The New York Liberty are back in the Finals and looking for their first championship in franchise history. To do that, they need to beat the Minnesota Lynx.
Liberty advanced to the WNBA Finals for the second straight year by defeating the two-time defending Las Vegas Aces in the semifinals.
They have advanced to the championship round five times and lost each time.
The Lynx have made it this far for the first time since 2017, when they won the last of their four championships in seven years.
Minnesota needs five games to advance to the finals and defeated Connecticut at home in the championship game on Tuesday night.
Game 1 of the best-of-five final will be played Thursday night, giving the Lynx little time to recover and prepare for the game against Liberty.
“Talk about the schedule, who cares? Nobody's going to think badly of us,” Minnesota coach Sheryl Reeve said. “I have to play some hoops right away. I will.”
The two teams have already been competing for the title since June of this year, when Minnesota won the Commissioner's Cup.
New York fell just short of Las Vegas last season, but is hungry for a championship.
The Liberty reached the finals in three of the league's first four years, losing to the Houston Comets each time.
And two years later, they lost to the Los Angeles Sparks.
“We haven't done anything yet,” said Brianna Stewart, who had 19 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and four blocks in the win over Las Vegas. “This has been a tough series, an emotional series, for a variety of reasons, but just the feeling of not being satisfied.”
Liberty has been playing with scars all season, but has used them to achieve the league's best record and secure home court advantage throughout the playoffs.
“We made it to the finals last year, but we didn't do anything,” Stewart said.
The Lynx won two of three regular season games and won the Commissioner's Cup, so they won't be afraid of New York.
“I don't think the regular season means anything. They're a great team,” Minnesota star Napheesa Collier said. “It's going to be a great series, great basketball. Two teams with great players competing.”
Collier won the league's Defensive Player of the Year award and was WNBA MVP runner-up.
With three more wins, Minnesota will join the Houston Comets and Seattle Storm as the first WNBA team to win five championships.
The first two games will be in New York, and the next two will be in Minnesota.
There's a potential rivalry for Game 4 on Friday, Oct. 18, with the Minnesota Timberwolves taking on the Denver Nuggets in an exhibition game that night.
The Lynx and Timberwolves share the same home court.
