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The only way to properly cap off this most league-altering of WNBA seasons was the most dramatic WNBA Finals ever — including overtime in the deciding Game 5.
But as much as things around the league changed this season, what happened in these Finals tied back to what happened at the end of last season. That’s when the New York Liberty came up just short in the 2023 WNBA Finals — making the franchise 0-5 in the Finals all-time — and after that, the Liberty came into this season on a mission not to let that happen again.
They didn’t.
But it took earning the No. 1 seed so a deciding game could be in front of their raucous home crowd, overtime in that deciding game, role players stepping up with the best game of their career, a questionable call and a former MVP putting the team on her back.
The New York Liberty are the 2024 WNBA champions.
New York beat a force of nature in Napheesa Collier and a gritty Minnesota team 67-62 in overtime to win Game 5 and hoist the championship trophy.
For the final couple of games, Minnesota focused their defense on Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu — they shot a combined 5-of-34 in Game 5 — and dared anyone else to beat them.
Jonquel Jones did. The former MVP reminded everyone how great she is and was the player the Lynx had no answer for, bullying her way inside to 17 points, plus grabbing six rebounds. She had a team-high 24 points with 10 boards in New York’s Game 1 win and, with the series on the line, put the team on her back in Game 5, which is why Jones was named Finals MVP.
With all respect to Jones, Collier was the best player on the floor in Game 5, scoring 22 points with seven rebounds and making key defensive plays all night. Collier ended up leading playoffs in points, rebounds, steals and blocks.
She nearly led the Lynx to a Game 5 win in what was an ending befitting of this series and this season.
It was a Collier layup, beating Stewart to the rim, that tied the game with 1:35 remaining in the fourth. Then Collier hit another driving layup, this a reverse, to give Minnesota the lead.
On the other end, Stewart was fouled and went to the free throw line with a…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/york-liberty-pushed-overtime-win-033439924.html
Author : NBC Sports
Publish date : 2024-10-21 03:34:00
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