The WNBA Finals have reached a deciding Game 5 on Sunday night, with both New York and Minnesota aiming to make history.
The Liberty are seeking their first championship after losing in the Finals five times. As one of the original teams since the league started in 1997, they are the only one from that group yet to win a title. If the Lynx win, they would claim their fifth championship, surpassing Seattle and Houston for the most in WNBA history.
This is the first time since 2019 that the WNBA Finals have gone to a Game 5. Since the league changed to a best-of-five format in 2005, there have been seven other series that reached this point, and the home team won five of those games, including the one in 2019.
Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve has participated in six of these winner-take-all games. Her success has been mixed, winning two as an assistant with the Detroit Shock in 2006 and 2007, and winning two out of three with Minnesota from 2015 to 2017.
Starting next season, the WNBA plans to use a seven-game series to decide the champion.
This series has been an exciting end to a record-breaking season for the league. The first four games were closely contested, featuring an overtime match and a last-second shot, leading to record viewership.
Each of the first three games attracted over a million viewers on average, with the audience growing for each game, and there were large crowds in attendance. New York expects the same excitement on Sunday night, with tickets being highly sought after.
