Napheesa Collier and Kayla McBride lead Lynx over Liberty

The long wait for the first meeting this season of the 2024 WNBA Finals teams ended Wednesday with a 100-93 victory by the Minnesota Lynx over the New York Liberty. The first-place Lynx are now 23-5, gaining more ground in the standings on a night when the second-place Liberty (17-9) and third-place Phoenix Mercury (16-10) lost.

The Target Center crowd of 10,824 was energized throughout, and Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said it reminded her of Games 3 and 4 of the Finals last year in Minneapolis.

“Exactly what you’d expect, regardless of who was playing for them, regardless of how far into the season it was,” Reeve said, an acknowledgment that two-time league MVP Breanna Stewart of the Liberty was out injured. “Fans were excited to see this matchup, and I thought they were treated to a heck of a basketball game.”

That said, Lynx players Napheesa Collier and Kayla McBride, who combined for 54 points, said it didn’t feel as much like a Finals rematch because it was so deep into this regular season, which started May 16.

To them, it was about this one game, especially coming after a 90-86 loss to Atlanta at home Sunday.

“It’s fun to compete at a high level against the second-best team in the league,” McBride said. “We didn’t need a lot of motivation. We had just lost our last home game. The main thing was protecting our home court before anything.

“There’s so many side stories that everybody keeps talking about. I feel like this team has really good heads on our shoulders. It could have been anybody walking in here; we just weren’t going to lose two home games in a row. It was New York, and everybody has this narrative around it, and we can feel that, too. But at the end of the day, we were out there competing 40 minutes. And it could have been anybody.”

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New York coach Sandy Brondello told reporters before the game that Stewart, who was hurt Saturday in a loss to Los Angeles, has a bone bruise in her right knee. The Liberty expect her back at least by the playoffs, but it’s uncertain when she might return in the regular season.

Without Stewart, who is averaging 18.3 points and 6.5 rebounds, the Liberty still had five players score in double figures, led by guard Sabrina Ionescu with 31 points. The Liberty shot 48.6%, and their 93 points were well above the league-best 75.4 points per game the Lynx had allowed opponents coming into the contest.

But New York’s defense couldn’t slow Minnesota, which shot 49.3% overall and made 15 of 31 3-point attempts. The Lynx also had five players score in double figures, and Courtney Williams — despite a rough 1-of-13 shooting night — had 13 assists.

Minnesota’s next three games are against Las Vegas, Seattle and Washington. Then the Lynx play New York three times in a row: Aug. 10, 16 and 19. That’s broken up a bit for the Liberty, who also have games Aug. 12 in Los Angeles and Aug. 13 in Las Vegas in that stretch. Either way, it’s a lot of head-to-head competition between the Liberty and Lynx.

Collier suggested questions about the schedule of Lynx-Liberty games need to go to WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert, while McBride said, “It’s strange why it’s like that. There’s pros and cons in everything. I’d just like it a little more spread out.”

The 2024 WNBA Finals series was won by New York in overtime in Game 5 last year. The WNBA Finals have been extended to a best-of-seven for this season.

Collier brought up the fact New York will be adding forward Emma Meesseman soon. Meesseman has not played in the WNBA since 2022 but has eight years of experience in the league plus her success overseas and with the Belgian national team. The 6-foot-4 Meesseman’s presence will be even more important to New York with Stewart sidelined.

“But just like last year, it’s two really great teams,” Collier said. “And if we happen to be in the Finals … first of all, we’re not looking at that yet, we still have a lot of basketball to play. But [if we do], I think it’s going to just be really great basketball.”