Key events
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End of 1st quarter: Lynx 19-10 Liberty
Vanderslute comes in off the bench and attempts to score inside, but her shot rims out.
Collier misses on the other end – a rare miss for her in this game.
Lynx 19-10 Liberty, 43.8 seconds remaining, 1st quarter: Ionescu misses badly.
Alanna Smith, who battled through back pain in Game 4, hits a nice 3-pointer.
Fiebich misses, but Williams misses again.
The Lynx bench contributes – Natasha Heideman with a nice drive.
Laney-Hamilton misses for New York – she rushed that shot.
McBride hands off to Collier for a layup, prompting New York to call a timeout.
Lynx 12-10 Liberty, 2:24 left, 1st quarter: McBride hits a smooth jumper for a long 2.
Stewart can’t get the favorable bounce on a hook shot, but Thornton gets the putback.
Lynx miss, and Sabally (who just entered the game) scores inside for New York.
It’s another tough start for the Liberty, especially for their two stars. Breanna Stewart looks tense and has missed two shots. Sabrina Ionescu has struggled on her three shot attempts.
At the other end, Courtney Williams is now 1-for-5. Still a nice pass to Collier for the first score.
Collier leads all scorers with six points.
Lynx 10-6 Liberty, 3:57 left, 1st quarter: Jonquel Jones steps up where Stewart and Ionescu fall short. A strong drive brings the Liberty within four.
Williams misses a corner 3-pointer. Her shot selection has been questionable so far.
Ionescu misses an open 3-pointer, it’s an airball.
Official timeout finally.
Lynx 10-4 Liberty, 4:46 left, 1st quarter: After a brutal sequence of misses at both ends, Williams grabs a rebound and hits a very short jumper.
Jones gets the Liberty on the board with a nice post move.
Collier gets her third basket.
Fiebich gets inside for the Liberty. Then Smith collides with her defender at the top of the arc, opening a lane for a layup.
Jones blocks Williams’ shot.
Lynx 4-0 Liberty, 7:06 left, 1st quarter: Williams starts with a beautiful bounce pass down the lane for Collier. What an outstanding play by the Lynx point guard.
The Liberty respond with a poor series of passes resulting in a leaning off-balance 3-point attempt from Ionescu.
Turnover by Williams, but then the Liberty fail to capitalize as Stewart’s shot barely hits the iron.
Collier gets her second bucket, this time from McBride.
The next 90 seconds are forgettable.
Lynx 0-0 Liberty, 10:00 left, 1st quarter: Tipoff is finally here.
Tipoff has not actually taken place yet. We have been deceived.
New York’s title drought
The Liberty have never won the WNBA championship.
How about other NY teams? A quick look at each league and the last NY title …
NWSL: 2023 (Gotham FC)
Ultimate Frisbee Association (formerly AUDL): 2023 (New York Empire – that team was unbeatable)
MLS: 2021 (NYCFC; the Red Bulls, original league members in 1996, have never won it)
World Team Tennis: 2020 (New York Empire – not the Ultimate team)
Women’s hockey: 2018 (Metropolitan Riveters of the now-defunct PWF; the PWHL is new)
NFL: 2011 (Giants)
MLB: 2009 (Yankees)
NHL: 2003 (New Jersey Devils – if you don’t count the Devils, then go back to the Rangers in 1994)
NBA: 1973 (Knicks)
Coming up on ESPN …
Spike Lee.
The WNBA has arrived.
Tipoff in 31 minutes and 45 seconds – around 8:06 p.m. Eastern time.
Updated at 19.36 EDT
It all comes down to this …
Or whichever cliche you prefer for a winner-take-all final game in a best-of-5 series.
Questions:
1. Will Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu bounce back from rough shooting nights in Game 4?
2. Can the Liberty’s bench step up?
3. Will we see another weak start for the Liberty, or will that change now that they’re playing at home?
4. For the Lynx, can Courtney Williams continue her stellar postseason?
5. Which coach will be complaining about the officiating after this game?
The answers to those questions will determine the answer to the overriding question: Will we see the fifth championship for Minnesota or the first championship for New York?
Beau will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s how Game 4 went down:
Bridget Carleton made two free throws with two seconds left, and the Minnesota Lynx forced a decisive Game 5 of the WNBA finals, beating the New York Liberty 82-80 on Friday night.
The teams will meet Sunday night in New York in the first Game 5 of the finals since 2019, when Washington topped Connecticut.
“Last 40 minutes of the season could be anywhere, we’re going to be out there going to war and I’m pumped,” said Kayla McBride, who led the Lynx with 19 points.
Courtney Williams added 15 points for Minnesota, which forced Liberty stars Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu into poor shooting nights. Ionescu’s heave at the buzzer didn’t hit the rim.
