MINNEAPOLIS — Game 5 it is.
The top-seeded New York Liberty will have a chance to win their first WNBA title on their home court after the Minnesota Lynx won a do-or-die Game 4 Friday night in the Target Center to force a decisive Game 5 Sunday at Barclays Center.
After three games that featured minimal lead changes and ties, this game was a chaotic with 13 ties and 14 lead changes. In the end, the Lynx owned the final lead change when Bridget Carleton drained two free throws with 2 seconds left to give Minnesota an 82-80 win.
Sabrina Ionescu was whistled for the foul after Carleton attempted to tip in a missed 19-footer from Courtney Williams. The game had been tied 80-80 with 18.3 left and, after a timeout, the Lynx cleared out to let Williams go one-on-one. Williams missed the shot, but her team got the win. Ionescu’s heave at the end didn’t hit the rim.
All five Minnesota starters scored in double figures, led by Kayla McBride, who had 19. Willams finished with 15, while Napheesa Collier chipped in 14 points and nine rebounds. Alanna Smith, playing with a bad lower back, gave one of the guttiest performances of the Finals, finishing with 12 points and seven rebounds, bodying up Jonquel Jones in the paint and sacrificing her body numerous times to help her team get the win.
Oct. 18 is a day the Liberty would like to forget. Last year, New York also lost Game 4 of the Finals on that day — but that was a decisive game that gave Las Vegas its second consecutive title.
