MINNEAPOLIS — It's a quick, hardly-noticeable blip near the back end of the Minnesota Lynx's pregame introductory video.
Amid the clapping, dribbling and impromptu dancing, Amber Harris stands with a basketball in one of her massive hands, shrugging the opposite shoulder slightly to accompany her sly half-smile.
It's not so long ago the Lynx public relations team might've had to drag the third-year forward into a recording session.
But this is the Amber Harris visible at Minnesota home games so far this season: still shy, still a bit reserved, but oozing with newfound fortitude.
"What I think Amber has done for us since she's arrived here, at training camp here in Minneapolis this year, she's got a different focus about her," Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said.
That mentality, combined with a more polished game via a key overseas season spent in South Korea, have translated to increased opportunities — and with them, demands — for the third-year power forward.
Through four regular-season contests, Harris' minutes have more than doubled from her first two years in the league. She's second among Lynx non-starters behind guard/forward Monica Wright in time spent on the floor.
And already, there have been big moments where Harris has made the most of it.
The most prominent ones came in Minnesota's 99-79 victory over Phoenix last week, where she poured in a career-high 18 points, yanked down six rebounds and twice blocked heralded rookie Brittney Griner.
But Reeve expects outings to the tune of Tuesday's 87-72 win against San Antonio from Harris, too: soak up minutes, play tenacious post defense, and finish offensively when called upon.
"I think it'd be too much to say that she's gonna be that great every night," the coach said of Harris, who played 20 minutes, 6 seconds, scored two points and spent most of her night leaning on 239-pound Silver Stars forward Danielle Adams. "Each player, throughout the course of the season, has that up and down. But right now, I think she's confident."
Indeed, there's a visible swagger that's come with a stronger 6-foot-5 frame and a complementary jump shot that keeps defenses overly honest.
While she's still expected to delegate, at times, to veteran block-dwellers Rebekkah Brunson and Janel McCarville, the bashful version of Minnesota's third big is nowhere to be found at Lynx practices this season, Reeve said.
"That's one of the things I've noticed about her when she came into camp was that she was more vocal," Reeve said. "I'm enjoying her interactions with teammates in a way that she's doing a little more. Instead of being told what to do, she's doing more initiating of conversation of what needs to happen, whether it's in a drill or situations in practice."
The 2011 No. 4 overall WNBA Draft selection's recent surge of aplomb started in South Korea.
There, playing for Samsung Life Bichumi, Harris was able to mold some finer points under the tutelage of skills coach Kirk Collier.
Strength and conditioning, post moves, shooting, ball-handling — the pair strived diligently to improve them all.
Serving a go-to role similar to her college days at Xavier, Harris chalked up 22 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. More central to the Lynx's efforts, she grew up a little, developing a maturity that's allowing her to embrace her new, expanded duties.
"After coming back from overseas, I guess I got a little confidence in myself," said Harris, who doesn't do as many interviews (for the moment) as some of her more outspoken teammates. "I just feel like I can come out here and do more, contribute more for the team."
Her chances in the spotlight will remain limited.
Even with forward/center Taj McWilliams-Franklin out of the fold due to retirement, Minnesota boasts one of the league's most formidable starting frontcourts with veteran McCarville at center, rebounding machine Brunson at the four spot, and MVP candidate Maya Moore at the three.
"Those guys are great," Harris said of her post mates. "I'm just trying to follow their lead, you know? Just play behind them and try to help them as much as I can."
But both McCarville and Brunson need a break at times, and Harris has become the No. 1 option so far.
"Amazing," McCarville said of Harris' progression. "I mean, she's been putting in work in practice, going hard against the (male scout team players). It's a tribute to the work she's put in."
Fire in the hole: Go ahead and insert here the clever line about how the Lynx caught fire just like the entryway to their locker room did Tuesday night.
No one was harmed when Reeve knocked down a cooking device containing an open flame, but the accident did start a small blaze that had to be doused by water from Wright and a fire extinguisher brandished by a Target Center staff member.
McCarville tried to play firefighter, too, but the extinguisher she grabbed off the top of a team refrigerator was apparently empty.
It made for some concerned expressions followed by hearty laughter and a cleared-out locker room during postgame media availability. Point guard Lindsay Whalen led reporters through the post-mishap smog and into the hallway to finish their interviews with her.
"You always have to roll with what's going on," joked Whalen, who tried to keep fielding questions during the miniature melee before coughing from the spreading fire retardant. "Next play, next play; that's what Coach always talks to us about."
Whalen of a night: All manner of heat-related analogies could apply to Whalen's performance Tuesday.
Attacking the rim and finishing in situations where she often dishes to an open teammate on the wing, the WNBA's assist leader led all scorers with 23 points. "She had one play where it was one-on-three, and I asked her if she saw everybody else on the perimeter," said Reeve, whose team ran its franchise-best home winning streak to 11 games. "She said, 'Yeah, but Coach, I wanted to dunk over them.' That's how great she was feeling."
A slower start offensively fueled Minnesota's need for Whalen to produce some points. She went 5-for-9 from the field in the first half. The rest of her team before the break: 6-for-22.
"(Reeve) told me to be aggressive and to get in there," said Whalen, who led a 96.2-percent free-throw night with a perfect 7-for-7 showing. "I think that's the job of a point guard every night, to kind of read the game and see what we need."
Road swing: The Lynx's next three games are all away from the Target Center, their second-longest road jaunt of the season.
A Friday trip to Tulsa and back is followed by a two-game sojourn to Phoenix (next Wednesday) then Los Angeles (next Friday). Minnesota has four road dates in a row from July 11-21.
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