In 2013, the San Antonio Spurs were one Ray Allen three-pointer away from an NBA championship. But Miami Heat forward Chris Bosh grabbed the offensive rebound, found Allen in the corner, and the rest is history. The Heat went on to win their second consecutive NBA title.
In 2024, the Minnesota Lynx dropped Game 5 after Lynx forward Alanna Smith was called for a foul on Liberty star Breanna Stewart in the waning seconds of regulation. The Liberty went on to win in overtime. The Lynx were fuming at the podium,
the opportunity to secure an elusive WNBA title having slipped through their hands.
We all know how the Spurs responded to that defeat. The following season, the Spurs won a league-best 62 games during the regular season. They went on to defeat the Heat in five games in a Finals rematch, winning all four games in double digits. One of the most devastating losses in modern basketball was avenged.
The Lynx seem destined to follow in the Spurs’ footsteps. They currently have a 23-5 record and sit five games ahead of the Liberty. On Wednesday, they defeated New York in the season’s first WNBA Finals rematch.
The Lynx, like the Spurs, aren’t particularly flashy. They’re a small market team that, until last Spring, had received very little national attention. But, in Napheesa Collier, Courtney Williams, and Kayla McBride, they have three All-Stars who vividly remember the bitter taste of defeat at the Barclays Center in October.
Inside the Minnesota Lynx’s success this season
Collier is having an MVP season, averaging 23.8 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.8 steals, and 1.7 blocks per game. She’s shooting 53.7% from the field — a career-best — and hitting 90.6% from the line on a career-most 5.5 free throw attempts.
Williams is averaging 13.8 points and 6.4 assists per game, setting new career highs in both categories. In Wednesday’s win over the Liberty, she tallied 13 assists and just 1 turnover.
McBride is having another stellar season, averaging 14.4 points and shooting 38.4% from three. And, the ever-reliable Alanna Smith is averaging 9.6 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.
The path to a WNBA title will likely run through the Liberty, and while they’ve had some struggles of late, they recently acquired Belgian star Emma Meesseman, who is expected to make her debut any day. Meesseman was the 2019 Finals MVP and serves as another addition to an already-stacked roster headlined by Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, Jonquel Jones, and Leonie Fiebich. Any one of Stewart, Ionescu, or Jones can emerge as the best player on the floor on any given night. And, if Messeman plays anything like how she did when she last laced up in the WNBA, she could do the same.
In Wednesday’s showdown, it was Collier (30 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks) who led the way for Minnesota. McBride tallied 24 points and 5 assists, hitting 5 of 9 three-pointers. Sabrina Ionescu, who is in the midst of an MVP campaign of her own, scored a game-high 31 points.
Other teams could make Finals runs; the Phoenix Mercury, Seattle Storm, and Atlanta Dream have all had dominant stretches this season, the Las Vegas Aces still have A’ja Wilson, and if Caitlin Clark comes back healthy and finds her groove, the Indiana Fever could make a push, too.
But, all signs point to a Lynx-Liberty rematch. On Wednesday, we got a sneak peak of what that would look like. And, if the Lynx continue to dominate as they have for most of this season, they’ll avenge a heartbreaking Finals loss — just like the Spurs did.
