Courtney Williams powers Lynx past Sun in Game 5 to reach WNBA Finals

MINNEAPOLIS — Courtney Williams lined up her feet behind the 3-point line, rose up and followed through. In what seemed like only a courtesy, she waited until the ball hit the bottom of the net before turning around and flexing at the crowd.

It was simply that kind of a night for Williams and the Minnesota Lynx, who punched their ticket to the WNBA Finals with an 88-77 win over the Connecticut Sun. It’s the franchise’s first trip to the finals since 2017 when Minnesota won its fourth WNBA title in seven seasons.

Williams started 6-of-6 from the floor in the first half and ended the night with 24 points, a team-high seven assists and two steals. With the offense funneling through Williams, who signed with Minnesota in last season’s free agency, the Lynx had their best offensive showing of the semifinals — and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

“I don’t know if I really knew what we were getting — the basketball player for sure, I had watched for years … but I don’t know if I knew exactly what we were getting in terms of the person and the coachability,” Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said of Williams. “We knew she was going to be a big part of us winning this series.”

Courtney Williams gets the bucket plus the foul, and her dad is LOVING IT 🔥#WNBAPlayoffs presented by @google pic.twitter.com/3x3Zrx2Lwr

— WNBA (@WNBA) October 9, 2024

Napheesa Collier led the Lynx with 27 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and four blocks while Kayla McBride had her best night of the postseason, finishing with 19 points and four assists.

The Lynx were able to play from ahead almost the entire night thanks to a huge 31-point first quarter as Minnesota came out firing on all cylinders.

Napheesa Collier gives the Lynx a 13-PT LEAD at the end of the 1Q 👀#WNBAPlayoffs presented by @google pic.twitter.com/tVpFcO3MZx

— WNBA (@WNBA) October 9, 2024

“When you get down like that against a team at home that’s playing really well and trying to get to the finals, it’s hard to dig yourself out of that hole,” Sun forward DeWanna Bonner said. “We got shell shocked and then we couldn’t fight back.”

From the bench, Reeve never seemed to relax, though. She has talked often during the postseason about how challenging every subsequent game, and series, gets.

The Sun overcame a seven-point deficit in Game 4 to force a decisive Game 5 (before then, the Sun were 0-15 in games they trailed by seven or more at halftime), so the Lynx never took their foot off the gas. However, the 19-point halftime lead for Minnesota was far too great for the Sun. Connecticut, especially with Marina Mabrey suffering an ankle injury in the first quarter and seemingly limited thereafter, couldn’t bridge the gap from range.

Connecticut’s Alyssa Thomas, usually on triple-double watch, struggled against Collier and Alanna Smith all evening. Thomas finished with seven points, six assists and three rebounds through 39 minutes as the Lynx defense, which suffered a letdown in game 4, returned to its usually stout self to close out this series. Minnesota held the Sun to 39 percent from the floor, moving the Lynx to 180-6 when they hold their opponents to worse than 40 percent shooting.

“We played Lynx basketball tonight and it was nice to get back to that,” Reeve said. “I damn near guaranteed you that we would play the defense that we played.”

In addition to being the game that brought the Lynx back to the finals, it also marked the franchise’s 48th postseason win, putting them at the top of the league in playoff wins (Los Angeles and Phoenix both have 47).

Minnesota will face the New York Liberty, who advanced to the finals with a road win over the Las Vegas Aces, the two-time defending champs, on Sunday. The Lynx went 3-1 against the Liberty during the regular season, including a June Commissioner’s Cup win.

The WNBA Finals tip off Thursday at 8 p.m. ET in New York with a 2-2-1 format.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

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