Quick Reaction: Tempo 72, Lynx 100

At what point does a strength turn into a crutch?

If a 100-72 loss to the Minnesota Lynx on Thursday was any indication, the Toronto Tempo are still trying to figure out the answer.

The Tempo entered the final night of a four-game road trip — the franchise’s first — as one of the league’s top three-point-shooting teams, ranked top five in attempts, makes and percentage.

And it appeared as though they were hell-bent on maintaining that standing early in Minnesota, when 13 of Toronto’s first 18 shots were from beyond the arc. Of which the Tempo made just four.

It started as passivity, like Kiki Rice getting a step on fellow rookie Olivia Miles while driving up the block, but then passing it out to the right corner for no immediate shot attempt. A couple plays later, it was Maria Conde, who rolled within four feet of the basket, and upon receiving a quality pass from Marina Mabrey, opted to throw a skip pass to the right wing, which again didn’t generate much.

Eventually, that docility transitioned into acquiescence for the long ball. The Tempo briefly adjusted and generated back-to-back downhill looks to start the second quarter, with hopes of overcoming an early 27-14 deficit. The second of which was a nice deep drive into an and-one finish for Mabrey. But that momentum was stymied when the Tempo’s top sharpshooter settled for back-to-back contested catch-and-shoot looks from well beyond the arc, which were swiftly countered by Lynx makes on the other end.

That 13-point gap ballooned to 21 at halftime as a result, which was the Tempo’s largest deficit of the season. Toronto shot just 11-of-36 (30.6 per cent) from the field to Minnesota’s 22-of-35 (62.9) in the opening half, and the disparity was even greater from beyond the arc as the Tempo went just 6-of-25 to the Lynx’s 5-of-11.

It also didn’t help that the Tempo’s starting five of Mabrey, Rice, Brittney Sykes, Maria Conde and Laura Juskaite went a combined 5-of-24 from the field (3-of-18 from deep) through the first 20 minutes of action, for just 17 points.

And although Rice tried to single-handedly rectify that — scoring nine quick points in the first 2.5 minutes of the second half, thanks to a pair of pull-up threes and a coast-to-coast and-one finish — Minnesota was more than ready to weather the brief storm.

As the Lynx did in the opening half, they ran roughshod on the Tempo’s lethargic — and liliputian-esque — defence, to the tune of 8-of-9 shooting at the rim throughout the third quarter. An upclose assault that further increased Minnesota’s lead to 76-48 by the end of the frame.

The Lynx cruised to the finish line from there, becoming the first team to score 100-plus points against the Tempo this season, on a night the expansion squad struggled to define how much three-point shooting was too much. They started cold and finished even colder (12-of-41), which erased any chance of another valiant-but-failed comeback like Toronto put together against the Los Angeles Sparks last week.

All in all, the Tempo’s first-ever road trip ends with a 2-2 showing and plenty of film to review.

Up next

The Tempo now head back to Toronto for a matchup against the Portland Fire and Canadian Bridget Carleton on Saturday. The fellow expansion franchise is 2-3 to start their inaugural season.

Toronto Tempo

72 – 100

Minnesota Lynx

D	Maria Conde 20 MIN, 3 PTS, 1 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 1-6 FG, 1-4 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -20 +/- It was admirable to see the Spaniard play up a couple of positions but it’s clear the wear-and-tear is catching up to her, and it showed against a bigger Lynx squad. Conde was passive up close and couldn’t generate much of anything offensively. On the flipside, her usual pesky impact on defence was also not there.
D+	Laura Juskaite 26 MIN, 7 PTS, 3 REB, 2 AST, 0 STL, 2-7 FG, 1-6 3FG, 2-2 FT, 0 BLK, 3 TO, -22 +/- Clunky is the word that best describes the Lithuanian rookie’s performance. She was a step slow on defence for much of the night, and on offence, her handle was looser than usual, while her activity was somewhat misguided. On more than one occasion, she would try to relocate and stumble into or past one of her teammates. A rare off-night in what’s been a fairly strong start to the season for Juskaite.

D	Brittney Sykes 20 MIN, 6 PTS, 3 REB, 4 AST, 0 STL, 2-7 FG, 1-4 3FG, 1-1 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -14 +/- Easily Slim’s most passive outing of the season. Not just the fact she took seven shots, there was very little assertiveness getting downhill aside from her one notable drive out of the left corner off a pair of staggered screens to open the game, which led to a Lynx foul. Aside from the lack of general shot-making, just XX FTs was in some ways even more disappointing, given her ability to get to the line has been such a buoy for her offensive production.
D	Marina Mabrey 19 MIN, 3 PTS, 2 REB, 1 AST, 2 STL, 1-9 FG, 0-8 3FG, 1-1 FT, 0 BLK, 4 TO, -21 +/- Marina spent much of this game flustered, both by the whistle and by the Lynx’s defence. She was called for two early offensive fouls — the first of which came off a good sell by rookie Olivia Miles bouncing off the vet during a drive — and that was a precursor for an off-kilter night as a whole. She tried to shoot her way out of it, but it simply wasn’t her (or the Tempo’s) night.
B+	Kiki Rice 23 MIN, 11 PTS, 6 REB, 4 AST, 0 STL, 3-7 FG, 2-3 3FG, 3-4 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -12 +/- While the rookie started somewhat passive, she really stepped up as the game progressed. She seemed to be the most comfortable Tempo player dealing with the Lynx’s size, like in the third quarter when she grabbed a rebound, zipped down the court and bowled through Nia Coffey for an and-one.
B-	Teonni Key 16 MIN, 4 PTS, 3 REB, 0 AST, 1 STL, 2-5 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 1 TO, -12 +/- The Tempo’s other drafted rookie continues to be a slow-burning riser. There are real defensive chops in terms of her instincts of where to be and when. All the while, an extended run, thanks to garbage time, also provided her an opportunity to show some offence, like a steal-and-score sequence in the third quarter.

B	Nikolina Milic 14 MIN, 8 PTS, 1 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 4-6 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -11 +/- Solid game for Milic, just hours after it was announced she was converted off a development contract to a hardship deal. If there was one player who had any luck scoring up close, it was Milic, who accounted for four of the Tempo’s 10 makes at the rim. She’s got a smooth post-game that could be good to leverage more.
C	Mariella Fasoula 11 MIN, 4 PTS, 1 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 2-5 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 2 BLK, 1 TO, -2 +/- With the game out of reach, the Greek forward got some run and was solid. It goes down as her second active game of the season. As a reminder, Fasoula can be active for a total of 12 regular-season games while on a development contract.
B+	Kia Nurse 27 MIN, 23 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL, 6-13 FG, 6-11 3FG, 5-6 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -15 +/- One of the few silver linings of the blowout was the Hamilton, Ont. native getting more run and she made the most of it. Reminding folks that shot-making doesn’t dwindle nearly as fast as athleticism does, as the vet was letting it fly. Her back-to-back threes in the first quarter were about the only bit of early momentum the Tempo were able to conjure up.
D	Lexi Held 23 MIN, 3 PTS, 1 REB, 3 AST, 0 STL, 1-6 FG, 1-3 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -11 +/- What could have been a great opportunity for the sophomore to earn extra minutes simply did not materialize. Like Juskaite, there was a lot of clunkiness to her outing, aside from a slick side-step three that wound up as her lone make and notable possession of the game.

C	Sandy Brondello Wouldn't say it was all on the coach, given the injuries she's been forced to navigate, but i would've liked to see her enforce some better shot discipline as the game progressed. Her decision to bring in Nurse was a good one, but overall her team was flat and there wasn't much she was able to do to overcome that.