Napheesa Collier nearly surpassed the scoring record of Maya Moore, a Minnesota Lynx legend and Caitlin Clark’s GOAT pick, on Tuesday. Collier scored 27 points on 10-for-16 shooting, including 1-for-2 from deep in Game 5 against the Connecticut Sun. The All-Star forward improved her postseason average this year to 27.1 ppg, the best before the finals since Moore’s 27.8 ppg in 2015.

Collier finished the regular season averaging 20.4 ppg, the fifth-best in the WNBA. Since the playoffs started, she has been nearly unstoppable. The 2024 Defensive Player of the Year dropped 42 points in Game 2 in the first round against the Phoenix Mercury. Collier’s score tied the record for most points in a single game in the playoffs.

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Connecticut had the best defense leading into the postseason and the Sun slowed her down a little. They limited Napheesa Collier to nine points in Game 2 in the Lynx’s 77-70 win. This year’s MVP runner-up, however, methodically carved that defense in the last three games of the series. During that stretch, she averaged 27.3 ppg.

The title-clinching game was Collier’s most efficient outing against the stingiest defense the Lynx faced all season. She made 62.5% of her shots despite aggressive double teams from the Sun. Alyssa Thomas, an elite defensive player, did all she could but failed to consistently stop Collier.

Napheesa Collier has a long way to go to catch up with Maya Moore’s WNBA Finals career scoring record
Maya Moore won four WNBA championships. She helped Minnesota to title-winning campaigns in 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017. Moore’s 441 points in the Finals are the most in league history.

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Napheesa Collier will make his first appearance in the Finals. She has a long way to go from even sniffing Caitlin Clark’s GOAT pick’s career scoring record. Collier will have to be consistent in reaching the WNBA’s biggest stage to gain headway to that mind-boggling number.