You couldn’t have scripted a better WNBA Finals than this if you tried.
The New York Liberty picked up the 80-77 win over the Minnesota Lynx in Game 3 of the Finals on Wednesday, winning the first of two games to be played in the Land of 10,000 Lakes in miraculous, buzzer-beating fashion.
Cathy Engelbert’s greatest magic trick this year was parlaying the most successful season in WNBA history into one of the best finals the game of basketball has ever seen, turning more and more stars into household names as each game goes by.
From a historic comeback win for the Lynx in Game 1 to a wicked bounce-back from the Liberty in Game 2, to now this in Game 3 — New York giving Minnesota a taste of their own medicine to snatch back home court. Must-see TV undersells it.
Here are some takeaways from a perfectly dramatic Game 3 of the WNBA Finals.
Sabrina becomes legend
Coming into Thursday, it hadn’t been a stardom-affirming series for Sabrina Ionescu. Despite scoring 19 in Game 1, it came on a horrible eight-of-26 from the field. Then in Game 2, she jumped out to 12 points in the first quarter but finished the game with only 15 points. Her last field goal in that game came with 1:32 left in the first quarter.
In Game 3, not only did she not make a shot in the first quarter, she didn’t even take a shot until 5:25 left in the second quarter. Her first make, at last, came with six seconds left in the second frame.
For those counting (me), that’s 51 minutes and 26 seconds of game time that Ionescu went between field goals.
That absolutely cannot happen if the Liberty want to make a statement on the road and bring the series back to New York for Game 5. Ionescu is one of the best offensive engines in the WNBA, and though the Lynx — between Kayla McBride, Canadian Bridget Carleton and Courtney Williams — are doing a great job of slowing her down, the Liberty needed to find a way to get her going.
She got going.
No one is going to remember the scoreless first frame or the quiet second. No one will tell their kids about the seven missed shots or the three turnovers. That three she hit with 55 seconds left to give New York a four-point lead will just be an afterthought. Her final line of 13 points, five rebounds and six assists will just be something to mention in passing on radio shows.
The lasting image from this game, and likely for the remainder of what should be a storied career for Ionescu, will be that shot.
The finals have a unique gift when it comes to crafting legends. Ionescu’s legend began Wednesday.
Stewie shows up
Breanna Stewart is still her.
There was a b-roll shot of Stewart on the bench in the fourth quarter, pumping up her team and mouthing the words: “We are not going to (expletive) lose this.”
No kidding.
Stewart finished with a stellar 30 points, 11 rebounds, four blocks and a steal. She became the first player in WNBA history with multiple 30-point, 10-rebound stat lines in the Finals and tied Angel McCoughtry for the most 30-point games in the Finals with three, per ESPN Stats and Info.
When the rest of the Liberty couldn’t get a shot to fall, the two-time MVP took the game into her own hands, scoring 22 second-half points including 13 straight for the Liberty from the end of the third to the start of the fourth, dragging them back into the game and tying it up for the first time since the 9:26 mark in the first quarter.
Though her shot stopped finding its mark midway through the fourth, her work on the defensive end to shut down the Lynx was incredible, blocking two shots and grabbing four rebounds in the frame.
No matter what the team needed, whether it be helping them claw back on offence or help them maintain a newly-found lead on defence, Stewart was the player New York could lean on. If they needed a help defender down low or a recovery contest on the perimeter, Stewart would find a way to be in two places at once. If they needed a 14-footer or a 25-foot pull-up from above the break, Stewart was money.
When she signed in New York two years ago, this is what was expected.
Lynx pounce first
In the first two games of this series, the Liberty have been the team to get out to a hot start, taking a 13-point lead in Game 1 and a 10-point lead in Game 2 after the first quarter. The Lynx flipped the script in this one, snatching a 10-point lead in the frame thanks to 10 points from McBride and some sloppy play with the Liberty.
New York couldn’t collect themselves in the opening frame, turning the ball over eight times leading to 14 Minnesota points. Minnesota’s defence also played a massive role, as Williams and Napheesa Collier both picked up two steals in the quarter.
From that point on, it was Minnesota’s game to lose. The crowd behind them was roaring, with everyone in Target Centre draped in white and doing their best to mimic the energy present in Games 1 and 2 in Barclays.
The roleplayers were finding their marks, with Carleton adding seven in the opening quarter (and 14 overall) and Cecilia Zandalasini scoring her first points of the series at the start of the second.
Everything seemed to be going the Lynx’s way.
But there’s no safety to be found in any lead in this series. The Lynx took their foot off the gas pedal. Despite a strong two-way performance from Collier that saw her score 22 points and pick up five steals, she was nine of 22 from the field and had four turnovers. Williams had the same double-edged night, scoring 12 and dishing out eight assists, but shot four for 14 from the field and turned it over twice.
The Lynx haven’t played with a lead all series long. Coming into Thursday’s game, the Liberty led for 78 minutes, 43 seconds and the Lynx had for a measly three minutes, 17 seconds. Not many teams know what it’s like to play with a lead against New York.
In the WNBA Finals, especially against a team like the Liberty, there can’t be any moments of hesitation when you’re up. There can’t be breaks or an unwillingness to step on their necks. After learning their lesson in Game 1, the Liberty gave the Lynx a taste of their own medicine, showing them that there’s no such thing as a safe lead in this series.