No matter which way the 2024 WNBA Finals goes, the series is already one for the books.
Entering Sunday’s decisive Game 5, the rematch from this summer’s Commissioner’s Cup Championship Game yielded three games decided by three or fewer points. The Liberty’s epic Game 1 collapse was decided in overtime after the Lynx became the first team in WNBA history to be down 15 in the final five minutes and eventually win.
Then there’s Sabrina Ionescu deep game-winning three-pointer over Kayla McBride in Game 3 that quickly cemented itself as one the greatest shots in New York basketball history.
Four games in, the drama and close finishes have surpassed expectations after fans experienced last year’s WNBA Finals between the Liberty and Aces.
And even before commissioner Cathy Engelbert presents the championship trophy on Sunday night, Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello gave a clear distinction on this year’s Finals.
“Oh yeah the hardest,” Brondello said when asked how this WNBA Final series against the Lynx compares to other series in her past. “Because of how close this has been. They’ve never been this close. But I think that shows the standard of this league. How good these players are, how talented they are, how they game has evolved… It’s like a chess match.”
The Game 2 win over the Lynx is the only matchup decided by double-digits (14).
In last year’s WNBA Finals against the Aces, only Game 4 — Las Vegas’ 70-69 title-clinching win — went down to the wire. Each Liberty and Aces win were decided by at least 14 points, including the Aces’ Game 2 28-point beatdown at Michelob Ultra Arena.
But in 2024, fans have been glued to the TV for every second of the WNBA Finals.
This year’s Finals being the “hardest” ranks it higher than the other two series in which Brondello was featured in a Game 5 on the sidelines.
In 2021, Brondello led Brittney Griner and the No. 5 seed Phoenix Mercury to an upset semifinals series victory over the No. 2 seed Aces. Three years prior, Brondello’s Mercury squad erased a 17-point Game 4 Seattle Storm lead to win, but lost Game 5 to a torrid Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart in the semifinals round.
“I suppose you relate it to the Olympics [knockout rounds] really more than anything. Knockouts every time,” Brondello said about the do-or-die nature of WNBA Game 5s. [I’ve] been in multiple of them. [FIBA] World Cups. Just go out there and you just gotta put it all out on the line.”
