For all the discussion about Caitlin Clark’s body language and blowups with members of the Fever’s coaching staff, it was surely nice to see actual basketball played Thursday night, giving us other things to talk about that matter more in the grand scheme of things. Everyone is happy when there are wins on the board. After dropping three of their last five games and hearing endless debates about the head coach Stephanie White and Clark’s relationship dynamic, Indiana responded with a decisive 83-71 win over the Atlanta Dream to open Commissioner’s Cup play.
The Fever turned in one of its best performances on both sides of the ball, shooting 48 percent from the field and 44 percent from deep and holding the Dream’s star trio to a paltry offensive showing. Allisha Gray, Rhyne Howard, and Jordin Canada combined for 34 points on a staggering 11-for-39. Head coach Karl Smesko’s guard group won’t drop games in this fashion often, but it does raise the question of the team’s hierarchy on the court when the game plan isn’t working. Before Smesko’s arrival, this was a recurring issue and still appears to be, and the addition of Angel Reese and her implementation (or lack thereof) into the team’s offensive identity hasn’t helped matters. Atlanta is 6-3 and has played roughly 20 percent of its schedule, so time is on its side. We won’t know what this team truly looks like until Brionna Jones is cleared for return from injury and Reese is back to her natural position at the four.
Despite a terrific start to her career running the Minnesota Lynx’s offense and proving critics wrong with every start, too many talking heads were concerned about rookie guard Olivia Miles’ three-point shooting. Entering the matchup against the Golden State Valkyries, the No. 2 overall pick shot 11 percent from beyond the arc. Never mind the fact that she was averaging 15.8 points, five rebounds, 6.3 assists, 2.3 stocks, and shot over 54 percent on twos.
In Minnesota’s 87-84 clutch win over Golden State’s second-best defense, Miles set a WNBA rookie record for made three-pointers in a game. She finished with a season-high 28 points and netted eight of her 11 three-pointers, shooting 9-of-16 overall. She also had seven assists, four rebounds, and three blocks. Miles is the first rookie in WNBA history to record 28 points, eight three-pointers, and seven assists with just one turnover in a game, according to Across The Timeline.
OLIVIA MILES TONIGHT 🔥
• 28 POINTS
• 7 ASSISTS
• 4 REBOUNDS
• 3 BLOCKS
• 8/11 3PM (!!!!)
• 9/16 FG
• 28 MINUTES PLAYED pic.twitter.com/TOvIzcmxhu— Women’s Hoops Network (@WomensHoops_USA) June 5, 2026
Miles’ transition to the WNBA happened overnight from afar, as she’s already doing things with the ball that haven’t been done in decades, or ever. There’s a ton of work that goes into being ready for the moment, especially to the degree that the 5’11 guard has been at consistently for the league-leading 8-2 Lynx. After her record-setting performance, Miles spoke about what it’s taken for her to get to this point so early.
“It’s just a testament to my mindset and my confidence,” Miles said. “It’s a lot of inner work to go and believe in yourself and constantly remind yourself that you deserve to be where you’re at. The support that I have here to go out there and hoop and be myself, it just allows me to be comfortable.”
Will Miles torch the net for eight threes every game? Probably not, but the fact that she had the confidence to keep shooting throughout the short slump is what mattered most. Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve knows it best.
“The last few games, we feel like she’s got opportunities to shoot the ball,” Reeve said. “She’s a good shooter … and so we had been trending toward her being confident to take shots. Once she saw a couple go down, it felt like she was playing Baylor again, I guess.”
During her recent season at TCU, Miles set a career-high by hitting 10 three-pointers in an 83-67 win against Baylor on February 12. Previously, while at Notre Dame, she made eight three-pointers in a game against Pittsburgh in 2025. In total, Miles has made 198 three-pointers in her college career.
Not many expected the Lynx to be where they are at the top of the league without Napheesa Collier, but here they are. The return of a top-five player in the league should shake up expectations, daresay. Buckle up, folks.
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Born and raised in Chicago, Christan Braswell is a women’s sports journalist with a focus on the WNBA and women’s college basketball. He’s an avid fan of elevator screens and stuffed-crust pizza. Outside of sports, he’s an avid cook and lover of the great outdoors.
Another jam-packed week of WNBA basketball means heading into the weekend with another edition of Swish Happens Here, and what a week it was. After dropping four of the first […]
