Key events
Lynx 12-10 Liberty, 2:24 left, 1st quarter: McBride hits a smooth jumper for a long 2.
Stewart can’t get the roll on a hook shot, but Thornton gets the putback.
Lynx miss, and Sabally (who has just come in) gets inside to score for New York.
It’s another atrocious start for the Liberty, especially for their two megastars. Breanna Stewart looks tense and has put up two shots that have come up short. Sabrina Ionescu has been nowhere near on any of her three shots.
At the other end, Courtney Williams is now 1-for-5. Still a sweet pass to Collier to open the scoring.
Collier leads all scorers with six points.
Lynx 10-6 Liberty, 3:57 left, 1st quarter: Again, it’s Jonquel Jones picking up where Stewart and Ionescu are falling short. A strong drive brings the Liberty within four.
Williams misses a corner 3. Her shot selection has been iffy so far.
Ionescu has an open 3. It’s an airball.
Official timeout at last.
Lynx 10-4 Liberty, 4:46 left, 1st quarter: After a brutal series of misses at each end, Williams gets a rebound and hits a very short-range jumper.
Jones gets the Liberty on the board with a nice post move.
Collier gets her third basket.
Fiebich gets inside for the Liberty. Then Smith bumps into her defender at the top of the arc and winds up with an open lane for a layup.
Jones gets a piece of Williams’ shot.
Lynx 4-0 Liberty, 7:06 left, 1st quarter: Williams opens things up with a beautiful bounce pass down the lane for Collier. What a series the Lynx point guard is having.
The Liberty respond with a horrid sequence of pointless passes that result in a leaning off-balance 3-point attempt from Ionescu.
Turnover Williams, but then the Liberty fail to take advantage as Stewart’s shot barely draws iron.
Collier gets her second bucket, this time on a feed from McBride.
The next 90 seconds are not memorable.
Lynx 0-0 Liberty, 10:00 left, 1st quarter: We’re off at last.
Tipoff has not actually happened yet. We were deceived.
New York’s title drought
The Liberty have never won the WNBA championship.
How about other NY teams? A quick look at each league and the last NY title …
NWSL: 2023 (Gotham FC)
Ultimate Frisbee Association (formerly AUDL): 2023 (New York Empire – that team was unbeatable)
MLS: 2021 (NYCFC; the Red Bulls, original league members in 1996, have never won it)
World Team Tennis: 2020 (New York Empire – not the Ultimate team)
Women’s hockey: 2018 (Metropolitan Riveters of the now-defunct PWF; the PWHL is new)
NFL: 2011 (Giants)
MLB: 2009 (Yankees)
NHL: 2003 (New Jersey Devils – if you don’t count the Devils, then go back to the Rangers in 1994)
NBA: 1973 (Knicks)
Coming up on ESPN …
Spike Lee.
The WNBA has arrived.
Tipoff in 31 minutes and 45 seconds – around 8:06 p.m. Eastern time.
It all comes down to this …
Or whichever cliche you prefer for a winner-take-all final game in a best-of-5 series.
Questions:
1. Will Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu bounce back from rough shooting nights in Game 4?
2. Can the Liberty’s bench step up?
3. Will we see another weak start for the Liberty, or will that change now that they’re playing at home?
4. For the Lynx, can Courtney Williams continue her stellar postseason?
5. Which coach will be complaining about the officiating after this game?
The answers to those questions will determine the answer to the overriding question: Will we see the fifth championship for Minnesota or the first championship for New York?
Beau will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s how Game 4 went down:
Bridget Carleton made two free throws with two seconds left, and the Minnesota Lynx forced a decisive Game 5 of the WNBA finals, beating the New York Liberty 82-80 on Friday night.
The teams will meet Sunday night in New York in the first Game 5 of the finals since 2019, when Washington topped Connecticut.
“Last 40 minutes of the season could be anywhere, we’re going to be out there going to war and I’m pumped,” said Kayla McBride, who led the Lynx with 19 points.
Courtney Williams added 15 points for Minnesota, which forced Liberty stars Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu into poor shooting nights. Ionescu’s heave at the buzzer didn’t hit the rim.
