MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — With the WNBA Finals still four months away, the benefit of a strong start to the season can be marginal. Minnesota's perfect 10-0 record is more for pride.

Make no mistake, though. The Lynx are well aware they would set the league's all-time mark for most consecutive wins to begin a season with 11, if they beat Indiana today. That's in part because, as coach Cheryl Reeve notes, they're the ones who set the current mark.

Indeed, the defending WNBA champions also started the 2012 season with a 10-0 record.

Aiming for their fourth title and their first successful championship defense, the Lynx have been relying more on their bench than ever. Three-quarters of the core of the team that won its first title in 2011 are well into the second half of their careers, with Whalen and power forward Rebekkah Brunson at age 34 and shooting guard Seimone Augustus now 32.

The Phoenix Mercury went 29-5 in 2014 for the most regular-season wins in league history. The best the Lynx have finished is 27-7, in back-to-back years, 2011 and 2012.

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