It may have been the best sports performance over the weekend that most of you didn't see.
The Lynx were playing Las Vegas, one of the WNBA's glamour teams, at Target Center. The way things had been going for the Lynx, a team battling to reach .500, it felt like a night when their best effort could keep the game close.
But Sylvia Fowles flipped the script in the Lynx's favor: 30 points, 14 rebounds, four blocks, four steals, four assists.
The final: Lynx 90, Aces 89 in overtime.
The match-up Friday night against Las Vegas made the numbers and the play even more impressive: Fowles at 6-foot-6 vs. Liz Cambage, the 6-8 Las Vegas center who can play near the basket, shoot three-pointers and make basketball miserable for her opponents. Cambage played well: 16 points and 20 rebounds.
But Fowles was . . .
Maybe it's best to just watch and see why people who follow the WNBA were using it to validate their arguments that she's the best post player in women's basketball.
Among the best people to describe that is Sloane Martin, who was doing play-by-play of the game. She was asked what the game was like, both in the moment as she was working – and afterward when she had time to reflect.
"I was captivated every minute. It was testy and physical yet featured big play after big play," she said, noting the physical match-ups on the floor but adding that the game was really all about the post play.'
More from Martin: "During the game I'm processing a lot of things at once, but it was apparent early on that it was Syl's night. We talked a lot about her production, but it was a great back-and-forth game, so Vegas got a lot of credit on the air.
"Syl's hands, footwork, ability to finish around the rim and protect it on the [defense] were all activated to the fullest. Because it was such a close game, though, I don't think it was until afterward that I took in what we saw from Syl. Her dominance and her power at age 35; her legacy as 'the best center in the history of the league,' as Cheryl Reeve said earlier in the week; that it's possible there won't be another Syl to come along who epitomizes greatness not just with talent but as a teammate and leader.
"There's no shortage of superlatives for her and a night like Friday cements those normally fleeting moments we take for granted in an athlete's career."
Need more superlatives?
Here's Fowles handling Cambage …
… and taking care of Aces star guard Kelsey Plum …
… and talking about it all with Martin after the game.
The Lynx have three more games before the Olympic break: Two this week at Phoenix and one at Target Center on July 7 vs. Dallas, after which the WNBA shuts down for a month for the Olympics, where Fowles will have a chance to take her reputation on the league to the world.
The first preliminary round game is on July 26 at 11:40 p.m. vs. Nigeria. There's a pretty good case to be made for staying up late.
