The New York Liberty brought a championship to the city, as they defeated the Minnesota Lynx, 67-62 in overtime of Game 5 of the WNBA Finals. The Liberty, who have been the best team in the WNBA during the regular season, topped off their excellent 32-8 season with a title win.
No doubt, the star of the show was Jonquel Jones, as she put up an impressive stat line of 17 points, six rebounds, and one assist. Jones, for her consistently excellent performances during the series, was named the WNBA Finals MVP. She came up big for the Liberty, on a night where their other stars struggled to make things happen.
Sabrina Ionescu, perhaps the Liberty's best player, looked far from her best during tonight's game, as she went a shocking 1-19 from the field and 1-10 from the three-point line. Despite scoring just five points, she did contribute on other ends of the court, with seven rebounds, eight assists, two steals, and a block.
Breanna Stewart also struggled, going 4-15 from the field and 0-3 from the three-point line, but did put up 13 points, along with 15 rebounds, four assists, one steal, and three blocks. She went 5-8 from the free-throw line, including two crucial free throws missed in the fourth quarter. But she redeemed those misses in the final seconds to tie the game and send the Liberty to overtime, where they secured the win.
Rookie Leonie Fiebich also came up big with some key shots for the Liberty, putting up 13 points, seven rebounds, one assist, and two steals. Nyara Sabally had a monstrous performance from the bench, as she delivered 13 points, seven rebounds, one steal, and one block.
Overall, the Liberty shot 22-72 from the field (30.6%), 2-23 from the three-point line (8.7%) and 21-25 from the free-throw line (84.0%), with 44 rebounds, 15 assists, nine steals, and six blocks. A poor shooting night, but one they survived through sheer grit and determination.
The Lynx were far from poor, as they established a massive 12-point lead in the first half, and played incredible defense throughout. Napheesa Collier had 22 points, seven rebounds, two assists, one steal, and two blocks in the game.
Whereas veteran Kayla McBride delivered 21 points, five rebounds, five assists, and four steals. But they were the only Lynx players in the double-digits, which probably cost them the game.
As a team, the Lynx looked better for much of the game going, 26-70 from the field (37.1%), 3-19 from beyond the arc (15.8%), and 7-8 from the free-throw stripe (87.5%), and had 33 rebounds, 16 assists, six steals, and four blocks. Calls against them and an inability to execute down the stretch really cost them the WNBA championship.
With the confetti being swept aside and the champagne bottles coming out of the ice, let us take a look at some key factors that decided the game and the championship for the Liberty.
Jonquel Jones Comes Good Once Again
The Liberty will be thanking their stars Jonquel Jones didn't replicate the struggles of Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu. The forward from the Bahamas continued her great run in the Finals tonight, being a consistent presence in the paint, while also helping out Stewart and Ionescu with the pick-and-roll.
Jones became the primary offensive outlet for the Liberty tonight, as their other stars weren't able to get things going for them. Her impressive numbers from the stripe, as she went 7-7 from the free-throw line, played a big part in the Liberty holding on and winning the game.
Jones averaged 17.8 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.8 blocks in the five-game series, earning her Finals MVP award with stellar performances.
No Support For Lynx Stars Tonight
As mentioned above Napheesa Collier and Kayla McBride had great games, with both players leading the entire game in scoring. But the rest of the Lynx squad was really poor, as the next highest scorers for them were Alanna Smith and Natisha Heideman, both with six points each.
In fact, Heideman's six points from the bench were the only points that the Lynx's bench players scored, with all their other bench players laying goose eggs in the scoring column.
The starters, aside from Collier and McBride, really struggled as well. Smith put up just six points, Courtney Williams delivered four points, and Bridget Carlton had just three points.
Perhaps with more scoring from the rest of the Lynx squad, the celebrations tonight could have been themed blue and white rather than black and green.
Liberty Capitalize On Officiating Controversy
There was some controversy extremely late in the game, as with seconds left on the clock and the Lynx leading by two, Breanna Stewart drove to the basket but got fouled. The Lynx challenged the call, as they felt no serious contact was made with Stewart, but the refs didn't see incontrovertible proof to overturn the decision.
This ruling allowed Stewart to make two clutch free throws to tie the game and give the Liberty a lifeline in overtime. It can easily be argued that the call being overturned would have led to the outcome being very different. But the Lynx seemed to capitulate in overtime, allowing the Liberty to win it all tonight.
Another foul was challenged in overtime by the Lynx, which could have led to them getting two free throws and the possession as Sabrina Ionescu, while supporting Sabally who made the foul, was interfering. However, the ruling was just a common foul, which probably won't sit right with Lynx fans.
In the game, the Lynx had 21 fouls called against them and only had eight free throws, of which they made seven attempts as a team. Whereas, the Liberty had 17 fouls called against them, and got to the stripe 25 times, making 21 of their attempts.
The Lynx will point to this disparity as proof of the poor officiating tonight, as they were fouled just as much as the other team, but they only went to the free-throw line less than a third of as many times the Liberty did. However, Liberty fans will argue that the nature of the fouls gets forgotten when looking at the numbers.
After a thrilling end to the WNBA Finals, basketball fans can now celebrate a historic season coming to an end, and focus on the start of the new NBA season. Stay tuned to Fadeaway World for coverage of all the happenings during NBA opening week.
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