NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Liberty are back in the Finals, aiming for their first championship in franchise history against the Minnesota Lynx.
The Liberty reached the WNBA Finals for the second consecutive year by defeating the Las Vegas Aces in the semifinals. They have made it to the championship round five times but have yet to secure a win.
The Lynx, who last won the championship in 2017, advanced to the Finals after a five-game series victory over Connecticut on Tuesday night.
Game 1 of the best-of-5 Finals is scheduled for Thursday night, giving the Lynx little time to recover before facing the Liberty.
“Talk about the schedule, who cares. Nobody’s going to feel bad for us,” said Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve. “Got to go hooping right away and we’ll do that.”
These two teams already faced each other earlier this year when Minnesota claimed the Commissioner’s Cup championship back in June.
New York is eager for a championship after falling short against Las Vegas last season. The Liberty also lost in the finals to the Houston Comets and the Los Angeles Sparks in previous years.
“We haven’t done anything yet,” said Breanna Stewart, who had a standout performance in the clinching win over Las Vegas. “This was a tough series, an emotional series, for a number of different reasons (there’s) just the feeling of not satisfied.”
The Liberty have been playing with a chip on their shoulder all season, leading them to the best record in the league and securing home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.
“We went to the Finals last year,” Stewart said, “and we didn’t do anything.”
Despite Minnesota winning two out of three regular-season meetings, they are not underestimating New York, recognizing them as a strong competitor.
“I think the regular season doesn’t mean anything, they are an amazing team,” said Minnesota star Napheesa Collier. “It’s going to be a great series, great basketball. Two teams with great players competing.”
Collier, the league’s Defensive Player of the Year, was also the runner-up for the WNBA MVP award.
If Minnesota wins three more games, they will become the first WNBA team to win five championships, surpassing the Houston Comets and the Seattle Storm.
The first two games will be in New York, with Minnesota hosting the subsequent two. A scheduling conflict at Target Center for Game 4 was resolved by the Minnesota Timberwolves moving their NBA exhibition game to accommodate the Lynx’s game schedule.
___
AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
