The only way to properly close out this league’s highest-scoring WNBA season was with the most dramatic WNBA Finals ever — including overtime in the deciding Game 5.
But even though things have changed in the league this season, what happened in these Finals ties into what happened at the end of last season. That’s when the New York Liberty fell short in the 2023 WNBA Finals – making the franchise 0-5 in Finals all-time – and after that, the Liberty entered in this season with a mission to not let that happen again.
They didn’t do it.
But it took securing the No. 1 seed for a deciding match to take place in front of their raucous home crowd, overtime in that deciding match, role players stepping up in the best game of their careers, a questionable decision and a former MVP putting the team on his back.
The New York Liberty are the 2024 WNBA champions.
New York beat a force of nature in Napheesa Collier and a strong Minnesota team 67-62 in overtime to win Game 5 and hoist the championship trophy.
For the final two games, Minnesota focused its defense on Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu – they shot a combined 5 of 34 in Game 5 – and dared anyone to beat them.
Jonquel Jones did it. The former MVP reminded everyone how great she was and was the player the Lynx had no answer for, blasting her way inside to 17 points and grabbing six rebounds. She had a team-high 24 points with 10 rebounds in New York’s Game 1 win and, with the series on the line, put the team on her back in Game 5, it’s why Jones was named Finals MVP.
With all due respect to Jones, Collier was the best player on the court in Game 5, scoring 22 points with seven rebounds and making key defensive plays all night. Collier ended up leading the playoffs in points, rebounds, steals and blocks.
She nearly led the Lynx to a victory in Game 5 in what was a worthy end to this series and this season.
It was a layup by Collier, beating Stewart to the rim, that tied the game with 1:35 left in the fourth. Then Collier hit another driving layup, this one a backhander, to give Minnesota the lead.
On the other end, Stewart fouled out and headed to the free throw line with a chance to tie, but shockingly missed both free throws. However, that second miss was overturned, giving the Liberty another chance, but Ionescu missed 3 more (she was 1 of 10 from deep on the night). The Liberty retained possession after an intentional ball violation between the Lynx (to set their defense), but Ionescu missed 3 more. That gave the Lynx a chance to make it a two-possession game in the final seconds, but Collier missed a driving layup, and the Liberty was down two possessions with 6.3 seconds remaining.
Stewart wanted the rock and when she got the inbounds pass, she drove the lane and blew the whistle, giving her two free throws — but that call to Alanna Smith was questionable and Minnesota was challenged. After a review, officials ruled that Smith was “not in a legal custody position” and the appeal was upheld, but it’s safe to say that outside of New York, few people were d I agree with this assessment.
I’m sorry but it wasn’t a mistake! Let these damn players dictate the outcome of a tested and close game. ♂️
-LeBron James (@KingJames) October 21, 2024
“I know all the headlines will be ‘Reeve cries foul.’ Go ahead, because that shit was stolen from us,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said after the game, complaining about the consistency calls. “You have a star player like Phee, I don’t understand. I don’t understand how she can be held back, go to the basket and get hit, and then a marginal (foul) — at best, at best! — sends her best player out at the free throw line. It’s hard to swallow.
Stewart made both free throws to tie the game. Minnesota had 5.2 seconds left and Kayla McBride had a clear look at a 3 but missed, and we were headed to overtime.
In the extra period, the Liberty made plays (and fewer mistakes), headlined by Nyara Sabally’s steal and score.
Sabally was the other deciding factor for New York in Game 5, she came off the bench and scored 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Beyond the stats, she was a game changer because the Lynx, who wanted to change every pick-and-roll throughout the series, couldn’t change when it was Ionescu/Sabally, which destabilized their defense and gave New York a chance to get back in the game. Sabally changed the game.
The Liberty took full advantage and can now – for the first time in franchise history – call themselves WNBA champions.
