Midway through the fourth quarter of the WNBA Finals Game 1 on Thursday, it just looked like it wasn’t the Lynx’s night. Another three-pointer from the seemingly couldn’t-miss Liberty gave New York a 81-66 advantage with 5:20 to play.
ESPN’s in-game analytics gave the Lynx a 0.8% chance to win at that moment, and even that seemed optimistic in the context of this stat: WNBA teams before Thursday were a combined 0-183 in playoff history when trailing by at least 15 points with five minutes to play.
What happened in the final five minutes of regulation and overtime felt like an entire series crammed into 10 minutes of game action. The Lynx seemingly won and lost multiple times before ultimately prevailing on a Napheesa Collier turnaround jumper and one more defensive stand. The final score: 95-93 in overtime, as I talked about on a postgame livestream and separately on Friday’s Daily Delivery podcast.
And now a question, just for fun: Was that the greatest playoff comeback in Minnesota sports history? There are some other strong contenders.
The Minneapolis Miracle: Case Keenum’s walk-off sideline heave to Stefon Diggs in the 2017 playoffs might be the single greatest play I’ve ever seen. The play started from the Vikings’ 39 with 10 seconds left and Minnesota trailing 24-23.
The thing is, that play staved off an epic Vikings collapse. They led the Saints 17-0 at halftime at U.S. Bank Stadium before falling apart. The comeback was basically one play — an amazing but fortunate one at that.
Timberwolves over Nuggets, Game 7, 2024 Western Conference semifinals: Denver led 58-38 early in the second half of the deciding game of the conference semifinals. The host Nuggets had a 96.8% chance of winning at that moment. But the Wolves stormed back to claim a 98-90 victory, advancing to the conference finals.
That was an amazing victory, with bonus points for it coming in an elimination game. But the Lynx faced even longer odds later in the game in a round of the playoffs two levels past what the Wolves faced.