WNBA: New York Liberty one Finals win away from first-ever championship

The No. 1-seed New York Liberty, just one win away from their first-ever WNBA championship, take on the No. 2-seed Minnesota Lynx this Friday, Oct. 18 in Game 4 of the 2024 WNBA Finals. The nationally-televised matchup will be broadcast on ESPN and is scheduled to tip-off at approximately 8 p.m. ET.

New York is coming off an exhilarating 80-77 win in Game 3, one that saw All-WNBA First Team honoree Breanna Stewart play at her very best (30 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks) and Sabrina Ionescu hit what will go down as one of the most iconic shots in WNBA playoff history. While New York struggled to score efficiently for much of the game, Stewart put the team on her back in the second half to lead a double-digit comeback, and Ionescu nailed a deep 3-point shot with just one second remaining in regulation to put the Liberty up for good.

Now, the Liberty—one of the WNBA’s original franchises—are in position to win a title for the very first time. New York has previously made five Finals appearances (1997, 1999, 2000, 2002 and 2023), but came up short each time, so this year’s Liberty understand what a championship would mean for longtime fans. At the same time, the Liberty know they haven’t won anything just yet, and that they’ll need to play better than they did last Wednesday to seal the deal.

“[The Lynx are] going to give us their best shot. They’re going to give everything they’ve got, and you know what? So are we,” Stewart told media after Game 3. “There’s a lot of things we didn’t do right tonight. We’re happy we got this win, but the job’s not done.”

In a scenario similar to Game 1 of the Finals, in which the Lynx erased a massive deficit and came back to defeat the Liberty in the closing seconds, New York spent much of Game 3 playing catch-up. Minnesota had gotten off to a hot start, fueled by 10 first-half Liberty turnovers, and though Stewart willed New York back into the game in the third quarter, it was largely a back-and-forth affair after that.

The volatile nature of a WNBA Finals series is something that Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve, who has won four championships with Minnesota, is well aware of. “It takes special mental toughness and physical toughness to weather those swings,” Reeve said. “It’s important that you don’t get too high when you win and too low when you lose.”

Reeve went on to emphasize the importance of the Lynx simply making more shots, and while it sounds simple enough, two of the series’ three games have been decided in the final seconds and could have been swung in the opposite direction with just one or two baskets. It goes to show not only how evenly matched the Liberty and Lynx are, but also how stout the two teams have been on defense; there’s plenty of scoring prowess on both rosters, and yet each of the three games played to this point have been slower-paced and come down to pinpoint execution in the halfcourt.

It’s now up to Minnesota to be the team that executes better—and not just for one quarter. The Lynx will get one final opportunity this season to defend their home court, as the series will shift back to New York for a deciding Game 5, if necessary. They’ll be looking to their superstar, Defensive Player of the Year Napheesa Collier, along with Courtney Williams and Alanna Smith (who is not on Minnesota’s injury report despite suffering a back injury in Game 3) to play their best and help even the series.

Game information

No. 1-seed New York Liberty (2-1) vs. No. 2-seed Minnesota Lynx (1-2)

When: Friday, Oct. 18 at 8 p.m. ET

Where: Target Center in Minneapolis, MN

How to watch: ESPN

Liberty injury report: none

Lynx injury report: none