The Minnesota Lynx clinched the top seed in the WNBA on Wednesday, but Napheesa Collier believes they should be "embarrassed" by their performance against the Indiana Fever.

The Lynx travelled to Gainbridge Fieldhouse for their penultimate game of the regular season having dropped two of their last three contests, but they knew a win would secure the No.1 seed for the playoffs.

As it turned out, the Golden State Valkyries' 90-82 overtime defeat to the Portland Fire later that night secured top spot for Minnesota, but only after they suffered a chastening loss.

The Lynx were beaten 96-77 by a rampant Fever team, and only a second-half recovery from their reserves made that scoreline a touch more respectable.

Caitlin Clark had 27 points and Kelsey Mitchell tacked on 20 for the Fever, who led by 29 points at one point in the first half, with their advantage standing at 23 by the interval.

Minnesota head coach Cheryl Reeve pulled her starters for the second half, with none of them tallying more than the 19 minutes played by Maya Caldwell. 

Collier – who addressed her team-mates to remind them of the standards after the game – only got 13 minutes on the court, while All-Stars Natasha Howard and Courtney Williams had 12 and nine respectively.

"It's embarrassing," Collier said afterwards. "We should be disappointed and embarrassed about the product that we put on the floor tonight, not proud of what we did.

"I said something [afterwards]. We know that what we did was unacceptable. I emphasised how proud I was of the group that came in and got us back to the game.

"I'm very proud of what they did, but we let them down tonight. So, we apologise for that, and we just talked about how these things cannot happen. 

"We had just met about the things we wanted to get done in the postseason, and we didn't do any of those things."

the top spot is ours.  pic.twitter.com/fNvmWRrwi1

— Minnesota Lynx (@minnesotalynx) September 23, 2026

While the Lynx are guaranteed home advantage in any of their playoff series that go the distance, the Fever could still overtake the Atlanta Dream to earn the fourth seed. 

"We're scary when we're clicking. We're the best offensive team in the league, and we've shown moments where we can be really good defensively," Clark said. 

"I feel very confident in everything and everybody that we have in this locker room, and I think for us it's just about finding a level of consistency."

The Lynx and the Fever will reunite on Thursday for their regular-season finale at Target Center, with Minnesota only playing for pride ahead of the postseason.

They were also the No.1 seed in 2025, only to lose to the Phoenix Mercury in the playoff semifinals, the same stage at which the Fever lost to the Las Vegas Aces.