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Minnesota Lynx vs New York Liberty live updates: WNBA Finals time, TV

Minnesota Lynx vs New York Liberty live updates: WNBA Finals time, TV

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As the players have said time and again throughout this epic series, this is the WNBA Finals we deserve.

And now what matters is that Game 5 at Barclays Center is all about the winner.

The New York Liberty are attempting to win the first WNBA title in franchise history. This is New York’s sixth Finals appearance in nearly three decades, and that appearance is why the Liberty have assembled a superteam – is it time to finally emerge victorious?

The Minnesota Lynx have won four titles, all under coach Cheryl Reeve, but none with this group. Reeve built her roster around superstar forward Napheesa Collier, filled her team with role players and overlooked stars, and then coached the hell out of them. Is Minnesota poised to become the first WNBA franchise to win a fifth championship?

All we know for sure is that this series will likely come to an end. Three of the four games were decided by a single possession, with the first going into overtime.

As Collier said at shootaround Sunday morning, “This is such good basketball.”

“For example, when you’re rooting for a team, it’s nerve-wracking,” Collier said. “And when you’re part of a team, it’s very nerve-wracking. But objectively speaking, it’s such an entertaining show.”

As the cool kids say: No lies detected.

Follow USA TODAY Sports for live Game 5 updates and highlights:

When is Game 5 of the WNBA Finals?

Game 5 of the WNBA Championship Series between the Liberty and Lynx takes place on Sunday at 8:00 p.m. ET at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

How to watch Game 5 of the WNBA Finals

Game 5 will be broadcast on ESPN, with Ryan Ruocco (play-by-play), Rebecca Lobo (analyst) and Holly Rowe (sideline reporter).

Will there be a live stream of Game 5 of the WNBA Finals?

The game can also be live streamed on ESPN+ or the ESPN app in addition to Fubo, which offers a free trial.

Experience the WNBA Finals with a Fubo subscription

According to BetMGM odds, the New York Liberty are the favorites to defeat the Minnesota Lynx in Friday’s WNBA Finals match. Would you like to bet? Check out the top betting apps in 2024 that offer the best betting promotions and bonuses in 2024.

  • Spread: Freedom (-5.5)
  • Money line: Freedom (-275); Lynx (+225)
  • Over/Under: 157.5

The New York Liberty take their 32-8 season to Minnesota to face the four-time champion Lynx. A title this season would be the Liberty’s first championship.

Best of 5; Always east

  • Game 1: Thursday, October 10, Minnesota Lynx 95, New York Liberty 93
  • Game 2: Sunday, October 13th, New York Liberty 80, Minnesota Lynx 66
  • Game 3: Wednesday, October 16, New York Liberty 80, Minnesota Lynx 77
  • Game 4: Friday, October 18, Minnesota Lynx 82, New York Liberty 80
  • Game 5: Sunday, October 20: Minnesota Lynx at New York Liberty, 8 p.m. (ESPN)

Always east

Sunday, September 29th

  • Game 1: New York 87, Las Vegas 77, Liberty leads the series 1-0
  • Game 1: Connecticut 73, Minnesota 70, Sun leads the series 1-0

Tuesday, October 1st

  • Game 2: New York 88, Las Vegas 84, Liberty leads the series 2-0
  • Game 2: Minnesota 77, Connecticut 70, The series was tied 1-1

Friday, October 4th

  • Game 3: Minnesota 90, Connecticut 81, Lynx leads the series 2-1
  • Game 3: New York 81, Las Vegas 95, Liberty leads Series 21

Sunday, October 6th

  • Game 4: New York 76, Las Vegas 62, Liberty wins the series 3-1
  • Game 4: Connecticut 92, Minnesota 82, The series was tied 2-2

Tuesday, October 8th

  • Game 5: Minnesota 88, Connecticut 77 Lynx wins series

The 2024 WNBA Finals series will be broadcast on ABC or ESPN, depending on the game. Streaming options for the series are available on Fubo, Sling and WNBA League Pass.

NEW YORK – The Finals story no one knew they needed: Napheesa Collier’s two-year-old’s favorite player in the WNBA might actually be New York guard Sabrina Ionescu.

Shortly after the Lynx won Game 4 in Minneapolis and forced a win in Game 5 in Brooklyn, a video circulated on social media showing an excited Mila hugging Ionescu and her husband, Hroniss Grasu.

It turns out that Ionescu and Mila became fast friends while hanging out at the USA Basketball Hotel during the Paris Olympics.

“We were attached at the hip,” Ionescu told USA TODAY Sports, smiling from ear to ear. “We had breakfast together every morning. (After Game 4) I was walking to the bus – it was the first time I’d seen them since Paris – and I heard this little kid screaming my name and I just lit a lamp. It was a reunion on both sides, I was waiting to see them.”

Ionescu was popular with all the US basketball kids during the Olympics and received Team USA’s votes when it came to “a player you would hire as a nanny.” Mila was her biggest fan and often asked people, “Where’s my Sab?” when she couldn’t find Ionescu.

Collier said Mila had a tendency to scream “Sabrina!” Whenever she sees Ionescu on TV. But Collier said there’s no question who Mila – who is often seen wearing the No. 24 mini-jersey at Minneapolis’ Target Center – is rooting for in this finals series.

“She’s a friend to everyone, but she cheers us on,” Collier said with a laugh. “It’s mommy of all.”

-Lindsay Quick

  • Breanna Stewart
  • Sabrina Ionescu
  • Jonquel Jones
  • Betnijah Laney
  • Leonie Fiebich
  • Napheesa Collier
  • Kayla McBride
  • Alanna Smith
  • Bridget Carleton
  • Courtney Williams

No one has played more minutes in this series than Minnesota forward Napheesa Collier, a sixth-year veteran who set a postseason record with 263 points or more.

Collier played 158 of a possible 165 minutes in four games (Game 1 went to overtime) and when she was told those numbers, she laughed and said, “I’m not surprised,” adding that she doesn’t know how anyone else would that could have played more than her.

So what will it feel like next year when the Finals last seven games like every other major professional league?

“I know it’s great for the sport and it’s all shit,” Collier said. “It’s going to be a fight.”

Her coach agrees.

“I’m a big fan of watching NBA Finals and playoffs, and being part of a tough five-game series, I always thought, ‘Oh my God, seven must be crazy,'” Lynx coach Cheryl said Reeve. “Because of the swings. What you go through physically and mentally over the course of a seven-game series is a lot. I suspect giving people 40 minutes in a seven-game series would be a bad idea.”

-Lindsay Quick

ESPN PR announced that the New York Liberty’s 80-77 victory over the Minnesota Lynx in Game 3 was the most-watched WNBA Finals game on cable television with 1.4 million viewers. Viewership peaked at 2 million viewers, up +112% compared to Game 3 of the 2023 Finals on ABC. The league has record viewership.

The league announced its All-WNBA first and second teams on Wednesday. The results are as follows:

First team:

  • Napheesa Collier, Minnesota Lynx
  • A’Ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces
  • Breanna Stewart, New York Liberty
  • Caitlin Clark, Indiana Fever
  • Alyssa Thomas, Connecticut Sun

Second team:

  • Sabrina Ionescu, New York Liberty
  • Kahleah Copper, Phoenix Mercury
  • Nneka Ogwumike, Seattle Storm
  • Arike Ogunbowale, Dallas Wings
  • Jonquel Jones, New York Liberty

Sunday will feature either a first-time champion or, for the Lynx, the lucky number five. Here you can find out how the titles have developed in the history of the league.

  • 1997: Houston Comets
  • 1998: Houston Comets
  • 1999: Houston Comets
  • 2000: Houston Comets
  • 2001: Los Angeles Sparks
  • 2002: Los Angeles Sparks
  • 2003: Detroit Shock
  • 2004: Seattle Storm
  • 2005: Sacramento Monarchs
  • 2006: Detroit Shock
  • 2007: Phoenix Mercury
  • 2008: Detroit Shock
  • 2009: Phoenix Mercury
  • 2010: Seattle Storm
  • 2011: Minnesota Lynx
  • 2012: Indiana fever
  • 2013: Minnesota Lynx
  • 2014: Phoenix Mercury
  • 2015: Minnesota Lynx
  • 2016: Los Angeles Sparks
  • 2017: Minnesota Lynx
  • 2018: Seattle Storm
  • 2019: Washington Mystic
  • 2020: Seattle Storm
  • 2021:Chicago Sky
  • 2022: Las Vegas Aces
  • 2023: Las Vegas Aces
  • 2024: New York Liberty or Minnesota Lynx

Game 4 had a number of winners and losers, according to Lindsay Schnell and Nancy Armor of USA TODAY. One winner was Alanna Smith.

“What a brave performance.

“Forty-eight hours after suffering a very serious fall in Game 3, Smith battled severe lower back pain on Friday and finished the game with 12 points, seven rebounds, one block and two steals and assists. Her defensive contribution wasn’t enough to show up in the stats, but she was hard at work again, especially when she had to set up Jonquel Jones. – Nancy armor

Spike Lee likes the New York Liberty’s chances.

America’s most famous basketball fan is back at Barclay’s for Game 5 – wearing a game-worn, signed Sabrina Ionescu jersey, no less – and is optimistic that his city will finally win a title.

“It’s a great atmosphere. This is the sixth time they’ve been in the final, they’ve lost five, so this is the night. This is the night,” Lee said during an appearance on WNBA Countdown.

Lee is best known as a New York Knicks superfan who sits on the sidelines and talks trash to his opponents. But he said he loves the game in general and is happy that more people are realizing that the WNBA is “for real.” Co-host Carolyn Peck reminded Lee that the two were at the Atlanta Olympics together a year before the W began and asked how he thought the game had changed from then to now.

“Growth,” he said. “People understand that this game is real. It’s not just the YWCA. They play. They are athletes.”

Lee occasionally attended Liberty games when they played at Madison Square Garden. But his fan base really increased after New York acquired Sabrina Ionescu as the No. 1 pick in 2020. Ionescu said Lee left her a note saying how excited he was for her to come to the city and experience NYC’s love of basketball.

Lee and Ionescu reunited at the 2024 NBA All-Star Game, where Ionescu faced Steph Curry in a 3-point contest. Ionescu said she told Lee it was time for him to go to a game and he agreed. He was a supporting player in the postseason and usually wore their jersey.

“She’ll do her thing,” Lee predicted. “THANG. Thang.” – Lindsay Schnell and Nancy Armor

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