New York Liberty vs Minnesota Lynx WNBA Finals Game 3 Recap: Sabrina Ionescu game-winning 3 has Liberty on verge of title

Sabrina Ionescu and Stephen Curry are tight — and she looked a lot like him with the game on the line.

With the game on the line, no other number was called, and Ionescu hit a ridiculous deep 3 to give New Your the 80-77 Game 3 win.

With the game on the line, the Lynx went to their MVP, Napheesa Collier, and let her create — and she did.

Collier drove across the lane, used her body to draw a foul on Jones and while she missed that shot she did not miss the two free throws.

It’s 77-77 with 16 seconds left and the Liberty have the chance to steal a win on the road.

Another wild ending that is moving fast.

Minnesota’s Bridget Carleton hit a bucket to it 2-point game, 77-75 New York, with 34.6 seconds left.

What a turnaround.

New York had not led since the score was 5-4 in the first but took the lead with 1:34 left on a Jonquel Jones layup, assisted by Sabrina Ionescu. Then the next trip down, Ionescu hit a three and the Liberty lead was up to four 77-73, with 55.5 seconds remaining.

Breanna Stewart has looked every bit like one of the greatest players of all time down the stretch of this game.

Which is why New York only trails 71-69 with 3 minutes to go — she blocked Napheesa Collier twice to keep the Lynx from stretching out their lead. She’s also got 30 points to lead all scorers.

Napheesa Collier has been on one all playoffs long.

Her 20th point in Game 3 has led to a record: She has scored more points in a playoffs, 247, than any player in WNBA history.

This is going to be a wild ending.

Breanna Stewart tied the game 66-66 with a straight-on 3.

Then Kayla McBride responded with her own 3 for Minnesota. Then Stewart drew the foul while hitting an elbow jumper and got an old-fashioned 3 to tie the game up again with 6:06 left.

This series wouldn’t feel right if the team that was behind most of the game didn’t come back and make it interesting down the stretch.

New York trailed by as many as 15 in the first half and couldn’t seem to close the game for most of the third, but then closed the quarter on an 8-0 run and now trail 62-61 with one quarter to go.

Breanna Stewart stepped up and now has 22 points and 7 rebounds for the game, and Sabrina Ionescu finally hit a 3 to keep her streak going (23 playoff games and 82 games overall in a row with a made 3).

Collier has bounced back and leads the Lynx with 18, but they miss Alanna Smith, their center and a Second Team All-Defense player this season, it’s hard for Minnesota to match New York’s size up front with Stewart and Jones without Smith in the rotation.

Breanna Stewart has stepped up in the second half and now has 17 points for the game, and that, plus a few stops, had cut the Lynx’s 15-point lead down to 5. Then a couple of quick buckets by Minnesota pushed it back up to 10 with just more than two minutes left in the third.

All game long, Minnesota has had answers for New York’s little runs.

Sabrina Ionescu has made a 3-pointer in 81 consecutive games and 22 straight playoff games.

She is 0-3 from 3 in Game 3, and her streak is in jeopardy the way the Lynx are defending.

Napheesa Collier is stepping up and making plays for Minnesota, which continues to hold New York at arm’s length and leads 55-46 midway through the third quarter.

Collier is up to 16 points in the game with five rebounds.

Minnesota center Alanna Smith was getting treatment on the bench in the first half after walking over to the sideline while holding the left side of her lower back.

She came back out for the second half but, early on, headed back to the locker room. We’ll have an update when we know more. Smith’s defense on Jones and in the paint in general has been huge for the Lynx in this game and series.

The defining factor in the first half of Game 3 was Minnesota’s defensive pressure — they cranked it up at home in Game 3, and New York struggled with it out of the gate.

By the end of the half, the Liberty had adjusted and started to settle down, and they chipped away at a lead that had been as high as 15 and was down to eight. If the Liberty can use backdoor cuts, ball fakes and more to get the aggressive Lynx defense overcommitted and off-balance, they can come back in this game.

It would also help New York if Sabrina Ionescu got hot after going just 1-of-4 in the first half.

It’s New York’s turn to show if they have the grit for a comeback.

Minnesota raced out to an early lead that got up to 15, and are up eight at the half, 43-35, behind their best defensive performance of the series and 13 points from Kayla McBride.

Bridget Carleton has 10 points for Minnesota and Napheesa Collier has nine points on 4-of-11 shooting.

Leonie Fiebich has 10 points and is the only Liberty player in double figures. New York’s stars have struggled in the face of a ramped-up Minnesota defense, with Breanna Stewart scoring 8 points on 3-of-8 shooting, and Sabrina Ionescu has just one bucket and shot 1-of-4 in the first.

Is this game a reverse of the last two? Minnesota has been in control since the opening tip, their defense has been fierce, but New York is hanging around within striking distance.

The score is 41-28 Minnesota with 2:58 left in the first half.

Napheesa Collier has been great during the game, but the best highlight of the night so far is her pregame with her daughter Mila.

Two things that were key to New York’s strong play at home in the first two games of the Finals have been shut down by Minnesota in Game 3.

First, after grabbing the offensive rebound on 38% of their missed shots in the first two games, New York has three offensive boards on 11 missed shots so far (27.3%).

Second, the 3-pointer is not falling for the Liberty to start Game 3, they are 2-6 and Ionescu has yet to attempt one (or get off any shot).

Minnesota leads 35-26 midway through the second quarter.

That was the start Minnesota wanted.

Behind a suffocating defense that forced seven turnovers, and 10 first-quarter points from Kayla McBride (including a couple of 3-pointers), the Lynx lead by 10 28-18 after one.

New York settled down and chipped away at the lead late in the first, but both Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones have two first-quarter fouls. That’s something to monitor.

Nothing drives a coach crazy like turnovers, which means it’s been a rough night for Sandy Brondello.

The Liberty have turned the ball over seven times in the first quarter and trail 23-9 because of it. Give Minnesota credit, they have been physical and their rotations sharp on defense, they are not giving New York any breathing room to operate their offense, then are converting those turnovers into transition points.

New York raced out to fast starts in both of their games at home.

Minnesota, home for Game 3, does the exact same thing, racing out to a 14-5 lead.

Kayla McBride hit a couple of 3-pointers and had eight fast points to lead the Lynx, who have capitalized on three Liberty turnovers. Fiebich has all five Liberty points, the rest of the team has yet to get a bucket.

Game 3 has tipped off.

In WNBA history, in five-game series tied 1-1, the winner of Game 3 is 10-4.

It’s almost time for tip-off, let’s see who is on the court to open a critical Game 3.

Nothing has changed from the first two games, but here are the starting 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

You don’t want to miss this one: The series is tied 1-1, and while the Liberty have led more than 78 minutes of the 85 played in this series, the endings have gotten tight. Minnesota wants to lead at the end of Game 3 and to take charge of the series.

Here’s how to watch:
Game Time: 8 ET
Where to watch: ESPN
Streaming: ESPN+ and Fubo

If all Napheesa Collier had done in the Finals was hitting the game-winner in overtime of Game 1, that would be enough.

However, Collier has been so much more averaging 18.5 points, 8 rebounds, 3.5 steals and three blocks a night through the first two games. Her battles in the paint with Jonquel Jones have been one of the best parts of this series.

If Collier keeps playing like this, the Lynx will have the chance Wednesday to take the lead in the series.

If the Liberty are going to answer the Lynx and go onto their home court and take a game — as Minnesota did in Game 1 in New York then two things need to happen for the Liberty on the offensive end (we don’t need to worry about their defense).

1) The 3s need to keep falling. The Liberty shot 45.8% from beyond the arc in Game 2 after shooting 39.4% in Game 1. That has covered up shooting struggles from 2 (36.8% in Game 1) and Sabrina Ionescu and Leonie Fiebich need to keep knocking them down for New York

2) New York has to remain dominant on the offensive glass. The Liberty have grabbed the offensive rebound on 38% of their missed shots this series a dominant number (compare that to 17.2% for Minnesota).

3) Breanna Stewart needs to be more efficient. Breanna Stewart has been one of the dominant players on the court in this series, but she is shooting just 33.3% through two games. She’s missed some big shots, including a layup that could have forced double-overtime in Game 1. She has to shine in Game 3 for the Liberty to win.

The Liberty are calling this a business trip and have arrived at the Target Center in Minneapolis for Game 3 of the WNBA Finals.

With the rapid growth of the WNBA this season brought some unpleasant and unwanted fans to the game — ones using racism and hate to push back against the diversity and acceptance that has been the beating heart of the WNBA since its first game.

That didn’t stop with the WNBA Finals — the Liberty’s Breanna Stewart said in multiple reports that her wife, former Spanish and WNBA basketball player Marta Xargay Casademont, received a homophobic and threatening email after New York dropped Game 1. The couple notified the league and police, which took steps to ensure the couple’s safety. Here is what Stewart told The Athletic:

“I think that threats continued to build after Game 1, which we love that people are engaged in our sport, but not to the point where there’s threats or harassment or homophobic comments being made. So we’re just continuing to let the league know, they’re handling it, but also for me just to continue to use this platform to make sure that everyone knows that it’s unacceptable to bring into our sport and really into the world.”

Stewart and Marta were married in 2021 and have two children.

Players across the league reported a rise in racist and hateful speech directed at them this season — including Connecticut’s DiJonai Carrington, who said she dealt with in the first round of the playoffs as her team eliminated Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever. WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert discussed the rise in hate in her pre-Finals media address and called the trend “troubling.”

It’s something the league needs to address. The WNBA should not sacrifice the safe, inclusive space it has worked so hard to build just to chase a few extra dollars. Grow a little slower if it means remaining true to yourself and your values.

Even on the road, the New York Liberty are the betting favorites.

The line for Game 3 is New York -3.5, according to our partners at Bet MGM.

For the Finals, the Liberty are now -225 to win the series, while Minnesota is +175 to take the title. Those odds are tighter than before the series (when the Liberty were -275 to win the series) and will flip quickly if the Lynx can take Game 3 at home.

There were three givens — MVP A’Ja Wilson, runner-up Napheesa Collier, and Liberty star Breanna Stewart — but who would round out the rest of the First Team All-WNBA was in doubt. Would Caitlin Clark make it as a rookie?

The votes are in and here are the teams.

FIRST TEAM

Napheesa Collier (Minnesota)
A’ja Wilson (Las Vegas)
Breanna Stewart (New York)
Caitlin Clark (Indiana)
Alyssa Thomas (Connecticut)

SECOND TEAM

Sabrina Ionescu (New York)
Kahleah Copper (Phoenix)
Nneka Ogwumike (Seattle)
Arike Ogunbowale (Dallas)
Jonquel Jones (New York)

Clark did make the First Team after averaging 19.2 points, 8.4 assists and 5.7 rebounds a game, shooting 34.4% from 3 and leading the Fever back to the playoffs.

The All-WNBA Teams (and other awards) were voted on by select members of the media.

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

Lynx points per game
1. Napheesa Collier (25.2)
2. Courtney Williams (14.9)
3. Kayla McBride (13.9)

Lynx rebounds per game
1. Napheesa Collier (9.2)
2. Alanna Smith (4.7)
3. Courtney Williams (4)

Lynx assists per game
1. Courtney Williams (6)
2. Kayla McBride (3.7)
3. Napheesa Collier (3.6)

Lynx 3-Point field goal percentage (min. 2 attempts a game)
1. Courtney Williams (57.9%)
2. Napheesa Collier (40.9%)
3. Alanna Smith (40.7%)
—————————————
Liberty points per game
1. Breanna Stewart (19.9)
2. Sabrina Ionescu (19.8)
3. Jonquel Jones (14.9)

Liberty rebounds per game
1.Jonquel Jones (8.9)
2. Breanna Stewart (8.3)
3. Sabrina Ionescu (5)

Liberty assists per game
1. Sabrina Ionescu (4.9)
2. Breanna Stewart (3.9)
3. Courtney Vandersloot (3.1)

Liberty 3-Point field goal percentage (min. 2 attempts a game)
1. Leonie Fiebich (55.9%)
2. Sabrina Ionescu (43.9%)
3. Jonquel Jones (42.1%)