Liberty can’t close out Lynx in 82-80 Game 4 loss of 2024 WNBA Finals

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Bridget Carleton made two free throws with 2 seconds left, and the Minnesota Lynx forced a decisive Game 5 of the WNBA Finals, beating the New York Liberty 82-80 on Friday night.

The teams will meet Sunday night in New York in the first Game 5 of the Finals since 2019, when Washington topped Connecticut.

Kayla McBride scored 19 points and Courtney Williams added 15 for Minnesota, which forced Liberty stars Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu into poor shooting nights. Ionescu’s heave at the buzzer didn’t hit the rim.

Unlike the first three games of the series, when one of the teams built a double-digit lead, this one was tight throughout. There were 14 lead changes and 13 ties, and neither team led by more than six.

With the game tied at 80-all with 18 seconds left, Williams dribbled to run the clock down and missed a jumper with a few seconds left. Carleton got the rebound in the lane and was fouled by Ionescu. She calmly made both free throws, and Ionescu was unable to duplicate her heroics in Game 3, when she made a 28-footer with 1 second left to give the Liberty a 2-1 series lead.

Jonquel Jones had 21 points and Leonie Fiebich scored 19 for New York. Stewart, who scored 30 points in Game 3, had 11 points on 5-of-20 shooting, and Ionescu was 5 of 16 from the floor and scored 10.

Minnesota stands one victory away from a record fifth WNBA title, which would break a tie with the Houston Comets and Seattle Storm. The Liberty are looking for their first title and have lost in the Finals five times. The team was one of the original eight franchises when the league began in 1997 and is the only one left of that group not to have won it all.

New York lost to Las Vegas in last season’s Finals. Friday night marked the one-year anniversary of the Game 4 clincher last season for the Aces.

The Lynx reached the Finals for the first time since 2017, when they won the last of four championships in seven years.

Minnesota built a 77-72 lead with 3:14 left before New York scored eight of the next 11 points, including a three-point play by Jones with 1:10 left that tied it at 80.

Both teams had chances before Carleton’s free throws. McBride missed a layup with 56 seconds left, but the Lynx forced a shot-clock violation on the other end when Stewart’s shot in the lane missed with 18 seconds left.