Liberty Finally Master Minnesota, Take Final Finals Rematch
BROOKLYN—Despite some dour differences from a metropolitan perspective at the onset, the first series after the epic championship series between the New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx ended in a similar fashion to its predecessor in last fall's WNBA Finals.
It was deja vu all over again at Barclays Center on Tuesday, as a clutch three from Sabrina Ionescu muddled Minnesota and a clutch, closing victory at Barclays Center closed things out, as New York took the final by an 85-75 final. Both Ionescu (17 points, 11 assists) and Jonquel Jones (22 points, 10 rebounds) had double-doubles to secure the win, which lowered the Liberty's magic number to clinch a playoff spot down to five.
Despite several Minnesota challenges, the Liberty (22-13) led for a fair amount of Tuesday's game as it tipped off the last decade of the regular season. Ionescu, who previously gave the Liberty a 2-1 Finals lead with a last-second sink at Target Center, provided the dagger in the final minute, sinking a three over Maria Kliundikova with 33 seconds remaining.
New York also earned an extra point via free throw and the ball, allowing them to milk a good bit of the clock to get back in the win column after several narrow decisions failed to go their way in recent outings, including an 86-80 loss to the Lynx on Saturday in Minneapolis..
Courtney Williams once again paced the Lynx (28-6) with 17 points, though she needed 19 tries from the field to get there. Three Minnesotans reached double-figures off the bench, as Kliundikova and DiJonai Carrington had 11 each while Natisha Hiedeman had 16.
Thus ends the series of Finals rematches between the Liberty and Lynx, who played to a five-game thriller last fall in what became New York's first postseason championship run. None of the four games featured Liberty star Breanna Stewart while her fellow UConn alum and Unrivaled co-founder Napheesa Collier missed the latter three.
The Liberty will remain stationed at home for another game on Thursday, which sees them welcome in the Chicago Sky (7 p.m. ET, My9).
Geoff Magliocchetti is a veteran sportswriter who contributes to a variety of sites on the "On SI" network. In addition to the Yankees/Mets, Geoff also covers the New York Knicks, New York Liberty, and New York Giants and has previously written about the New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, Staten Island Yankees, and NASCAR.