NEW YORK – For three-plus quarters the game looked like a rerun, and then the New York Liberty called for a rewrite. Again, the Lynx started off slow, falling behind by 17 points in the first half. Again, the Lynx were down significantly, by nine, with under nine minutes left.
Again, they rallied, this time to within two with under four minutes to play.
But Sunday it was the Liberty who finished strong, and the Lynx who fell flat.
The final: New York 80, Minnesota 66 in Game 2 of the WNBA Finals. After pulling off one of the biggest comebacks in Finals history in Game 1, the Lynx finished the Game 2 with a rather epic collapse.
“Our offense was bad at a time when we really needed it,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. “Our pace was slow. Taking too long to get into things. And you know, I don’t think we were terribly hard to play against.”
As a result, the best-of-five series is headed back to Target Center for the next two games tied at one game apiece with Game 3 scheduled for Wednesday night. That’s where the Lynx hope to get the same kind of boost the 18,046 fans gave the Liberty at Barclays Center.
Lynx guard Courtney Williams’ dad: “We shocked the world”
The Lynx were outscored 12-0 after Courtney Williams drove down the lane for a layup with 3:40 left that pulled them within a basket at 68-66.
They never scored again. Down the stretch of a game that seemed within reach, the Lynx went 0-for-5 from the field with three turnovers.
