And the playoffs adventure has begun! Game 1 of the First Round was completed between Minnesota and Phoenix and the Lynx took away the winnings with a 102-95 on the scoreboard. The Lynx front-runner Napheesa Collier recorded a playoff career-high with a 38-point game. However, the spotlight was stolen by Natasha Cloud with a remarkable playoff feat.

Carrying the team in Game 1, Natasha Cloud set the playoff record for becoming the first player to score 30 points and 5 assists in consecutive playoff games and etched her name in the WNBA record books. Last season, Cloud had scored 33 points and 9 assists in Game 2 of the first round against New York and set herself up for a record.

In the game, Tash scored a double-double with 33 points, her post-season high, going 14-23 field goals and 4-8 from the perimeter and a free throw. Moreover, she recorded 10 assists to maintain Phoenix in the lead with 92-91 with a little over 2 minutes left.

Empowered to take upon the reigns, Cloud has developed her strength on both ends of the court, with the added benefit of having vets like Griner and Taurasi alongside. Facing the Lynx in the best of three First Round is a challenge in its own right, given Minnesota’s near unshakable defense. Her approach towards them has been majorly slowing their momentum of passing down.

However, that didn’t seem to work out for Mercury and the Lynx rallied past them with a refreshed defensive vibe.

What happened in the game?

The game took off with Brittney Griner making an 11-foot shot of a dime from Diana Taurasi. Then Kahleah Copper made a layup, which was answered by Courtney Williams’s 20-foot jumper. Then Collier started stacking scores for the team and carried the team to 23 points until Bridget Carleton made a shot from the arc and pushed it further to 26.

Meanwhile, the Mercury trailed at 12 points and went straight to 15 with Sophi Cunningham’s 3-pointer with Cloud adding a pull-up jump shot to 17. In response, McBride moved the team score to 32 while Taurasi made up to 19.

Hence, the first quarter belonged to the No. 2 seed, Minnesota, with a 32-19 lead. Similarly, the Lynx held onto the lead in the second quarter, though with a single point, just to lose it and go into a 6-point deficit against the Mercury in the third.

But the Lynx kept the momentum. They ballooned this lead to 50-27 with over 5 minutes to half-time. Meanwhile, Phoenix diminished their deficit to 9 points with 56-42 going past half-time and headed for the fourth quarter with 77-69.

Now, with 2 more games left to be played between them, Phoenix needs to break the sync in Minnesota’s defensive momentum, otherwise, it won’t be long for things to go southwards.

Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting second episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger