The New York Liberty are on the brink of making history by clinching their franchise’s first WNBA championship with just one more victory needed. The team will have the opportunity to close out the series when they take on the Minnesota Lynx in Game 4 of the Finals.
Having been one of the original franchises since the league’s inception in 1997, New York has faced the championship round five times in the past, falling short on each occasion, including last year. However, they currently lead the best-of-five series 2-1 against the Lynx. If Minnesota manages to win Game 4, the series will head to a decisive Game 5 on Sunday night in New York.
The Lynx, on the other hand, are aiming to make history themselves by claiming their fifth WNBA championship with two more wins. This would break the tie with Seattle and Houston, making them the first team to achieve such a feat. While it’s a tough task, it’s not impossible, as four teams have previously rallied from 2-1 deficits to win the championship, with Minnesota doing so most recently in 2017.
In a thrilling turn of events, New York secured their lead in the series with an incredible 28-foot shot by Sabrina Ionescu with just a second remaining in one of the games. The Lynx will be boosted by the return of forward Alanna Smith to their starting lineup for the crucial Game 4 after she sustained a lower back injury in the previous game but is determined to play through the pain.
Minnesota had a record-breaking crowd of 19,521 fans at Game 3 and is expecting another large audience for Game 4. The television viewership is also soaring, with 1.4 million people tuning in for the last game, making it the most watched Finals game in over 20 years and the highest-rated game ever on a cable network.
As the two teams gear up for a potentially historic clash, basketball fans around the world are eagerly anticipating the outcome of this thrilling WNBA Finals series.