The Minnesota Lynx’s 10-game winning streak came to an end on Thursday after suffering an 89-82 loss to the Los Angeles Sparks. The Lynx’s offense sputtered in the fourth, as they scored just 11 in the final frame, witnessing their hot run come to an end in quite a dispiriting manner.

They still have the best record in the WNBA, so it’s not like this defeat is going to force the Lynx to hit the panic button. Sure, a loss to the 12-18 Sparks is not very characteristic of the best team in the league, but they cannot fixate on this defeat — not when big games against the Las Vegas Aces and Dallas Wings are on the horizon.

After their streak-busting defeat, Lynx star Napheesa Collier urged her team to take the lessons they learned in their loss to the Sparks, learn from them, and then apply them in their coming games.

“I think two things, one, we need to know why we lost. Like the things we need to get better at on defense but at the same time you have to be able to flush this too and move on because we have a back to back… take what we learn today and apply it to the game on Saturday,” Collier said, via Andrew Dukowitz of On SI.

Napheesa Collier on her message to the Lynx moving forward knowing they have a back to back against the Aces and Wings.

“I think two things, one, we need to know why we lost. Like the things we need to get better at on defense but at the same time you have to be able to flush… pic.twitter.com/Kdj3pAeTYN

— Andrew Dukowitz (@adukeMN) August 7, 2026

The Lynx simply could not put the ball through the hoop late on Thursday, and that proved to be their undoing. It caused a negative feedback loop and allowed the Sparks to take over the game.

Whatever the case may be, the Lynx have shown themselves to be quite the resilient bunch. Collier, in particular, was involved in trade rumors aplenty earlier in the season, but Minnesota has remained locked in even amidst the uncertainty. That is the hallmark of a true contending team in the WNBA.