A 17,732-person sellout Barclays Center crowd was registered silent Thursday night as the New York Liberty trailed the Minnesota Lynx by one point in the final moments of Game 1 in the WNBA Finals. Necks craned to make out the jumbotron where a freeze-frame of the game’s final 0.8 seconds was plastered. After huddling for a video review, the game officials ruled Napheesa Collier had fouled Breanna Stewart on the game’s final play, sending Stewart to the line. She made her first shot from the charity stripe, but missed the second, pushing the contest into overtime at 84–84.
From there, Minnesota charged to a 95–93 victory, stealing Game 1 from New York on its home floor in one of the biggest comebacks in WNBA Finals history. It was a stunning turn of events in a contest where the Liberty led most of the way—at one point by as many as 18 points.
“We just take it on the chin,” Stewart said after the game. “This is a series … but the beauty is we have another game on Sunday.”
In the opening frames, New York looked every bit the “business-like” machine coach Sandy Brondello described hours ahead of tip-off, charging to a 32 first-quarter explosion. (Thirty-two is the most first-quarter points Minnesota has allowed all season.) On the other side of the ball, the Lynx looked like a team that had just closed out a physical five-game series 48 hours prior. Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve downplayed the significance of the Lynx’s brutal travel schedule and lack of rest before Game 1, but there’s no question the typically dogged group appeared tired.
Minnesota, however, miraculously caught a second wind after the half, with the Lynx coming within two points of the Liberty in the third quarter. New York managed to keep the Lynx at bay until the final frame, when Minnesota delivered—thanks in large part to clutch play from Courtney Williams—and the Liberty failed to execute, with Stewart’s shot falling short.
“I thought we went away from our principles of play,” Brondello said after the game. “We had a great first quarter, and then they lifted up the energy. They outhustled us.”
New York will want this loss back for many reasons, not least because they managed to get Jonquel Jones going—something that’s proved difficult against Minnesota this year. Jones failed to register at least 10 points in the Liberty’s previous three losses to the Lynx this season. On Thursday night, she scored a double double, notching 24 points and 10 rebounds. Typically, as goes Jones, so go the Liberty. It must be slightly concerning for New York that Game 1 is an outlier to that trend.
“JJ had an amazing game,” Stewart said. “The way she was aggressive start to finish, is what we need.”
The Lynx, for their part, were simply dominant down the stretch, refusing to go away despite losing the rebounding battle 44–32. Collier, Williams and Kayla McBride all finished with over 20 points as Minnesota shot 50.7% from the field. Conversely, the Liberty’s offense began to sputter as the game wore on, shooting just 37.8% from the floor.
“I think it defines our team,” Reeve said of the group’s Game 1 bounceback, “in terms of getting through difficult times.”
If last year’s finalists had visions of the league trophy within reach, Game 1 served as a potent reminder that securing home court advantage is not the same as clinching a championship. The Liberty didn’t play its best basketball Thursday night, far from it. But Minnesota also showed tremendous grit, flipping any preconceived notions about this series on its head. Up 1–0 in the series, the Lynx have the Liberty on the ropes and look infinitely more poised than their collective Finals experience suggests.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Lynx Pull Off Thrilling Comeback, Stun Liberty in Overtime in Game 1 of WNBA Finals.