The Minnesota Lynx made a bold win-now move when they traded youngster Diamond Miller, who has yet to fulfill her immense potential, for DiJonai Carrington, who will be a free agent after the season. DiJonai Carrington wasted no time proving that the Lynx made the right choice.
She helped her new team to a hard-fought victory over the Seattle Storm in Napheesa Collier’s absence. Collier hurt her ankle in a 50-point blowout win over the Aces and will miss at least two weeks. Carrington helped make up for her absence, immediately looking comfortable with her new team.
DiJonai Carrington impressed in her Lynx debut
Carrington played 18 minutes in her first game with the Lynx—more than any other reserve. Cheryl Reeve even trusted her to play big minutes in a close fourth quarter. Carrington earned that trust. She made her presence known on both ends of the floor.
Defensively, Carrington made an immediate impact. She primarily guarded Skylar Diggins but also matched up with Gabby Williams at times. She got her hands on two steals and wowed Lynx fans with a chase-down block on Tiffany Mitchell.
Offensively, Carrington contributed an efficient 13 points, shooting 5-7 from the field and sinking her sole 3-point attempt. It was by far her most efficient showing of the season. Carrington ran the floor well, getting a couple of easy layups that way, and helped push the pace. She also consistently found gaps in the defense and took advantage of open shots rather than forcing anything.
She looked very comfortable and not like a player who had only had one practice session with the team before getting in the game.
The Lynx still have some things to clean up
While the Lynx got the win over Seattle, it wasn’t one of their cleanest games. They allowed the Storm to shoot almost 50 percent from the field and lost the paint battle without Collier.
Turnovers were also a big problem. The Lynx turned the ball over 17 times—four more than their season average. Usually, the Lynx are one of the more ball-secure teams. With 13.1 turnovers per game, they rank second in the league behind only the Storm. They gave up 19 points off those turnovers. So, that is something the Lynx desperately need to clean up.
Minnesota has a tough stretch of games coming up. They will have to face New York, Atlanta, Indiana, and Seattle in seven consecutive games after taking on the Mystics. That is not the easiest stretch of games to introduce Carrington into the system, but her debut suggests that she should have no trouble helping the Lynx survive Collier’s absence.