Napheesa Collier’s turnaround jumper with 8.8 seconds left lifted the Minnesota Lynx to a 95-93 win over the New York Liberty in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals on Thursday night.
With the game tied in OT, Collier faked in the lane and scored. New York had a chance to tie it but Breanna Stewart’s layup at the buzzer was off.
Courtney Williams had 23 points, Kayla McBride 22 and Collier 21 for Minnesota.
Chatham, Ont., native Bridget Carleton chipped in with five points, one assist and three rebounds in 37 minutes.
Game 2 of the best-of-five series is Sunday in New York. Before the game WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced that the league is expanding the Finals to best-of-seven starting next year.
The OT got off to a slow start before Minnesota built an 88-84 advantage as New York missed its first six shots. Jonquel Jones finally got the Liberty on the board with a corner 3-pointer with 1:38 left. Williams answered with her own 3-pointer and the teams traded baskets over the next minute. Sabrina Ionescu’s steal in the backcourt and layup got New York within 93-91 with 32.9 left.
WATCH | Lynx overcome 18-point deficit, rally to OT win over Liberty in Game 1:
After trailing by 18 points in the second quarter, Minnesota rallies to defeat New York 95-93 in overtime to take Game 1 of the WNBA Finals. Chatham, Ont., native Bridget Carleton finishes in with five points, one assist and three rebounds.
Jones then stole the ball at midcourt and scored to tie it four seconds later. Minnesota worked the clock down before Collier’s basket broke the tie.
The Liberty blew an 11-point lead in the final 3:23 of regulation when Minnesota scored 12 straight points, capped by Williams’ four-point play with 5.5 seconds left.
The Liberty made the most of the last few seconds. After Stewart’s first shot was blocked with a second left and went out of bounds, Ionescu inbounded the ball to her under the basket and she was fouled. The officials reviewed the play to see if the foul occurred before the buzzer sounded and deemed that it did awarding Stewart two free throws with 0.8 seconds left.
She hit the first of two free throws with the second one rolling off the rim. Williams’ shot on the other end was off and the game headed to OT.
Jones led New York with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Ionescu finished with 19 and Stewart had 18.
Both teams are looking to make history in this series. The Liberty are looking for the franchise’s first championship while the Lynx are vying for a league-record fifth. They were the best teams during the regular season, finishing in the top spots in the standings.
New York is back in the finals for the second consecutive year and is hoping to erase the scar of losing to the Las Vegas Aces in 2023. Minnesota is making its first appearance in the championship round since 2017, when the team won its fourth title in a seven-year span.
The Liberty had lost two of the three regular-season meetings to Minnesota and the Commissioner’s Cup championship, but both teams have said that those games didn’t really matter heading into the championship.
The Lynx were able to hold Jones in check in all three of the wins with the Liberty’s star center scoring in single digits each time. She reached double figures by the end of the first quarter on Thursday.
The star-studded New York crowd of 17,732 was 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 in attendance. Lee was wearing an Ionescu jersey.
WNBA to expand Finals to 7-game series next season
The WNBA will expand its Finals next year to a best-of-seven format, the league announced Thursday.
The league currently has a best-of-five semifinals and finals in its playoffs with a best-of-three first round.
“This will give our fans a championship series format that they are accustomed to seeing in other sports,” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said before Game 1 of the Finals.
Starting next season, the WNBA finals format will change to a best-of-7 series 👀<a href=”https://t.co/d2EqItEhn0″>pic.twitter.com/d2EqItEhn0</a>
—@WhistleSports
Engelbert said the better seeded teams will host the first, second, fifth and seventh games. The league also will be changing the opening round to give the lower seeded team at least one home game. The higher seeded team will host Game 1, and 3 if it’s necessary. Currently the first round has the first two games at the better seeded team. All four of the first round series were sweeps this year.
The commissioner said that with the league using charter flights all season, including the playoffs, it makes it easier to travel back and forth between cities.
Engelbert also said the league’s draft lottery will be held on Nov. 17 and that the expansion Golden State Valkyries team will have the No. 5 pick.
Engelbert also addressed the rising number of attacks that players have dealt with on social media, saying that there’s no place for it and that the league will work with the players’ union to figure out what they can do together to help combat it. Engelbert mentioned technology and help for mental health.
“It just is something where we have to continue to be a voice for this, a voice against it, condemning it, and making sure that we find every opportunity to support our players, who have been dealing with this for much longer than this year,” Engelbert said.
The WNBA averaged 9,807 fans per game in 2024, a hefty increase from last season’s 6,615 per game. The league also said a record 22 regular-season telecasts averaged at least 1 million viewers.
The impact of rookie Clark was a big reason for the increased interest in the league. The Fever set a single-season home attendance record of 340,715 fans, breaking the mark of 250,565 set by the New York Liberty in 2001.
“Culmination in most transformational year in WNBA’s history,” Engelbert said. “Put it in perspective with a few stats that bring insight into what happened. WNBA outpaced the industry in live games in 2024. Fans watched 30 per cent more on average of each WNBA game in the regular season.”
