Minnesota Lynx’s rally stops short this time against New York Liberty in WNBA Finals

NEW YORK – For three-plus quarters the game looked like a rerun, and then the New York Liberty called for a rewrite. Again, the Lynx started off slow, falling behind by 17 points in the first half. Again, the Lynx were down significantly, by nine, with under nine minutes left.

Again, they rallied, this time to within two with under four minutes to play.

But Sunday it was the Liberty who finished strong, and the Lynx who fell flat.

The final: New York 80, Minnesota 66 in Game 2 of the WNBA Finals. After pulling off one of the biggest comebacks in Finals history in Game 1, the Lynx finished the Game 2 with a rather epic collapse.

“Our offense was bad at a time when we really needed it,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. “Our pace was slow. Taking too long to get into things. And you know, I don’t think we were terribly hard to play against.”

As a result, the best-of-five series is headed back to Target Center for the next two games tied at one game apiece with Game 3 scheduled for Wednesday night. That’s where the Lynx hope to get the same kind of boost the 18,046 fans gave the Liberty at Barclays Center.

The Lynx were outscored 12-0 after Courtney Williams drove down the lane for a layup with 3:40 left that pulled them within a basket at 68-66.

They never scored again. Down the stretch of a game that seemed within reach, the Lynx went 0-for-5 from the field with three turnovers.

The good news: The Lynx split two games in New York, wresting home-court advantage away from the Liberty despite leading for only 3:17 of the 85 minutes played at Barclays Center. The bad: The Liberty appear to have rediscovered their game.

“Obviously you want to steal one on the road,” said Lynx forward Napheesa Collier, who scored 16 points on 7-for-12 shooting and had eight rebounds and four steals despite battling foul trouble but who also tied a career high with seven turnovers. “We’re really disappointed, I think, in how we played today, but excited to go home and plan in front of our crowd. We have to come out playing better than we did in these two games. We have to respond.”

Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, her sore knee finally healing, scored 20 points. Her three-pointer seconds after Williams’ drive — Laney-Hamilton’s fourth three of the game — produced the first three points of New York’s 12-0 finish. Breanna Stewart, whose missed free throw in regulation and missed 4-footer in overtime cost the Liberty in a 95-93 loss in Game 1, responded with 21 points, eight rebounds, five assists and seven steals. The steals set a WNBA Finals record, this on a night when the Liberty outscored the Lynx 26-17 on points off turnovers.

“Just not letting history repeat itself,” Stewart said. “And knowing Game 1 happened but now, you know, how can we control Game 2?”

By getting off to another blistering start. By responding to Minnesota’s push with a decisive final three minutes. Reeve said she was more upset about the way the game began — the Lynx fell behind by 17 in the second quarter — than the way it ended.

Collier agreed. “We are both competing for a championship,” she said. “You have to play with a level of desperation from the very beginning. That’s what we need to do in Game 3.”

The teams shot about the same, 47.5% for the Liberty, 45% for the Lynx, but the Liberty went 11-for-24 on three-pointers and had a six-point edge on both the break and second-chance points.

Williams finished with 15 points, eight assists and six rebounds but had five turnovers. Alanna Smith scored 14, with three turnovers. Four of five Liberty starters were in double figures: Laney-Hamilton, Stewart, Jonquel Jones (14) and Sabrina Ionescu (15).

Reeve said there is a lot of room for improvement for her team while admitting the Liberty caused much of the problem.

“We have to come up with better opportunities,” she said, “and better things we can do offensively to get back to a little bit more of a balanced scoring. But it’s important to say New York has a lot to do with this.”

The Liberty? They want to keep executing on offense, continue with the defense that held Minnesota to 27 second-half points.

“That’s pretty good,” New York coach Sandy Brondello said. “We were down 1-0, so, you know, we should be playing like that. And now we can tidy up some things and they can tidy up some things as well. We’ll look forward to playing another tough game on Wednesday.”