New York Liberty vs Minnesota Lynx WNBA Finals Game 1 Recap: Lynx come from 18 down to win in OT

It was the play Minnestoa wanted, getting their all-everything star Breanna Stewart with the ball moving toward the basket and a chance to force double-overtime in Game 1...

And she missed it.

Napheesa Collier’s turnaround proves to be the game-winner as Minnesota comes from 15 down in the fourth quarter to win 95-93 in overtime.

This game is drunk.

But when the pressure is on Napheesa Collier is steady and hits a beautiful 15-foot turnaround that has the Lynx up 95-93 with 8.8 left in OT. Liberty ball with a chance to tie or win.

Lynx guard Courtney Williams has been the best player on the court in OT, has scored five in the frame, and has her team up 93-91 with 32.9 seconds.

A Jones 3 and a couple of runners from Ionescu have kept it close.

New York led by 14 with 5:20 left in the fourth quarter, started to play passively and tried to run the clock, and lost their rhythm. It cost them the lead as the game was forced to overtime.

Minnesota’s defense has kept New York off balance, and then scored the first four points of overtime, to take an 88-84 lead midway into the five-minute OT.

This was as wild an ending of a game as you will ever see.

New York was down 1 with a second left when Breanna Stewart was fouled. She went to the free throw line (after a lengthy review), hit the first but missed the second, leaving the game tied at 84-84.

Minnesota had 0.5 seconds left but Courtney Williams’ shot was blocked and we are headed to overtime.

This ending is insane.

The first time the ball was inbounded it was knocked out of bounds, the referees didn’t get a clear view and called a jump ball. Then the Lynx Courtney Williams violated the jump ball circle, New York got the ball out of bounds. They got the ball to Breanna Stewart, whose shot was blocked out of bounds with a second to go.

New York got one more chance, got the ball to Stewart under the basket, and she was fouled by Collier going up. Stewart heads to the line with 0.8 on the clock and a chance to win it.

New York led by 15 in the fourth quarter and fought back.

Minnesota was down 3 with 18.3 seconds left, ran their offense, and Courtney Willaims was fouled by Ionescu as she took — and made — a 3, turning it into a four-point play.

Lynx leads 84-83 with 5.5 seconds left.

The Minnesota Lynx have a chance.

After a Napheesa Collier block of Jonquel Jones led to a shot clock violation by the Liberty. Minnesota has the ball with 18.5 seconds left in an 83-80 game.

Minnesota twice has cut deep into a big New York lead — this time can they get over the hump and win the game.

On a Courtney Williams runner in the lane the Lynx cut the lead to 83-80 with 42.5 seconds left. What a wild ending this is going to be.

Minnesota shows a lot of fight, some great defense and shot making and its 83-78 with a minute to go.

New York’s defense has been the story of this game, combine that with their offense moving the ball and the 3-pointers falling and there is nothing Minnesota can do.

New York went on a 13-2 lead and stretched their lead out to 15. New York now leads 81-69 with 3:45 left in the game. Do the Lynx have one more push in them?

Jonquel Jones has 17 points and 10 rebounds early in the fourth of Game 1.

That’s good news for New York. As noted on the broadcast, the Liberty are 29-3 this season when Jones has a double-double, including the one win in the regular season against the Lynx.

After a Breanna Stewart 3, New York leads 73-64 with 7:29 left in the game.

This has not been Napheesa Collier’s best game — impressive defense from her former UConn teammate Breanna Stewart has something to do with that — but she is still making plays. Watch this impossible-to-stop shot.

Ten minutes to go.

The New York Liberty saw their lead cut to two by the Minnesota Lynx but got some stops and some key buckets — Jonquel Jones was again the key and has 17 points and nine rebounds on the night — but stretched it back to 68-61 after three quarters.

Breanna Stewart has 14 and Sabrina Ionescu 13 for New York. Kayla McBride leads Minnesota with 19 points, while Napheesa Collier has 13.

Close followers of the Liberty suggested what would be different in this series from the regular season — when Minnesota took 3-of-4 from New York — was German rookie Leonie Fiebich being inserted into the starting lineup. Her shooting, her passing and just solid play made the Liberty more dangerous.

She is 4-of-8 from 3 and helped the Liberty push the lead back up to as much as 10. It is 62-53 New York with 1:30 left in the third quarter.

Minnesota came out hot in the second but after a time out it was the play of Jonquel Jones that settled New York down. Her buckets and offensive boards inside have pushed the Liberty lead back up to six, 53-47.

We have a ballgame.

Minnesota came out playing stead defense in the second quarter, got stops, turned that into buckets on the other end — including a fast-break layup — and New York was forced to call timeout with their lead down to two, 44-42 with 8:23 left in the third.

If you want to look at the bright side as a Minnesota fan at the half, your team has given up 10 offensive rebounds, has given up 15 fast break points (and scored just six), Napheesa Collier has yet to really go off, yet they are down just eight points at the break.

There’s work to do and things to clean up, but to give up those numbers and be down only single digits is a good sign.

Minnesota weathered the hot New York start — although the Liberty did lead by as many as 18 — got their defense settled down and chipped away at the lead.

It worked. New York is ahead by eight, 44-36, at the half.

Jonquel Jones leads all scorers with 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting, plus she has a team-high four rebounds. Sabrina Ionescu has 11 for the Liberty, while Breanna Stewart has 7 points on 3-of-7 shooting.

Kayla McBride has drained a couple of 3s and leads the Lynx with 10 points. Napheesa Collier has eight points on 4-of-7 shooting.

Both teams are shooting 30% on 3s in the first half, but the Lynx took just 10 while the Liberty launched 20. Which team finds space and their stroke from beyond the arc in the second half could pull away.

Minnesota has cranked up their league-best defense and then used the stops to get gout in transition — with New York crashing hard on the offensive glass, they are vulnerable to fast break buckets.

It also helps the Liberty have gone a little cold from 3, and the New York lead is down to 41-34.

A couple of defensive notes in this game. First, the Lynx are switching a lot, almost every pick.

The Liberty are taking a different approach. When the pick is set their bigs are staying back, you don’t see Jonquel Jones showing out, instead they are asking their guards to fight over screens and recover. So far, it’s working.

The score is 41-28 New York with 3:40 left in the first half.

New York added depth this season and it is showing in Game 1 of the Finals.

Courtney Vandersloot has five points and four assists off the bench and the Liberty have stretched out their lead to 39-21 midway through the second quarter.

Minnesota — the best defensive team in the WNBA — settled down to start the second quarter, forced a couple of turnovers from Jones, and seemed to quiet the Barclays Center and slow the Liberty’s momentum. That led to a New York timeout.

The score is 32-21 New York early the second quarter.

This was the start New York wanted.

Their defense has been sharp, holding Napheesa Collier to four points and forcing three Lynx turnovers. On the other end, the Liberty have Jonquel Jones dominating with 10 points in the paint, while Sabrina Ionescu is raining 3s and has eight points of her own.

New York is up by 13, 32-19, after one quarter of play.

There are a few things that have New York up big early, but one of the keys is that the Liberty have attacked the offensive glass — New York has six offensive rebounds on 12 missed shots. Let that sink in: New York has grabbed the offensive board on half of their missed shots.

It will be tough for the Lynx to win if they keep giving the Liberty second chances.

Jonquel Jones has been the difference early in Game 1. She has gotten deep position in the post, showed off great footwork, used the glass on shots, plus grabbed a few rebounds. She has 10 early points on 4-of-5 shooting.

New York leads 21-12 with two minutes left in the first quarter.

New York’s defense has been spectacular, forcing a couple of turnovers, and Leonie Fiebich has knocked down two 3-pointers, and the Liberty have raced out to a 14-5 lead.

And the Barclay’s Center is rocking.

New York struck first in the WNBA Finals. Jonquel Jones got deep position, Sabrina Ionescu found her with the great entry pass, and Jones got the and-1.

The 2024 WNBA Finals have tipped off — and the Liberty won the tip, if you think that can be a bit of foreshadowing.

Spike Lee is in the building... like anyone thought the biggest hoops fan in New York would miss this game.

Minnesota took 3-of-4 from New York in the regular season, and a key reason was that they could not seem to miss from 3. For example, in the Commisioner’s Cup Championship game Bridget Carleton was 6-of-8 from beyond the arc and led the team with 23 points.

In four games this season, Carleton and Kayla McBride have shot 28-of-51 from 3-point range (54.9%). Can they sustain that under the bright lights of the WNBA Finals?

For the Liberty, Sabrina Ionescu is the player to watch this series — she is on a tear in the playoffs, scoring 20.7 points a game and hitting 46.5% from 3.

It seems a bit reductive in modern basketball to say, “The hotter team from 3 will win,” but in this series it will be spot on.

The New York Liberty come into these WNBA Finals with the weight of history on their shoulders — New York is 0-5 in the Finals.

Four of those losses came in the first six seasons of the WNBA’s existence, when the Liberty fell three times to Cynthia Cooper’s powerhouse Houston Comets (which won the first four WNBA titles). Then, in 2002, the Liberty lost to Lisa Leslie and the Los Angeles Sparks.

It was another 21 years before the Liberty were back in the Finals, but last year they lost to A’Ja Wilson and the Las Vegas Aces. This year the Liberty come in with the best record and best team in the league, but will they feel the pressure of this feeling like a now-or-never moment for the franchise.

Here are the stating five for each team.

New York Liberty:
Sabrina Ionescu
Leonie Fiebich
Betnijah Laney-Hamilton
Breanna Stewart
Jonquel Jones

Minnesota Lynx:
Courtney Williams
Kayla McBride
Alanna Smith
Napheesa Collier
Bridget Carleton

Not only do the Liberty enter Game 1 with home-court advantage and the best offense in the WNBA this season, but they also have one more huge advantage that could swing Game 1:

They are rested.

The Liberty took care of business, closed out the defending champion Aces on Sunday, flew home from Las Vegas, and had three days between games to rest, let the bumps and bruises heal, and dive into their game plans for the Finals.

On the other hand, the Lynx played a Game 5 Tuesday night in Minnesota, picked up the emotional win that sent them to the Finals, and then had to board a flight the next morning to New York for the Finals. Far less rest, far less time to game plan.

That could end up mattering in Game 1.

Ellie the Elephant is the best mascot in all of sports and she showed up for Game 1 looking Fab. Like you knew she would.

New York is a relatively heavy favorite to win both Game 1 and its first WNBA Finals.

The Liberty are -6 favorites at home in Game 1.

For the Finals, the Liberty are -275 to win the series according to our partners Bet MGM, while Minnesota is +220 to win the series. The betting public is behind New York.

It’s getting close to showtime and the teams have entered the Barclays Center for Game 1 of the WNBA Finals.

New York looked comfortable at home.

The Lynx were all business on the road.

Expansion is coming to the WNBA starting next season in the Bay Area (and the year after that in Portland), and Thursday morning the Golden State Valkyries took a key step in that direction.

Golden State hired Natalie Nakase to be their first head coach. Nakase, who spent 11 seasons in various roles with the Los Angeles Clippers including assistant coach, has spent the last three seasons as an assistant with the Las Vegas Aces, learning under Becky Hammon (and helping Las Vegas to two WNBA titles).

“Being named the head coach of the Golden State Valkyries is a lifelong dream come true,” Nakase said in a statement. “I am thankful to Joe Lacob, Ohemaa Nyanin and the Golden State front office for entrusting me with this responsibility. We are committed to building a winning culture of grit, hard work, and competitiveness. We will strive to improve, compete, and ultimately bring home a championship for our fans and this organization.”

The Liberty had the best record in the WNBA this season largely because nobody could handle their size and athleticism up front with two former MVPs in Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones
.
The Lynx were the exception.

That starts with Napheesa Collier. The former UConn star has had a breakout season, was second in MVP voting, and carried that over the playoffs setting a WNBA record with three straight 25-point, 10-rebound games.

Collier is averaging 27.1 points and 9.6 rebounds a game in the playoffs. Pairing her up front with Alanna Smith gives the Lynx size to match the Liberty, and Minnesota added more inside presence off the bench with an in-season trade for Myisha Hines-Allen.

The Liberty are on a mission this season and have not just size but skill up front with Stewart (20 points, 8.2 rebounds a game in the playoffs) and Jones (13.5 points, 8.7 rebounds).

One thing that could swing the series for New York will be Stewart’s defensive versatility — she can switch onto and shut down guards who are breaking down the Liberty defense. For example, in the close-out game against the Aces last round, Stewart was assigned to Aces guard Kelsey Plum, who had been a problem, and Stewarts defense turned the game and ended the series. If called upon, she can do that against the Lynx, too.

Let’s look at who has been leading these teams in the postseason

Lynx points per game
1. Napheesa Collier (27.1)
2. Courtney Williams (13.7)
3. Kayla McBride (13.6)

Lynx rebounds per game
1. Napheesa Collier (9.6)
2. Alanna Smith (4.4)
3. Courtney Williams (3.6)

Lynx assists per game
1. Courtney Williams (5.9)
2. Kayla McBride (4)
3. Napheesa Collier (3.9)

Lynx 3-Point field goal percentage (min. 2 attempts a game)
1. Alanna Smith (45.5%)
2. Napheesa Collier (45%)
3. Kayla McBride (33.3%)
—————————————
Liberty points per game
1. Sabrina Ionescu (20.7)
2. Breanna Stewart (20)
3. Jonquel Jones (13.5)

Liberty rebounds per game
1.Jonquel Jones (8.7)
2. Breanna Stewart (8.2)
3. Sabrina Ionescu (5.2)

Liberty assists per game
1. Sabrina Ionescu (5.2)
2. Breanna Stewart (3.8)
3. Courtney Vandersloot (3.3)

Liberty 3-Point field goal percentage (min. 2 attempts a game)
1. Leonie Fiebich (59.1%)
2. Jonquel Jones (46.7%)
3. Sabrina Ionescu (46.5%)

New York had the best record in the WNBA, but Minnesota owned the regular season matchups between the teams this year, taking three of the four head-to-head games.

That included when these teams met with something real on the line in the Commissioner’s Cup Championship. Bridget Carleton stepped up for Minnesota with 23 points in that game, including hitting 6-of-8 from 3, while Napheesa Collier was her usual impressive self with 21 points and six rebounds.

Minnesota is looking to repeat that performance in Game 1 and steal one on the road in the Barclays Center.