Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu became New York's hero on Wednesday, sinking a 28-foot buzzer-beating logo three to notch the WNBA Finals Game 3 win.
The bucket silenced Minnesota's 19,521 record-breaking home crowd and securing a 2-1 series advantage over the Lynx.
“Definitely the biggest shot of my career,” Ionescu said post-game. “And, hopefully, not the last.”
The most-watched Finals game in 23 years was defined by dramatic momentum swings. The Liberty flipped the script on their Game 1 loss, with Ionescu overcoming a tough shooting night to avoid another overtime finish.
The first half saw Minnesota lead by as many as 15 points. But New York superstar Breanna Stewart's monster 30-point, 11-rebound double-double boosted the Libs to the tight 80-77 victory.
In total, the Liberty only led for 2 minutes and 19 seconds on Wednesday, the second-shortest amount of lead time for a winning team in an WNBA Finals game.
"Obviously, Stewie got us back in there," Liberty coach Sandy Brondello remarked after the game. "But I thought, '[at] the right time, this is Sabrina.' She's a great shooter. What I love about her is that she backs herself. Not everyone can take those big shots and make them. She can."
Can New York go all the way tonight?
In their sixth WNBA Finals trip, the Liberty are on the brink of clinching their first-ever championship this evening — assuming they avoid a winner-take-all Game 5 in Brooklyn on Sunday.
"Just knowing that we're one win away, that's what's the most motivating," Stewart said on Thursday. "The fact that we have an opportunity to finish this thing tomorrow night."
On the flip side, this is Minnesota's last chance to turn things around. Tonight's Game 4 is now a must-win for the Lynx, who are in danger of falling short of what would be a WNBA record-setting fifth league title. Battling back from a 2-1 series deficit isn't an impossible feat, having been done four previous times in WNBA Finals history, including by Minnesota in 2017.
"It's win or go home at this point," Lynx star Napheesa Collier told reporters. "So we have to come in with the mindset that we’re going to be just as aggressive and then just have faith in that we're going to execute better down the stretch."
How to watch Liberty vs. Lynx in Game 4 of the 2024 WNBA Finals
New York and Minnesota will tip off Game 4 of the 2024 WNBA Finals at 8 PM ET Friday. Live coverage will air on ESPN.
After their Game 1 implosion, New York successfully held off Minnesota 80-66 in Sunday's Game 2 to bring the best-of-five 2024 WNBA Finals to an even 1-1 split.
The Lynx threatened a repeat come-from-behind victory by chipping away at the Liberty's 17-point lead, shrinking it to just two points in the fourth quarter.
However, New York's defense stepped up, limiting Minnesota's Napheesa Collier and Courtney Williams to just 16 and 15 points, respectively. The Liberty also forced an uncharacteristic seven turnovers from 2024 Defensive Player of the Year Collier.
Stewart, Laney-Hamilton lead Liberty
Both two-time MVP Breanna Stewart and teammate Betnijah Laney-Hamilton had statement performances in Game 2.
Laney-Hamilton tied her scoring season-high by dropping 20 points in just her second double-digit showing this postseason. The feat is particularly impressive in light of the her July knee surgery which forced her to miss 12 games.
“To see a glimpse of what I’m capable of, it felt really good,” Laney-Hamilton told reporters after Sunday's game.
As for Stewart, she topped New York's stat sheet with 21 points, eight rebounds, five assists, and set a Finals single-game record with seven steals.
Liberty guard Courtney Vandersloot summed up Stewart's Game 2 performance, saying "she was all over the floor, just wreaking havoc on everything, was in the gaps, and making things hard [for Minnesota]."
"When you have your best player, your leader, playing as hard as she does, night in and night out and impacting the game in different ways — not just scoring and rebounding," explained Vandersloot, "it's a big motivator for everybody and she sets the standard for us."
2024 WNBA Finals continue breaking records
Sunday's Game 2 brought a record 18,046 fans to Brooklyn's Barclays Center, the largest Liberty crowd at the venue since the franchise moved there full time in 2021.
Even more, just days after Game 1 set a new viewership record, Sunday's matchup surpassed those numbers, becoming the most viewed Finals game in WNBA history. An average of 1.34 million viewers tuned in, peaking at 1.82 million — a 115% increase over last year's Game 2.
How to watch the Liberty vs. the Lynx in Game 3 of the 2024 WNBA Finals
The series now moves to Minneapolis, with Game 3 tipping off Wednesday at 8 PM ET. Live coverage will air on ESPN.
After trailing by as many as 18 points in the first half, the Minnesota Lynx stormed back to a 95-93 overtime win in Brooklyn on Thursday to steal Game 1 of the WNBA finals on the road. Minnesota's return from 18 points down ties the greatest comeback in WNBA history, ironically first set by the Liberty in Game 2 of the 1999 finals.
The Liberty came out swinging early in front of a raucous Barclays Center crowd, scoring 32 points in the first quarter as the Lynx suddenly found themselves in danger of becoming overwhelmed. But Minnesota kept chipping away at the lead, reducing New York's advantage to single digits at halftime.
As the teams traded runs in the second half, it appeared as if New York would to be able to hold off a late charge by the Lynx, leading by 15 points with 5:20 remaining in the game. But once again, Minnesota remained calm and went on a run of their own.
"I think it defines our team in terms of being able to get through difficult times," Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve said after the game. "That's what we are talking about: You have to be mentally tough and resilient."
Guard Courtney Williams made the four-point play to give Minnesota an unlikely one-point lead with seconds remaining, and Breanna Stewart split two free throws to send the game into overtime.
After a slow start to the overtime period, Lynx star Napheesa Collier's final midrange jumper proved to be the difference, sending Minnesota into Game 2 with a 1-0 advantage. The Lynx are the first team in WNBA postseason history to win a game after trailing by 15+ points in the final five minutes of regulation in 184 games.
New York center Jonquel Jones led all scorers with 24 points, but Minnesota got the most out of the trio of Collier (21 points), Williams (23 points), and Kayla McBride (22 points).
New York's chance to bounce back
The Liberty are now 0-6 in Game 1 of the WNBA finals, and will try to bounce back in Game 2 on Sunday at 3pm ET (ABC). "This is a series, and we wanted to really win for home court [advantage]. But the beauty is we have another game on Sunday and we'll be ready," Stewart said after the game.
For the Liberty, the pressure will be on. No WNBA team has ever come back from a 2-0 deficit in a best-of-five playoff series, something New York knows well. The Liberty sent two-time defending champion Las Vegas home in the semifinals after building a similar insurmountable advantage.
"We're disappointed," Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello said. "We have to be better. We're a better team than what we showed today."
After missing the free throw that would have sealed the game for New York, and missing a key layup in overtime, Stewart is also prepping for a personal bounce back. "I feel like knowing my teammates, and that everyone has confidence in me is important," she said. "It's kind of like, on to the next, and still making sure I'm aggressive any time on the court. Obviously as a player, it's very frustrating."
Following Sunday's matchup, the series will head to Minnesota for Game 3 and a possible Game 4. New York will be very motivated to stretch the series as long as possible.
"We can't play to not lose, and I think we started to play [like that] a little bit," said Sabrina Ionescu.
WNBA announces draft, postseason infrastructure for 2025
Prior to Game 1, league commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced plans for the 2025 college draft, as well as a new structure for the postseason. The 2025 draft lottery will take place on Nov. 17, as the LA Sparks, Dallas Wings, Washington Mystics and Chicago Sky find out who will hold the No. 1 pick in the 2025 draft.
Expansion side the Golden State Valkyries will officially pick fifth in all three rounds of the 2025 draft, Engelbert also announced on Thursday. The Valkyries made their own bit of splashy news earlier in the day, announcing Aces assistant Natalie Nakase as the team's inaugural head coach.
The WNBA will also be making changes to the postseason starting in 2025, in reaction to the growing appetite for more games in more home markets.
The league will be expanding the finals to a best-of-seven series instead of a best-of-five starting in 2025. The first round will also go from a home-home-away cadence for the higher seed to a 1-1-1 structure, meaning all playoff teams will be guaranteed a postseason home game next year.
In a battle between the top two regular-season finishers, the Minnesota Lynx will travel to Brooklyn to play the New York Liberty in the first game of the best-of-five 2024 WNBA Finals on Thursday.
Former UConn teammates and 2024 Olympic gold medalists Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier headline the matchup. Stewart's top-seeded Liberty will look to earn their first-ever WNBA title in their sixth Finals appearance.
Collier and the new-look Lynx are bringing a former dynasty back to the biggest stage, in the team's first finals appearance since their 2017 championship.
The road to the 2024 WNBA Finals
After topping the league in the regular season with a 32-8 record, New York put the No. 8-seed Atlanta Dream's season to bed in the first playoff round. To reach the 2024 Finals, the Liberty avenged their 2023 championship series, ousting Las Vegas and ending the two-time defending champs' three-peat chase in four semifinal games.
As for the Lynx, Minnesota claimed second in the regular season standings, just two wins shy of matching New York's record. They sent the Phoenix Mercury packing by sweeping the first round, but needed all five semifinal games to outlast the Connecticut Sun and book their seventh trip to Finals.
Liberty's title mission meets Lynx's underdogs
The Liberty and Lynx aren't just the league's top teams. They led the East and West Conferences, respectively, and boast the WNBA's top offense (New York) and second-best defense (Minnesota).
That said, the 2024 WNBA Finals will pit a superstar-laden Liberty squad against a Minnesota team that few thought would even make the postseason when play began this year.
Alongside two-time MVP Stewart, New York's squad includes 2021 MVP Jonquel Jones, sharpshooter Sabrina Ionescu, and a frighteningly deep bench.
On the other hand, only five players, including 2024 Defensive Player of the Year Collier, returned from Minnesota's 2023 team. Lynx boss Cheryl Reeve, the 2024 Coach of the Year, added key athletes to Minnesota's originally slim roster, including three — Courtney Williams, Bridget Carleton, and Alanna Smith — who were cut from various other WNBA teams in 2021 or 2022. All have made significant contributions as the Lynx proved early season expectations wrong.
"We didn't scare anybody," Reeve said after winning Tuesday's Game 5. "I'm not sure that anybody at any point in the season was like, 'Yeah, they have a real shot at winning a championship' other than the people that are in our corner. And I think we're continuing to have to make believers."
An historic WNBA Finals on deck
Entering the Finals, sports books heavily favor the Liberty, but the Lynx actually hold a 3-1 record against New York in 2024. That edge includes Minnesota's 94-89 victory over the Liberty in June 25th's Commissioners Cup final.
No matter who walks away with the 2024 championship, WNBA history will be made. Either the Liberty will claim their first title, or Minnesota will become the first franchise to win five championships. The Lynx are currently tied at four titles with the Seattle Storm and the folded Houston Comets.
How to watch the Lynx vs. the Liberty in Game 1 of the 2024 WNBA Finals
The Lynx and Liberty will tip off at Brooklyn's Barclays Center at 8 PM ET on Thursday, with live broadcast and streaming coverage on ESPN.
The Minnesota Lynx advanced to the 2024 WNBA Finals by defeating the Connecticut Sun 88-77 in Tuesday's winner-take-all Game 5. The Sun have now been ousted from the WNBA semifinals for the fourth time in six years.
Buoyed by a home crowd, the Lynx jumped out to take the early lead. Propelled by the play of 2024 MVP runner-up Napheesa Collier and guard Courtney Williams, Minnesota wrapped up the first half an impressive 19 points ahead of the Sun.
Collier, the 2024 Defensive Player of the Year, finished the game with a 27-point, 11-rebound double-double. Willams put up 24 points, with guard Kayla McBride adding 19 in the decisive win.
“They just kind of punched us in the face, and we got shellshocked and then we couldn’t fight back,” said Connecticut forward DeWanna Bonner.
Lynx defense stifles the Sun
Combined with their explosive offense, the Lynx leaned on their strong defense to limit the Sun's impact. Connecticut shot just 38.5% from the floor as Minnesota forced 19 costly turnovers, converting them into 22 Lynx points.
Dijonai Carrington led the Sun with 17 points and 12 rebounds in the losing effort. Center Brionna Jones also put up a double-double (16 points, 10 rebounds).
The loss ends the Sun's 2024 hunt for a first-ever franchise title, an effort that could become more difficult next season. Four of Connecticut's five starters — Bonner, Carrington, Jones, and forward Alyssa Thomas — are now officially free agents, meaning next year's Sun roster could see significant changes.
Collier, Bonner make WNBA playoff history
Continuing her dominant season, yesterday's tilt saw Collier become the first WNBA player to put up at least 25 points and 10 rebounds in three straight playoff games.
Meanwhile, Sun veteran Bonner bows out of the postseason as the all-time leader in postseason WNBA games played. She's also second all-time in postseason scoring, and third in postseason rebounds.
After splitting their first four games, tonight's Game 5 semifinal will determine who will go on to face New York in the 2024 WNBA Finals: the Minnesota Lynx or the Connecticut Sun.
The two teams' best-of-five series has been the tightest of the 2024 postseason thus far. Both claimed one road win and one at home, and even the series score sheet is wildly close, with the Lynx putting up 321 points across the four games and the Sun posting 315.
New WNBA season, same elimination game matchup
Tonight's tilt marks the pair's second-straight season competing in a winner-takes-all playoff showdown after the Sun beat the Lynx 90-75 in Game 3 of 2023's first round.
"At this point, you know each other inside and out," said Sun coach Stephanie White after Sunday's win. "It's about players making plays. It’s about the extra efforts. The hustle plays. It's about not being denied and finding something deep inside of you that allows you to come out on top."
Unlike the Lynx, the Sun have the added motivation of hunting a franchise-first WNBA championship. Minnesota, on the other hand, boasts four titles already, most recently in 2017.
It's something top-of-mind for veteran Sun forward DeWanna Bonner, who called the atmosphere in Minneapolis for Game 1 and 2 "absolutely insane."
"I can only imagine what it will be like in a Game 5. We know that," Bonner continued. "I wouldn’t tell the team anything other than focus in on each other. They have great fans, championship fans. They’ve won multiple championships. They’re hungry for another one."
Stats pave a complicated road to the Finals
To overcome Minnesota's hunger, Connecticut will likely defer to Sunday's winning formula. The return of guard Ty Harris from injury had an immediate impact, as did the Sun's performance behind the arc — Connecticut sank 53% of their three-pointers while the Lynx failed to crack 40%.
For their part, Minnesota will be aiming to stifle Connecticut's offense, which saw five Sun players score double-digits on Sunday.
"We have to get back to what got us in this position in the first place, which is our defense," noted Lynx star Napheesa Collier, the 2024 Defensive Player of the Year.
How to watch Sun vs. Lynx in Game 5 of the 2024 WNBA semifinals
The Sun and Lynx will tip off in Minneapolis at 8 PM ET tonight, with live broadcast and streaming coverage on ESPN2.
Sunday's WNBA semifinals action saw top-seeded New York end back-to-back defending champion Las Vegas's season while the Connecticut Sun staved off elimination to force a deciding Game 5 against the Minnesota Lynx.
New York ends Aces' WNBA three-peat campaign
The Liberty claimed a second-straight trip to the WNBA Finals with Sunday's 76-62 victory over the Aces, ending to the defending champs' three-peat dream in four semifinal matchups.
After being held to just four points in Game 3, Sabrina Ionescu led the Liberty with 22 points. Teammate Breanna Stewart was just behind with a 19-point, 14-rebound double-double.
Though New York led nearly wire-to-wire, Las Vegas kept Game 4 within reach, thanks in large part to three-time MVP A'ja Wilson's 19 points, 10 rebounds, and five blocks. The Aces trailed by just two points after three quarters, but a 16-2 fourth-quarter Liberty run ultimately earned them the win.
"They've been the best team all year — let's be real," Las Vegas head coach Becky Hammon said about New York after the game. "Their group earned it. They earned it all year."
Having walked away disappointed last season, New York — the only original franchise still playing without a title — knows that nothing is guaranteed in their upcoming sixth Finals appearance.
"We haven't done anything yet," a fired up Ionescu said after Sunday's win. "We're three wins away, and that’s really important to understand. We got to come out and we got to punch because nothing has been given to us yet."
How to watch the Liberty in the 2024 WNBA Finals
Game 1 of the best-of-five Finals tips off in Brooklyn at 8 PM ET on Thursday. Live coverage will air on ESPN.
Connecticut forces winner-take-all Game 5 against Minnesota
After Friday's home-court loss to Minnesota, the Sun tied up their semifinal series with a come-from-behind 92-82 win on Sunday, forcing a winner-take-all Game 5.
Trailing by seven points at the break, Connecticut staged a second-half comeback. The Sun outscored the Lynx 49-32 to keep their first-ever WNBA title dream alive.
Ty Harris led Connecticut with a career-high 20 points in her post-injury return to the starting lineup. Four of her teammates also put up double-digits: Alyssa Thomas and DeWanna Bonner each had 18 points and eight rebounds, while DiJonai Carrington and Marina Mabrey added 15 and 10 points, respectively.
2024 Defensive Player of the Year Napheesa Collier, who led the Lynx with a 29-point, 13-rebound double-double, said her team needs to step it up when the series moves back to Minnesota on Tuesday.
"We have to go home and defend our home court. We're both playing for our lives, so we have to play with that level of intensity," Collier said after the loss.
How to watch Sun vs. Lynx in Game 5 of the 2024 WNBA semifinals
The Sun and Lynx will tip off Game 5 in Minneapolis at 8 PM ET on Tuesday. Live coverage will air on ESPN2.
Just before the 2024 WNBA semifinals tipped off on Sunday, Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier won the Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) award while head coach Cheryl Reeve earned both Coach (COY) and Executive of the Year (EOY).
Collier snags WNBA Defensive Player of the Year award
In perhaps the season's most-debated WNBA award race, Collier emerged with 36 of the 67 votes to take the 2024 DPOY title. As just the second Minnesota player to ever win it, joining Lynx legend Sylvia Fowles, who took him the title twice while playing with the club.
Collier led the league's second-best defensive team this season by holding her opponents to just 36.2% in field goal shooting, better than any other player in the WNBA this year. On top of that, she posted career highs in steals, rebounds, and blocks.
"I think it's just having that overall aggression on both sides of the ball," Collier said in response to her win. "We always are saying defense leads the offense because it lets you get in transition and it lets you push the pace. It lets you get the other team on their heels, so we take a lot of pride in our defense and it's something that obviously I've worked hard to improve because I know it's what's best for the team."
Las Vegas's 2024 WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson — who won DPOY in 2022 and 2023 — finished second with 26 votes, while Seattle's Ezi Magbegor came in third with three votes.
The WNBA also released its 2024 All-Defensive Teams on Sunday, with Collier, Wilson, and Magbegor joining Connecticut's DiJonai Carrington and New York's Breanna Stewart on the first team.
Lynx boss Reeve honored with 2024 WNBA Coach and Executive awards
Having led Minnesota to the best post-Olympic break record in the league — and after guiding Team USA to an eighth-straight gold medal — Reeve caps her 2024 WNBA season with a record-breaking fourth Coach of the Year award.
Claiming 62 of the 67 available COY votes, Reeve ran away with the 2024 title. The league-leading Liberty's boss, Sandy Brondello, garnered four votes, with Fever coach Christie Sides earning a the final nod for taking Indiana to their first playoffs since 2016.
On top of her sideline success, Reeve's front office prowess also snagged the head coach 2024 Executive of the Year honors. She joins recently ousted LA Sparks manager Curt Miller as the only individuals to win both awards in the same season.
Much of Reeve's 2024 managerial success has been attributed to key signings and trades earlier this year. Reeve added shot-maker Courtney Williams and sharpshooter Alanna Smith during the offseason's WNBA free agency window, and traded for clutch bench player Myisha Hines-Allen just last month.
All three have been integral to Minnesota's 2024 success.
Reeve, however, denies any grand master plan in concocting that success, explaining simply, "You work hard. You do the things that you think are the best path for your team. Sometimes you get lucky and you get lightning in a bottle, as they say. And that's what this team is."
The 2024 WNBA semifinals tipped off their best-of-five series on Sunday, with the Liberty serving up a redemptive win and the Sun claiming the first upset of the entire postseason.
First, top-seeded New York defeated Las Vegas 87-77 before a raucous home crowd, putting the two-time defending champs on the defensive going into the second game on Tuesday.
On a mission to avenge their 2023 WNBA Finals loss to the Aces, 2023 MVP Breanna Stewart dropped 34 points in the Liberty win, passing legend Lisa Leslie to claim the longest streak of double-digit scoring performances in WNBA postseason history.
New York's Sabrina Ionescu finished just behind Stewart on the stat sheet with 21 points, while center Jonquel Jones put up a 13-point, 12-rebound double-double.
Aces guard Kelsey Plum put up 24 points in the loss, after No. 4-seed Las Vegas entered the semis as a lower seed for the first time since 2019.
"You're trying to dig out of a hole the whole time," Las Vegas head coach Becky Hammon said about the loss. "It's not the way you want to start, especially on the road."
The Sun upset the Lynx in Minnesota
A few hours later, No. 3-seed Connecticut earned the 2024 WNBA postseason's first upset, claiming a 73-70 Game 1 road win over No. 2-seed Minnesota.
Sun guard Marina Mabrey led all scorers with 20 points, sinking six three-pointers to give the visitors a distinct edge from behind the arc. Meanwhile, teammate Alyssa Thomas neared a triple-double with 17 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists in the win.
That said, it was the Sun's defense that claimed the tight win in a game that saw 13 lead changes and eight ties. Connecticut held the Lynx's top scorer, 2024 DPOY Napheesa Collier, to just 19 points, ultimately stifling Collier's last-second game-tying effort to clinch the win. Entering Sunday, Collier was on a record-setting run as the first-ever WNBA player to drop at least 35 points in consecutive playoff games.
All eyes now turn to Tuesday, when the four semifinalists face off again. New York and Connecticut certainly have a leg up, though: WNBA teams that take Game 1 in a best-of-five series are 77% more likely to win the series.
With Aces star A'ja Wilson snagging her third MVP honors last weekend, the 2024 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) award has now taken centerstage. Both Wilson and Lynx standout Napheesa Collier are frontrunners, sparking heated debates.
Aces coach Hammon speaks out on A'ja Wilson
Last Thursday, Las Vegas head coach Becky Hammon called out ESPN journalists who revealed their 2024 WNBA votes. Notably, Hammon went to bat for players not on her roster, like New York's Sabrina Ionescu, but particularly took voters to task for giving their DPOY nod to Collier.
"They got the MVP stuff right," she told the press. "The Defensive Player of the Year? If you have to, as a journalist or a reporter, go down a rabbit hole to find somebody else to be in the conversation, you already have the answer."
Lynx coach Reeve fires back in support of Napheesa Collier
As the previously scheduled guest on Monday’s episode of Good Game with Sarah Spain, Minnesota head coach Cheryl Reeve was asked if a DPOY vote for Collier “is a vote deserving of anger.”
In response, Reeve — the 2024 Coach of the Year favorite — explained that while she had not seen Hammon's press conference, "most people that I talk to think [Collier's] a unanimous decision."
"You look at the top three or four defensive teams — in A'ja's case, can you be the Defensive Player of the Year when your defense isn’t in that?" Reeve continued. "She's had an incredible year, but she can have MVP and Napheesa Collier is Defensive Player of the Year."
Who deserves to win WNBA Defensive Player of the Year?
Reigning back-to-back DPOY Wilson, whose 451 rebounds set the WNBA's new single-season rebound mark this year, has certainly made her case for a threepeat. She led the league in blocks per game, plus recorded a career-high steal rate this season.
Collier, who slightly trails Wilson in rebound and block rate this season, shines in steals, with a per-game average good for second in the league. But it's the Lynx forward's ability to defend multiple positions, plus her role in positioning Minnesota as the WNBA's second-best defense per possession — a measure that sees the Aces claim fifth in the league — that reportedly is giving her the edge with DPOY voters.
Ultimately, the choice between the two stars seems to be about individual prowess versus team contribution. It's a decision Reeve summed up as simply, “it depends on what you value when you vote.”