The 2024 WNBA Finals continues this Sunday, Oct. 13, when the No. 1-seed New York Liberty host the No. 2-seed Minnesota Lynx in Sport 2 of the collection. Tip off is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET, and the sport might be broadcast nationally on ABC.
If Sport 2 of the Finals is something just like the collection opener, followers can count on one other extraordinarily shut contest between the WNBA’s high two playoff seeds. Whereas the Liberty had been in management for almost all of Sport 1, getting off to a sizzling begin and withstanding a number of Lynx runs to keep up a double-digit lead late into the fourth quarter, Minnesota turned up its defensive depth and made a number of clutch photographs down the stretch to tie issues up and finally win in additional time.
The Lynx’s 18-point comeback in Sport 1 tied the most important in WNBA postseason historical past (a file which, satirically, had been solely held by the Liberty since 1999), and proved to the nation what Minnesota devoted had recognized all summer time lengthy: There’s no give up within the Lynx.
“That’s what we’ve been speaking about in all these interviews we’ve been giving,” Minnesota head coach Cheryl Reeve informed media. “It defines our group when it comes to having the ability to get by tough occasions….it’s a must to be mentally robust, and we had been that group.” Lynx guard Courtney Williams, who hit maybe the sport’s greatest shot—a game-tying 3-pointer over New York’s Sabrina Ionescu—put it a special means. “The basketball gods had been on our facet tonight.”
The onus is now on the Liberty to tie the collection in Sport 2, lest they go to Minnesota in an 0-2 gap. As spectacular as Minnesota’s Sport 1 comeback was, the Liberty acknowledge that it was at the very least partly their very own doing; New York head coach Sandy Brondello pointed to a scarcity of tempo on offense (the Liberty dedicated two shot clock violations within the ultimate two minutes of regulation in Sport 1) and poor transition protection as causes for her group’s blown lead, per ESPN’s Alexa Philippou.
On the identical time, Brondello doesn’t need her group to dwell on the Sport 1 collapse, and there’s actually motive to hope for a extra constant Liberty efficiency in Sport 2. New York held a large benefit over Minnesota on the boards in Sport 1, hauling down a whopping 20 offensive rebounds. That’s an space that, given the Lynx’s poor defensive rebounding through the course of the common season (68.2 % defensive rebounding fee; eleventh within the WNBA), ought to stay within the Liberty’s favor.
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New York might want to do a greater job of ending all these further possessions, although. It’s onerous to look previous the scoring inefficiency of Ionescu (19 factors on 8-of-26 taking pictures in Sport 1) and Breanna Stewart (18 factors on 6-of-21) when analyzing the group’s late-game collapse, and it goes with out saying at the very least one in all them, if not each, should shoot the ball at a considerably higher clip on Sunday if the Liberty are to even the collection.
As for the Lynx, regardless of their unimaginable comeback in Sport 1, they’d ideally wish to keep away from being in a state of affairs that requires such heroics once more. Search for Minnesota to attempt to carry over its defensive depth from the tip of the collection opener into the start of Sport 2; Napheesa Collier proved why she gained Defensive Participant of the 12 months honors in 2024, amassing three steals and 6 blocked photographs, and the Lynx will count on her to be at her greatest as soon as once more on Sunday.
Sport data
No. 2-seed Minnesota Lynx (1-0) vs. No. 1-seed New York Liberty (0-1)
When: Sunday, Oct. 13 at 3 p.m. ET
The place: Barclays Middle in Brooklyn, NY
Learn how to watch: ABC
Lynx damage report: none
Liberty damage report: none
