When the Minnesota Lynx and New York Liberty played for the Commissioner’s Cup Championship in June, it seemed a foregone conclusion the teams would meet further down the road with much more at stake. (More Football News)
That time has come, as the Liberty will host the Lynx in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals on Thursday in a matchup of teams that posted the top two records during the regular season.
New York went 5-0 in Commissioner’s Cup play while Minnesota posted a 4-1 record en route to a meeting on June 25 in the championship game of the in-season competition that started in 2021.
The Liberty entered as the defending champions of the Commissioner's Cup and with a 15-3 overall record, while the Lynx came in with a 13-3 mark.
Minnesota went on to win its first Commissioner's Cup championship with a 94-89 victory at New York.
The Lynx also took two of three meetings in the regular season, but the Liberty (32-8) managed to finish two games ahead of Minnesota (30-10) in the final standings.
“I think the regular season doesn’t mean anything, they are an amazing team,” Minnesota forward Napheesa Collier said.
“It’s going to be a great series, great basketball. Two teams with great players competing.”
Collier was named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year and was runner-up to Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson for the WNBA MVP award.
Collier finished in the top five in the league in scoring (20.4 points per game), rebounds (9.7), steals (1.9), double-doubles (18) and player efficiency (25.7), but she’s been even more dominant in the play-offs.
The sixth overall pick in the 2019 WNBA Draft is averaging a league-high 27.1 points and tops all post-season players with a 32.9 efficiency rating to go along with 9.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.0 blocks per game.
“She’s improved every season. She’s just been incredible,” Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said.
“Every game, it’s more than scoring how she helps our team. When she plays like the MVP, we're tough to beat.”
The Lynx booked their ticket to the WNBA Finals with an 88-77 win over the Connecticut Sun in the decisive Game 5 of the semifinals on Tuesday.
New York has been idle since eliminating the two-time defending champion Aces in Game 4 of the semis on Sunday.
“Talk about the schedule, who cares. Nobody’s going to feel bad for us,” Reeve said.
“Got to go hooping right away and we’ll do that.”
The Liberty exacted a measure of revenge on Las Vegas after losing to the Aces in four games in last season’s WNBA Finals, but star point guard Sabrina Ionescu said New York needs to remain focused.
“We haven’t done anything yet, I think we all understand that,” Ionescu said. “We want to come out and continue to be the best team like we have been all year.
“We’re three wins away, and that’s really important to understand. We’ve got to come out and we’ve got to punch because nothing has been given to us yet.”
Ionescu and forward Breanna Stewart form an imposing 1-2 punch for the Liberty.
Stewart averaged 20.4 points (fourth in the league) during the regular season and Ionescu added 18.2 per game. Ionescu ranked fifth in the WNBA in both assists per game (6.2) and 3-pointers made (107).
In the play-offs, Ionescu is averaging 20.7 points and Stewart is pouring in 20.0 per game.
Minnesota is playing in its record seventh WNBA Finals and looking to break a tie with the Houston Comets and Seattle Storm for the most titles in WNBA history with its fifth championship.
New York, meanwhile, has lost in each of its previous five WNBA Finals appearances.
“We're going to the Finals and we're hosting Game 1 and Game 2,” Stewart said.
“We're ready to go. Just the feeling of not (being) satisfied."
Game 2 is Sunday before the series shifts to Minnesota for Game 3, and if necessary, Game 4. A winner-take-all Game 5 would be in New York on October 20.
