Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve has experienced a lot in her impressive career, which includes four WNBA championships.
The Lynx’s historic comeback to defeat New York 95-93 in a thrilling Game 1 of the WNBA Finals stands out as one of the best moments.
“We’re the first team in WNBA playoff history to be down 15 (in the final 5 minutes) and come back and win the game,” Reeve said. “So that ranks really high. I think it defines our team. Getting through difficult times. That’s what we’ve been talking about. You have to be mentally tough, resilient. … Thrilled that we could hang in there.”
Minnesota came back from being down by 18 points in the first half, and Napheesa Collier’s turnaround jumper with 8.8 seconds left in overtime gave the team the win over the New York Liberty on Thursday night.
With the score tied, Collier faked in the lane and scored. New York had a chance to tie the game, but Breanna Stewart’s layup at the buzzer missed.
“The basketball gods were on our side tonight,” said Courtney Williams, who led Minnesota with 23 points, including a four-point play with 5.5 seconds left in regulation.
Collier finished with 21 points, eight rebounds, six blocks, and three steals.
Game 2 of the best-of-five series will take place on Sunday in New York. Before the game, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced that the Finals will change to a best-of-seven format starting next year.
Overtime began slowly, but Minnesota took an 88-84 lead as New York missed its first six shots. Jonquel Jones finally got the Liberty on the scoreboard with a corner 3-pointer with 1:38 left.
Williams responded with her own 3-pointer, and the teams traded baskets for the next minute. Sabrina Ionescu’s steal and layup brought New York to within 93-91 with 32.9 seconds remaining.
Jones then stole the ball at midcourt and scored to tie the game just four seconds later. Minnesota used the clock wisely before Collier’s basket gave them the lead.
The Liberty lost an 11-point advantage in the final 3:23 of regulation as Minnesota scored 12 straight points, including Williams’ four-point play.
In the last moments of regulation, New York made the most of their chances. After Stewart’s first shot was blocked with one second left and went out of bounds, Ionescu threw the ball to her under the basket, and she was fouled.
The officials reviewed the play to check if the foul happened before the buzzer and decided it did, giving Stewart two free throws with 0.8 seconds remaining.
Stewart made the first free throw, but the second one rolled off the rim. Williams’ shot on the other end missed, and the game went to overtime.
“We just take it on the chin, you know. We were up a lot and then we had a wild kind of sequence to end the fourth,” Stewart said. “Didn’t start overtime great. I had a great look at the end and I didn’t make it.
But I think that this is a series. We wanted to really win, obviously, for home court. But the beauty is, we have another game on Sunday and we’ll be ready.”
Jones led New York with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Ionescu finished with 19 points, while Stewart had 18.
New York came out strong against Minnesota, which was playing just two days after defeating Connecticut in the semifinals. The Liberty built an 18-point lead in the first half before the Lynx made their comeback.
This 18-point rally matched the New York Liberty’s record set in 1999 during Game 2 of the Finals, which ended with Teresa Weatherspoon’s famous halfcourt shot.
Both teams are aiming to make history in this series. The Liberty want to win their first championship, while the Lynx are chasing a league-record fifth title. They were the top two teams during the regular season.
New York is in the finals for the second year in a row and hopes to move past the disappointment of losing to the Las Vegas Aces in 2023. Minnesota is in the championship round for the first time since 2017, when they won their fourth title in seven years.
The Liberty lost two of their three regular-season games against Minnesota, including the Commissioner’s Cup championship, but both teams have said those games don’t really matter as they head into the finals.
The Lynx managed to contain Jones in all three wins, with the Liberty’s star center scoring in single digits each time. However, she reached double figures by the end of the first quarter on Thursday.
Minnesota held New York to 38% shooting and improved to 181-11 since 2011 when they keep an opponent under 40% shooting.
The enthusiastic New York crowd of 17,732 was as loud and spirited as it has been all season. Spike Lee, Jason Sudeikis, Meek Mill, and New York Mets third baseman Mark Vientos were all present, with Lee wearing an Ionescu jersey.
