The Minnesota Lynx lost to the Indiana Fever in front of a packed Target Center to watch Caitlin Clark.

The Target Center was full on Sunday, but the Lynx attack was empty after 30 minutes.

This has become a problem.

An announced crowd of 18,978 — the largest in Lynx regular-season history — showed up to watch the Lynx take on Indiana, Caitlin Clark’s first WNBA game at Target Center. What’s the buzz about the game? Before it started, Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve made it clear that she doesn’t care about that as much as she cares about winning.

But that didn’t happen. After leading by seven points entering the fourth quarter, the team lost 28-14 in the final ten minutes of the game.

Without star forward Napheesa Collier (left foot) for a fourth straight game, the Lynx lost their second straight game and their fifth in eight games. The Lynx (16-8) fell to fourth-place Seattle with one more game before the Olympic break.

“I thought we played good enough defensively to win,” Reeve said. “But our offense put a lot of pressure on our defense.”

Final Score: Indiana 81, Lynx 74

WNBA standings

Clark scored 10 of her 17 points in the fourth quarter, but she wasn’t the only player helping Fever (11-14) turn the game around.

After running up a 12-3 third quarter to take a seven-point lead, the Lynx hit the wall in the fourth quarter. Despite leading by seven early in the fourth, Clarke hit a free throw after the Lynx were called on defense with three seconds left. Kelsey Mitchell (21 points) then hit a three-pointer from an uncontested corner, narrowly beating the shot clock. The Fever managed to stop her, and Katie Lou Samuelson hit a three-pointer to tie the game. The score remained tied when Aliyah Boston (17 points, 16 rebounds) scored four straight points after coming off a break with 3:09 left to put the Fever ahead. Indiana finished the game with a 10-3 lead.

“I thought we had a defense at the end of the game, which we surrendered,” Reeve said.

“We got stagnant,” said Bridget Carlton, who scored 17 points, made five of 10 3-pointers, grabbed seven rebounds and had six assists. “We weren’t getting in the box and we weren’t finding the right shooters.”

In short, the Lynx weren’t scoring goals. And they certainly weren’t efficient, which has been a bugbear of the team since their win over New York in the Commissioner’s Cup.

Since then, including Sunday, the Lynx have shot under 40 percent in five of eight games. In the past two games, the Lynx have outscored opponents 47-21 in the fourth quarter.

“Indiana is not a defense-driven team at this point,” Reeve said. “Our 2-point field goal percentage is [16-for-39 in the game, 0-for-4 in the fourth quarter] “Some of our attempts have killed us, and some of our mistakes have been costly at times, and have hurt us greatly.”

Collier’s return will help the team, but that may not happen until after the Olympic break. But Reeve also spoke about her team’s inability to get into the box and pressure the rim. The Lynx outscored the other team 40-20 in the box on Sunday.

Part of the reason was the small lineup – which included the 6ft 1in Carlton at power forward – which Reeve used extensively.

But the bottom line is that the Linux attack did not succeed in executing what it was planned to do as intended.

“When we make mistakes and they score, we have to be able to score to stay competitive,” said center Alana Smith, who scored 13 of her 18 points in the first quarter. “In the fourth quarter, the pressure is on. When you make mistakes, you feel that pressure. We have to work on playing for the full 40 minutes.”