The 2024 WNBA Finals finished as it started — marked by late-game hysteria and a referee's whistle.
The Liberty and Lynx's Game 5 clash proved a far more combative affair, with both sides spurning the artful elegance that defined parts of their opening four contests with a rugged physicality befitting of the finale of a basketball epic.
New York did just enough to outgun its Gopher State adversaries, frolicking in confetti after a 67-62 overtime victory . Such a result didn't always seem likely, particularly after Breanna Stewart's attempted mid-range jumper fell short of the target with five seconds left in regulation and the Liberty down two.
Stewart attempted to displace Lynx center Alanna Smith and get a clean look. Her efforts appeared to have missed the mark — at least until a sound burst out of a referee's whistle, signaling that Stewart was unjustly impeded and granting her two free throws to tie the game up.
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Liberty-Lynx ending, explained
The Liberty — down 60-58 with the clock dwindling — looked in dire straits after Stewart's effort clanked off the front iron. Smith's foul call offered her a reprieve. Stewart made sure to take advantage, finding the target on each of her two attempts to send the game into OT.
A closer look at the play seems to reveal Stewart wasn't fouled at all. For starters, the UConn alum looked to have traveled after receiving the ball on the inbounds pass:
Even if we give Stewart (and the refs) the benefit of the doubt and say her apparent infraction was negated by her bobbling of the ball, Smith looked to have avoided making contact with Stewart as she rose up on her jump shot. In fact, certain angles make it seem as if Stewart was the one attempting to coax contact, not the other way around.
Head coach Sandy Brondello called on her players to exaggerate any and all contact they experienced during the game's final possession.
"If they foul you, embellish it," cameras caught Brondello telling her players during New York's final timeout of regulation.
Stewart appeared to have followed those instructions to a tee, even if she didn't intend to do so. Nevertheless, the call proved the most pivotal moment of the game. And it had some viewers, including Lakers supernova LeBron James, Bucks standout Damian Lillard, WNBA legend Candace Parker and former All-NBAer Isaiah Thomas, wondering aloud if the refs should've just swallowed their whistle in the first place.
Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve seemed to echo some of James', Thomas' and Lillard's sentiments during her postgame press conference.
"Sometime you get away with stuff when you're physical and aggressive, & they certainly did," Reeve said, per ESPN's Alexa Philippou . "...It's a shame that officiating had such a hand in a series like this."
"I know all the headlines will be 'Reeve cries foul.' Bring it on. Right? Bring it on. Because this s— was stolen from us. Bring it on.'"
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