The New York Liberty are back in the Finals, aiming for their first championship in franchise history. They need to defeat the Minnesota Lynx to achieve this goal.
The Liberty reached the WNBA Finals for the second consecutive year after defeating the two-time defending champions, the Las Vegas Aces, in the semifinals. They have appeared in the championship round five times but have lost each time.
The Lynx made it to the Finals for the first time since 2017 when they won their last of four championships during a seven-year period. Minnesota had to play five games to reach the Finals, winning the final game against Connecticut at home on Tuesday night.
Game 1 of the best-of-five Finals is set for Thursday night, leaving the Lynx with little time to rest and prepare for the Liberty.
“Talk about the schedule, who cares. Nobody’s going to feel bad for us,” Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said. “Got to go hooping right away and we’ll do that.”
These two teams faced each other for a title earlier this year when Minnesota won the Commissioner’s Cup championship in June.
New York is eager for a championship after coming close against Las Vegas last season. The Liberty reached the finals in three of the league’s first four years but lost to the Houston Comets each time. They also lost to the Los Angeles Sparks two years later.
“We haven’t done anything yet,” said Breanna Stewart, who scored 19 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, and made five assists and four blocks in the win over Las Vegas that secured their place in the Finals. “This was a tough series, an emotional series, for a number of different reasons (there’s) just the feeling of not satisfied.”
The Liberty have carried a chip on their shoulder all season and used that motivation to achieve the best record in the league, which earned them home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.
“We went to the Finals last year,” Stewart said, “and we didn’t do nothing.”
The Lynx are not intimidated by New York, having won two out of three regular season meetings and the Commissioner’s Cup championship.
