2017 Minnesota Lynx season

The 2017 WNBA season of the Minnesota Lynx is their 19th season in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Lynx finished the 2016 season with a record of 28–6, finishing first in the Western Conference (and the league as a whole) and qualifying for the playoffs, before ultimately beating Los Angeles in the WNBA Finals to win their league-tying best fourth championship.

The Lynx moved from their normal home, Target Center in Minneapolis, to the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul for the 2017 season due to the renovation that would be taking place at Target Center.^[1] Due to the Minnesota Wild season beginning, the Lynx announced that the entirety of their playoff run would be played at the University of Minnesota's Williams Arena.^[2]

The Lynx opened the season on May 14 with a 70–61 victory over the Chicago Sky. Sylvia Fowles led the way with 26 points and 10 rebounds.^[3] During the May 20 game versus the Dallas Wings, Rebekkah Brunson recorded her 3,000th career rebound, becoming the fifth player in league history to do so.^[4] Cheryl Reeve was named the inaugural WNBA Coach of the Month for the month of May.^[5] Lindsay Whalen became the all-time winningest player in WNBA history with 295 wins, with a June 9 victory over the Washington Mystics. The win broke the tie with Swin Cash, giving Whalen first place in that category all by herself.^[6]

With the win against the San Antonio Stars on June 25, Seimone Augustus, Rebekkah Brunson, Maya Moore, and Lindsay Whalen became the winningest quartet in WNBA History with 122 wins, passing the Los Angeles Sparks quartet of Tamecka Dixon, Lisa Leslie, Mwadi Mabika, and Delisha Milton-Jones who recorded 121 from 1999 to 2004.^[7] During the July 6 victory over the Sparks, Maya Moore scored her 4,000th career point.^[8]

Four Lynx players were named to the West All-Star Team - Maya Moore, Sylvia Fowles, Seimone Augustus, Rebekkah Brunson. Moore and Fowles were named starters, while Augustus and Brunson were named reserves. Brunson was selected as a replacement player for the injured Brittney Griner.^[9][10][11] During the July 16 game versus the Phoenix Mercury, Sylvia Fowles scored her 4,000th career point.^[12] Sylvia Fowles recorded her 500th career block during the July 25 game versus the New York Liberty, becoming the seventh person in league history to do so.^[13] Fowles grabbed her 2,500th career rebound during the August 8 game versus the Atlanta Dream. She became the 10th player in league history to reach that milestone.^[14]

The Lynx unveiled their new logo, which will be used in the 2018 season, at the halftime of the August 11 game versus the Los Angeles Sparks.^[15]

The team made WNBA history with the 111–52 victory over the Indiana Fever, breaking the WNBA record for margin of victory (59), largest run (37-0), and largest halftime lead (45). They also broke Lynx franchise records for most points in a half (68) and most field goals in any half (27), while tying a record for most points in any quarter (37).^[16][17] During the same game, Jia Perkins passed Katie Douglas on the WNBA all-time steals list to move into fifth place.^[18] After beating the San Antonio Stars on August 25 to begin a 3-game road trip, the Lynx clinched a spot in the WNBA semifinals.^[19]

With their August 30 victory over the Indiana Fever, the Lynx recorded their 25th win of the season, which they have now done for six seasons in team history, tying a WNBA record.^[20] During the September 1 game versus the Chicago Sky, Maya Moore passed Katie Smith for the franchise record for career 3-pointers.^[21] On September 2, the WNBA and the Lynx announced that Minnesota would be the host of the 2018 WNBA All-Star Game. This would be the first time that the Lynx have hosted the All-Star Game.^[22] Following their regular season finale victory over the Washington Mystics, the Lynx clinched the overall top seed in the 2017 WNBA Playoffs.^[23]

By earning the top seed in the playoffs, the Lynx advanced to the semifinal round and faced the Washington Mystics. The Lynx swept the Mystics 3–0 to advance to the WNBA Finals. It is the Lynx's sixth time in seven years advancing to the Finals.^[24] The Lynx defeated the Los Angeles Sparks in 5 games to win their fourth WNBA championship in seven years, tying the now-defunct Houston Comets for most championship titles.

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School/team/country
1	12	Alexis Jones	United States	Baylor
2	24	Lisa Berkani	France	USO Mondeville (France)
3	36	Tahlia Tupaea	Australia	Sydney Uni Flames (Australia)

2017 Minnesota Lynx roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs G/F 33 Augustus, Seimone 6' 0" (1.83m) 170 lb (77kg) 1984-04-30 LSU 12 F 32 Brunson, Rebekkah 6' 2" (1.88m) 185 lb (84kg) 1981-12-11 Georgetown 14 C 34 Fowles, Sylvia 6' 6" (1.98m) 212 lb (96kg) 1985-10-06 LSU 10 F 3 Howard, Natasha 6' 2" (1.88m) 165 lb (75kg) 1991-09-02 Florida State 4 G 21 Montgomery, Renee 5' 7" (1.7m) 139 lb (63kg) 1986-12-02 Connecticut 9 F 23 Moore, Maya 6' 0" (1.83m) 177 lb (80kg) 1989-06-11 Connecticut 7 G 7 Perkins, Jia 5' 8" (1.73m) 165 lb (75kg) 1982-02-23 Texas Tech 14 G 13 Whalen, Lindsay 5' 9" (1.75m) 173 lb (78kg) 1982-05-09 Minnesota 14 F/C 22 Pierson, Plenette 6' 2" (1.88m) 195 lb (88kg) 1981-08-31 Texas Tech 15 G 12 Jones, Alexis 5' 9" (1.75m) 173 lb (78kg) 1994-05-08 Baylor R C 14 Fagbenle, Temi 6' 4" (1.93m) 197 lb (89kg) 1992-09-08 USC R F 9 Zandalasini, Cecilia 6' 1" (1.85m) 160 lb (73kg) 1996-03-16 Italy R	Head coach Cheryl Reeve (La Salle) Assistant coaches Shelley Patterson (Washington State) James Wade (Kennesaw State) Athletic trainer Chuck Barta (UW–La Crosse) Assistant trainer Kate Taber (Iowa) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Note: Teams re-seeded after second round and semi-finals.

• The Official Site of the Minnesota Lynx