Souhan: Lynx victory over Liberty in Game 1 of WNBA Finals ranks among best in franchise history

Reacting to increased ratings, revenues and attendance, the WNBA announced Thursday afternoon that it will alter its postseason format in 2025, expanding the Finals from best-of-five to best-of-seven.

By Thursday night, the WNBA’s bosses might have wanted to reconsider. After watching the Lynx make history against the Liberty in Game 1 of this year’s Finals in front of a frenzied crowd in Brooklyn, may we recommend that this series become a best-of-21?

Presumably exhausted after winning the semifinals over Connecticut on Tuesday at home and then flying to New York, the Lynx erased an 18-point deficit, tying them for the largest comeback in WNBA Finals history, before winning 95-93 in overtime.

This was basketball at its most epic, with every possession and every whistle precipitating palpitations.

The Lynx have won four championships, but they have played few games that matched this one for drama and improbability.

“I think it defines our team, in terms of being able to get through difficult times,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said in a postgame video news conference. “You have to be mentally tough, resilient — you have to look inward and not blame other people, and give each other confidence. And we were that team.”

For all those who might not have been paying attention to the best story in the WNBA, let’s provide a guide:

• No, Courtney Williams is not a superstar. She has just played like one this season. Thursday night, she made clutch shot after clutch shot while more than offsetting the contributions of rival point guard Sabrina Ionescu.

Ionescu is a star and a United States Olympian. Williams produced 23 points, five rebounds and five assists, while Ionescu managed 19-5-3.

Williams scored the Lynx’s last eight points of regulation, including a four-point play on a three-pointer while getting fouled by Ionescu.

• Yes, Napheesa Collier is one of the world’s best players, and appears to be in a running duel with friend and fellow UConn alum Brianna Stewart for No. 2 on the list behind Aces star A’ja Wilson.

Thursday, Collier played brilliant defense and finished with 21 points, eight rebounds, two assists, three steals and six blocks. She even blocked Liberty center Jonquel Jones, who was a force all night, while Jones had her left arm hooked as she tried to make a layup under the basket. Collier simply blocked the shot with her right hand.

• No, the Lynx don’t have the star power or recent résumé‚ of the Liberty, who finished with the best record in the league and lost to Las Vegas in last year’s WNBA Finals. But the Lynx were the best team in the league after the All-Star break, and they survived the tougher semifinal, beating Connecticut in five games, with a blowout victory in Tuesday’s decisive Game 5.

• The Liberty looked intent on pressing their most obvious advantage Thursday: rebounding.

New York crashed the offensive boards, at one point leading in offensive rebounding 19-2.

Jones is 6-6. Stewart is 6-4. The Lynx’s frontline players are Alanna Smith, who is 6-3 and not as bulky as Jones, and Collier, who is 6-1.

Smith, though, surged late, hustling to beat defenders down the floor for layups and contributing to a stifling defense.

“What she does for our team offensively and defensively — it’s not unappreciated,” Reeve said of Smith. “It’s understated. Every night she’s playing against the other team’s big, and she’s not big. If you look at how she does that, it’s the reason we’re sitting here today.”

And yet despite that huge Liberty edge in offensive rebounds, the Lynx used two consecutive offensive rebounds to produce the most stunning moment of the game: Williams hitting a three-pointer, drawing the foul, and making the free throw to give the Lynx an 84-83 lead with 5.5 seconds remaining.

The ensuing Liberty possession felt like it lasted an hour, leading to Stewart being fouled by Collier on an inbounds play with one second remaining.

Stewart hit one of her two free throws, blowing a chance to win it and giving the Lynx the opening they needed.

“We take it on the chin,” Stewart said.

This should be quite a fight.