NEW YORK (AP) — The WNBA Finals went down to a winner takes all Game 5 Sunday night, with New York and Minnesota looking to make history.
The Liberty are seeking their first title after losing five times in the finals. The team was one of the original eight franchises when the league began in 1997 and is the only one of that group not to have won it all. A Lynx victory would give them five championships and break a tie with Seattle and Houston for the most in WNBA history.
This is the first time since 2019 that the WNBA Finals have gone the distance. Since the league moved to a best-of-five format in 2005, seven other series have resulted in a fifth game and the home team has won five of those competitions, including in 2019.
Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve was involved in six of those winner-take-all games. She had mixed success sharing a pair as an assistant with the Detroit Shock in 2006 and 2007. She won two of three with Minnesota in 2015-17.
Next season, the WNBA announced it would use a seven-game series to determine the champion.
This series is a fitting conclusion to a banner season for the league. The first four games of the series came down to final possessions and included an overtime game and a last second shotwhich led to record audiences.
The first three games each attracted over a million viewers on average, with viewership increasing with each contest. They also hosted huge crowds.
New York expects no difference Sunday night, with tickets being a hot commodity.
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