, according to metrics compiled by an NFL data scientist.



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How Nick Saban and ESPN tried to help Lane Kiffin coach two teams at once

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Kiffin wanted to stay at Mississippi through the College Football Playoff even after taking the job at LSU. That only made sense on television.



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Geoffrey Boycott advises England to ‘use brains’ for Ashes remainder

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Geoffrey Boycott advises England to ‘use brains’ for Ashes remainder


Former England batsman Geoffrey Boycott (centre) attends the second day of the third cricket test match between England and India at Lord’s cricket ground in London, on July 11, 2025.— AFP

Legendary England batter Geoffrey Boycott on Monday advised the Ben Stokes-led side to adopt a more strategic and thoughtful approach ahead of the second Ashes Test against Australia, scheduled for Thursday in Brisbane.

England suffered an agonising eight-wicket defeat in the series opener in Perth, which lasted less than two days, the first of which was dominated by the touring side as they had reduced the hosts to 123/9 after accumulating 172 all out.

The visitors now face another gruelling challenge in the blockbuster series as they take on the Baggy Greens in a pink-ball Test, in which the hosts boast a dominant record, having lost just one out of their previous 14 appearances, but Boycott, who has won Ashes both in England and Australia, believes that the Three Lions can win the upcoming game by adopting a calculated strategy.

He, however, warned England batters of self-destruction, advising them to “use their brains” and decide whether to attack or hold back after analysing the situation.

“But it doesn’t help our chances of success if Ben Stokes keeps encouraging our batsmen to attack, attack with one finger hovering over the self-destruct button,” Boycott wrote in his Daily Telegraph column.

“Nobody is asking the players to stop being positive because they have given us some marvellous, thrilling and entertaining cricket. All we ask is for them to use their brains and realise there are times when they should throttle back and be aware of situations and bat accordingly,” he added.

Boycott, who represented England in 108 Tests and 36 ODIs, also slammed Stokes for his comments in which he referred to former cricketers as “has-beens” but expressed satisfaction over the all-rounder’s partial apology.

“To call past players ‘has-beens’ was disrespectful, especially as some of those ‘has-beens’ played in teams that won the Ashes in England and Australia,” Boycott wrote.

“I am glad Ben has half apologised, saying it was a slip of the tongue, because none of this team has won the Ashes in Australia. Get the job done, because then you don’t need to say anything and you can bask in all the glory coming your way.” 





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