Lynx and Liberty ready for winner-take-all Game 5 of WNBA Finals with history on line for both teams

NEW YORK (AP) — The WNBA Finals have come down to a winner-take-all Game 5 on Sunday night with both New York and Minnesota looking to make history.

The Liberty are looking for their first title having 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. A win by the Lynx would give them five championships and break a tie with Seattle and Houston for the most in WNBA history.

This is the first time since 2019 that the WNBA Finals have gone the distance. Since the league switched to a best-of-five format in 2005, seven other series have gone to a Game 5 and the home team has won five of those contests, including in 2019.

Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve has been a part of six of those winner-take-all games. She’s had mixed success splitting a pair as an assistant with the Detroit Shock in 2006 and 2007. She won two of three with Minnesota in 2015-2017.

Next season the WNBA has announced it will use a seven-game series to determine the champion.

This series has been a fitting conclusion to a record-breaking season for the league. The first four games of the series have come down to the last few possessions and have included an overtime game and a last-second shot, which have led to record ratings.

The first three games each had over a million viewers on average, with the audience growing for each contest. They also have had huge crowds in attendance.

New York expects no difference Sunday night with tickets a hot commodity.

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball