New York Liberty outlast Lynx 67-62 in OT to win first WNBA title, deny Minnesota a fifth

NEW YORK – Losing, of course, hurt.

Losing in overtime made it worse.

That it was in Game 5 of the most-watched and best-attended and clearly most hotly-contested WNBA Finals in history was like salt in an open wound.

The anger?

It flowed after the Lynx lost to New York 67-62 on Sunday night at Barclays Center in front of 18,090 fans who began the night struck silent, but ended it roaring as the Liberty won their first WNBA championship.

New York forced overtime on a questionable call that had Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve — who has won four titles in seven trips to the finals — more than upset.

“All the headlines will read, ‘Reeve cries foul,’” Reeve snapped. “Bring it on, right? Bring it on, because this [expletive] was stolen from us.”

At issue: A foul on Lynx center Alanna Smith against New York star Breanna Stewart with 5.2 seconds left in regulation and the Liberty down 60-58.

Stewart — held in check for most of the night — appeared to travel as she drove into the lane and threw up a bad shot as Smith held her ground.

Reeve challenged the call, but it was not overturned, and Stewart went to the line and hit both foul shots to force overtime.

Then New York scored the first five points in OT and the Lynx never recovered.

After the game, Reeve had plenty to say about the referees.

BOXSCORE: New York 67, Lynx 62 (OT)

She pointed to the Lynx’s 44-38 edge on paint points, but New York’s 25-8 edge in free-throw attempts. She wanted to know how Lynx star Napheesa Collier scored 22 points – taking most of her 23 shots in the lane – and never shot a free throw.

Asked after the game about how her scoring decreased in the second half, Collier noted, “Yeah, probably because I was getting held a little bit. It was a little hard to make shots.”

Collier has never taken 20 shots in a game — officially, she was 11-for-23 from the field — without going to the line. Until Sunday.

So, bring it on:

“It’s a shame that officiating, you know, had such a hand,” Reeve said, referring not just to the game but the entire series. Reeve noted that the WNBA challenge rule doesn’t include having a third party review the call, and said that had to change. She said she believed if that play was sent into the league, the ruling would have been incidental contact.

“That was not a foul,” Reeve said.

But that wasn’t the Lynx’s only problem in another physical battle. This was the Liberty’s first championship in six tries in the Finals.

And Reeve lauded them. “It took them 28 years,” she said. “Congrats to them. We were that close to our fifth.”

Said New York coach Sandy Brondello: “I have so much respect for Cheryl and for that Minnesota team. But hey, we found a way to win.”

The Lynx raced to a 32-20 lead over the game’s first 17 minutes, but scored only 30 points over the last 28.

Minnesota held Stewart (13 points) and Sabrina Ionescu (five) to a combined 5-for-34 shooting, but struggled with Finals MVP Jonquel Jones (17 points, six rebounds), Leonie Fiebich (13, including a three-pointer to open the overtime) and Nyara Sabally (13 points off the bench).

Ionescu, whose three-pointer won Game 3 for the Liberty, was swarmed by the Lynx defense and finished 1-for-19 from the field.

“We weathered the storm,” Jones said as Liberty players swilled champagne during their happy news conference. “Not sure we ‘flipped a switch,’ but we definitely weathered the storm.”

The Lynx got 21 points from guard Kayla McBride, who had a good look at a three at the end of regulation. But the rest of the Lynx starters were a combined 5-for-26. Guard Courtney Williams scored four on 2-for-14 shooting and had five turnovers.

“I just couldn’t find it,” Williams said. “I couldn’t figure out my flow. Obviously terrible timing on that.”

Minnesota’s defense was there from start to finish, holding New York under 31% shooting. But they just couldn’t score enough themselves. And so, a magical season that exceeded the expectations of everyone but themselves ended seconds away from a fifth title.

“It’s really rare,” said McBride of this year’s Lynx. “This is my 11th season. I got to go out and fight with women I consider sisters. That’s why it feels this way. We enjoy working with each other, competing, fighting with each other. That’s why we were here. We showed up every day and played for each other.”

Up 12 with three minutes left in the first half, the Lynx let the Liberty cut it to seven by halftime. Once the Liberty caught all the way up late in the third quarter, the rest of the game was the kind of battle these two teams had spent the series playing.

Down four with 2:19 left, the Lynx came back. McBride hit two free throws and Collier scored twice, the second time with 1:04 left. The two teams traded scoreless possessions until The Foul was called.

“Officiating, it’s not that hard,” Reeve said. “When someone is being held, be consistent. If you don’t want to call a hold on one end, don’t call it at the other. …

“It just doesn’t feel right that you lose a series with that level of discrepancy. We don’t have a team that whines and complains and all that stuff. Sometimes it probably hurts us. You have a star player like Phee, how she can be held and go to the basket and get hit?”

And then a call the Lynx clearly felt was marginal changed the course of the game, one that had Reeve harking back to controversy surrounding the end of a losing Game 5 in 2016.

And had the players fighting back tears.

“The sun is going to rise up again tomorrow, you know?” said Smith, who played through back pain. “You work so hard for something and then you don’t achieve it? Losing is always hard. Losing in overtime is the worst.

“But the journey was worth it.”