Minnesota Lynx rookie Olivia Miles went down with an awkward ankle injury late on Wednesday night in San Francisco.
Miles left the Lynx’s 77-66 win over the Golden State Valkyries in the fourth quarter after she rolled her ankle stepping on Napheesa Collier’s foot by accident. Her status for the final stretch of the season is now unknown as the Lynx prepare for a postseason run while leading the league standings.
Miles was trying to defend Valkyries guard Veronica Burton in the lane just past the midway point of the fourth quarter in the contest when she stepped on Collier’s foot. Miles’ left ankle rolled hard, and she started hopping awkwardly toward the baseline instantly, clearly in a lot of pain.
Miles eventually went down on the baseline, and was tended to by teammates and the Lynx’s training staff. While she made it to their bench, Miles went back to the locker room minutes later and did not return to the contest.
Specifics of the injury are not yet known. She did make it back out to the Lynx bench for the end of the game.
Miles had 20 points in the win for the Lynx while shooting 8-of-10 from the field. She had seven assists and five rebounds, too. The former TCU star, who was the No. 2 overall pick in the draft earlier this year, entered Wednesday’s contest averaging 19.9 points and 6.1 assists per game.
The Lynx led nearly the entire way at the Chase Center and shot 50% from the field to pick up the 11-point win. They’ve lost just once in their past 16 games, and sit at 30-7 on the season. The Vaklyries fell to 25-10 with the loss, which snapped a seven-game win streak of their own.
The Lynx have seven games left in the regular season, including back-to-back games against Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever to end the year. While there is just more than a month before the playoffs get going, Miles being out for any real amount of time in the final run of the season would be a significant loss.
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