INDIANAPOLIS -- Olivia Miles was a late scratch Tuesday as she was ruled out because of a left calf injury about 90 minutes before the Minnesota Lynx lost 96-77 to the Indiana Fever in a consequential late-season showdown.
Miles participated in the morning's shootaround and was listed as questionable throughout the day. She tested her calf with trainers after arriving at Gainbridge Arena before being ruled out.
The Lynx will go into the second-to-last game of the regular season without their starting point guard, top scorer and assists leader. Miles ranks No. 8 in the league in scoring (19.8) and No. 7 in assists (6.0). The Rookie of the Year award is essentially a given and she's also expected to earn a share of MVP votes.
"It changes a lot, certainly, because she's the head of the snake," Fever coach Stephanie White said before the game. "It changes coverage. It changes who their primary ball handler is. Probably the actions that they run. So, we've got to just be prepared for that.
"On either end of the floor, though, it cannot change our mentality. It cannot change the sense of urgency that we're talking about playing with on both ends of the floor."
Minnesota can clinch the No. 1 seed in the playoffs with a victory. The Fever are trying to remain in the hunt for a top-four seed. The lowest the Lynx can fall is the No. 2 seed and the Fever can finish anywhere from No. 3 to No. 8. The teams play each other again in the regular-season finale in Minneapolis on Thursday.
