Lynx's Napheesa Collier wants to turn 'serious FOMO' into a championship run

Jeremy Beren

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Lynx's Napheesa Collier wants to turn 'serious FOMO' into a championship run image

Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

On Thursday night, the Minnesota Lynx did something they had not done all season. Amid superstar Napheesa Collier's continued absence through injury, the Lynx lost back-to-back games when the Dream held on for a 75-73 win in Atlanta.

Saturday will mark three weeks to the day when center Alanna Smith accidentally rolled up on Collier's right ankle, leading to a sprain that has kept Collier sidelined for the past six games. Still, the Lynx have the WNBA's best record at 28-7, including a 4-2 mark since Collier's injury.

MORE: Bold Napheesa Collier prediction could turn WNBA MVP race on its head

Though she remains the frontrunner for WNBA MVP honors, Collier and the Lynx are playing the long game -- even if Minnesota's continued success is prompting mixed feelings from its All-WNBA forward.

"It's the end of the season, the team is clicking so good, I have serious FOMO," Collier told Sue Bird on Bird's Eye View. "Everyone's having so much fun, and I'm just like, 'guys, I'm still here.'"

Entering Friday's game against the Indiana Fever, the Lynx have a 5.5-game cushion over the Dream for the league's best record. Collier, still the league's top scorer at 23.5 points per game, told Bird that she wishes she was back on the court -- but she thinks everything, including the ankle sprain, happens for a reason.

"Maybe I just needed this rest for different parts of my body," Collier said. "Then hopefully I come back really well-rested for (the) playoffs, and we'll make our push.”

The Lynx fell just short of a league-record fifth championship last October, losing a thrilling five-game WNBA Finals series to the New York Liberty. The thought of a well-rested Collier could strike fear into the rest of the WNBA come playoff time as Minnesota -- with a recharged Collier at the helm -- gets ready to go again.

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Jeremy Beren

Jeremy Beren is a freelance WNBA writer with The Sporting News. A Phoenix native, he is a graduate of Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, and he has a decade’s worth of sports journalism experience. Jeremy's work has appeared in publications such as Marca, SB Nation, Athlon Sports and Vice Sports. He currently lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas.