At multiple points during Thursday night’s Game 1 of the 2024 WNBA Finals at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, it looked like the New York Liberty were going to cruise to a blowout win over the Minnesota Lynx. The Liberty ran out to a 30-14 lead, as Jonquel Jones was dominant inside, Sabrina Ionescu was pouring in threes, and the Lynx couldn’t get anything going offensively.
Then, the Lynx would pull back within single digits at halftime and were able to cut the deficit down to two in the third quarter, before New York re-established order and pulled ahead by 15 with 5:20 left in the fourth. At that point, it certainly felt like the game was in hand, but Minnesota, as has been the case all season, refused to lay down and steadily chipped away at the lead. Napheesa Collier and Courtney Williams led the charge, and got the Lynx all the way back to within three at 83-80 with 20 seconds to play, as the offense woke up and the defense held New York to just two points over a five-minute stretch.
Minnesota turned to Williams in an effort to tie the game, but her three-point attempt went begging off the rim. For most of the game, New York dominated the glass, but the Lynx were able to get a timely board from Alanna Smith, who kicked it back out to Williams, where she drilled a three while getting fouled by Ionescu for a 4-point play to give the Lynx their first lead of the game (watch here).
The Liberty advanced the ball on the ensuing possession and after the Lynx fouled intentionally on their foul to give, referees called a jump ball after their second inbound that pretty clearly went off Breanna Stewart’s foot after Collier deflected it. A violation was called on Williams on the jump ball, giving another side out, but Stewart got blocked by Collier going to the rim, leading to another inbound under the basket with one second to play. This time, Stewart got it under the hoop and got fouled with 0.8 seconds left (watch here), giving the former MVP a chance to give the Liberty the lead again. Instead, she split the free throws, sending the game to overtime (watch here).
In overtime, the Lynx’s defensive dominance continued, as they shut down the Liberty offense and pulled ahead by four, with Williams delivering a pair of clutch shots to keep them ahead by two possessions with less than a minute to go (watch here).
However, New York was able to tie the game back up at 93-93 after getting two steals that led to layups, first by Ionescu on a bad pass by Williams in the backcourt, and then when Jones stole the ball on the ensuing inbound and took it all the way to the rim. From there, Williams got blocked by Stewart, but Collier hit a clutch, tough turnaround bucket with 10 seconds left to push Minnesota back in front (watch here).
After Collier fouled Stewart on the floor with a foul to give and 2.6 seconds to play, the Liberty got the inbound to Stewart, who got all the way to the rim but smoked the layup, giving Minnesota the most improbable of wins, stealing homecourt in the Finals.
The Liberty finished with four starters scoring 17 or more, as Jones (24 points), Ionescu (19 points), Stewart (18 points), and Leonie Fiebich (17 points) all had productive nights. The problem was, only Jones had an efficient scoring night (9-of-14), as Ionescu, Stewart, and Fiebich combined to shoot 20-of-61 (32.7 percent) from the field. On the other side, the Lynx has three players hit 20-plus points on better than 50 percent shooting, as Collier (21 points), Kayla McBride (22 points), and Williams (23 points) were all able to have strong nights despite limited possessions for the Lynx given New York’s dominance on the glass for most of the evening.
Down the stretch, New York’s offense just could not get out of the mud, while the Lynx were able to get loose and, as is often the case in Finals games, were simply able to hit more tough shots down the stretch. Collier showed why she was the DPOY, racking up six blocks and three steals, as she was everywhere to anchor a Minnesota defense that, as a whole, was the best in the league this season. Their ability to apply pressure on the ball and their length on the back line with Collier and Smith makes them so difficult to deal, especially when you start trying to take the air out of the ball. The Liberty will need to go back to the drawing board when it comes to closing out a game before Game 2, as they have to maintain their pace and tempo that got them the advantage, because the Lynx are not a team that will tap out, as New York learned the hard way in Game 1.