The Minnesota Lynx were caught off guard by Sabrina Ionescu’s game-winning 3-pointer in Game 3 to give the Liberty the series lead. One thing that we’ve learned about this Minnesota Lynx team is that they’re battle-tested and they believe in each other no matter the situation. Some of that comes from Coach Cheryl Reeve but a lot of that swagger comes from Courtney Williams as well. They were going to need that DAWG in Game 4 if the Lynx wanted to prevent the New York Liberty from celebrating on their court tonight as the WNBA Champions.
This game was a true slugfest as both teams came out trying to make the first run but it was extremely tight. The Minnesota Lynx Big 3 of Napheesa Collier, Courtney Williams, and Kayla McBride led the way with a combined 48 points of the 82 points from the team tonight. Napheesa didn’t have one of her scoring nights that she usually does but she impacted the game on the defensive end in a big way. Napheesa is one of the best in the game because when she would get doubled she’s so unsuccessful that she knows when to find her teammates. The Liberty were trying to make sure that Napheesa wasn’t going to beat them tonight but they slept on Kayla McBride and Courtney Williams. Napheesa draws a lot of attention and that helped the team out tonight against New York.
Both McBride and Williams were able to hit some big shots throughout the game as the Liberty gave them too much space. Kayla McBride is one of the best shooters in the game and once she sees one of her jumpers go in the basket it’s a long night for the opposing team. Tonight Kayla McBride was the leading scorer on Minnesota with 19 points and she set the tone on both ends as well. A lot of people gave Sabrina Ionescu high praise last game for her big shot making but like Kayla said “She guarded her for 40 minutes”. Kayla held Sabrina to a quiet 10 points as she wasn’t able to get her game going because that defense had her out of rhythm. Minnesota was able to execute whatever the gameplan was tonight for Coach Reeve but they will have to limit Jonquel Jones & Breanna Stewart inside the paint because they missed a lot of easy baskets tonight. Courtney Williams has been a great addition to the Lynx and it was on full display in Game 4 as she was able to get her team involved passing-wise and was able to put them on her back with the smooth mid-range shot.
Jonquel finished with 21 points with 8 rebounds as the Lynx don’t have much of a matchup for her in this series but the Lynx have been creating a lot of jumpball situations. The Lynx might be undersized but they have a huge heart and it showed tonight as they battled in front of the home crowd. The other bright spot for New York was the play of Fiebich as she finished with 19 points but was able to make tough shot after shot when Minnesota looked to be pulling away. She’s a rookie but the way she hits big shots looks like she’s been in the league for like 10 years. The Minnesota Lynx were able to pull this game out with Ionescu/Stewart going 10/36 from the field but we know that this won’t be a repeat in New York. The Lynx will need to keep making it tough on the Liberty with deflections and making sure they get out in transition. Both teams know each other’s game well now and it’s going to come down to who wants it more on Sunday.
Photo Credit: Abbie Parr
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