The 28th WNBA season Finale is turning out to be everything interesting. However, that was not always the case. Many doubted that the series would turn out to be a boring one as the first-seed New York Liberty will lock horns with the second-seed Minnesota Lynx. But things have been extremely different as within hours, we will enter the decisive Game 5 of a WNBA Finals since 2019. As the Lynx vs the Liberty has provided one of the closest Finale series, Napheesa Collier took a dig at some followers, reflecting on her team’s caliber. Meanwhile, her opponent Sabrina Ionescu chose to keep her feet on the ground with the series leveled at 2-2.

“You know, I saw a tweet before [the series] that was saying they don’t want Minnesota and New York because it’s going to be boring Finals. I think everybody’s eating their words,” Collier stated. Her statement was tweeted by popular journalist Myles Ehrlich on Sunday while also sharing a perspective from a humble Ionescu, who rationalized her Game 4 loss.

Ehlrich also posted comments by the New York guard. “It’s hard to win a beat a team three times in a row,” Sabrina Ionescu said. “I think it would have almost been like this storybook ending if we were able to do that. I’m excited for tonight. We’ve responded really well from losses all year long.”

Both Sab and Phee have been the main stars of their team this season. While Collier has hit 18.25 points while collecting 8.25 rebounds per game, Ionescu has scored 14.25 points with 5 rebounds and 4.75 assists per game. But going into the series, only looking at their rankings, the Liberty were the favorites.

Another thing that got more fans to cheer for them was that the Ionescu-led team has been more consistent over the past two years, as they also made it to the Finals last season. Maybe it was this reason that got Phee to comment on her team’s exceptional performance in the series. And meanwhile looking at Sab’s perspective, it was more about how the Lynx leveled the series. However, don’t think that Sabrina is that humble all the time. She wasn’t, in fact, ahead of Game 3.

On that occasion, the 26-year-old had boldly stated that the Lynx haven’t changed their playstyle between Games 1 and 2, and the Liberty had already figured them out. “We know what they’re doing,” Ionescu had said after Game 2.

“They haven’t changed a whole lot from Game 1 to Game 2,” Sabrina had said. The Liberty, she says, made key adjustments while keeping their poise, moving the ball better, and, most importantly, bringing intensity on defense. “We were able to get stops, and that’s really what wins you championships. And that’s what you have to do on the road because defense always travels,” she had further added. Not only words, Sabrina was quite aggressive in her actions as well. Look at Game 2.

Sabrina clapped her hands and chimed in during a tense discussion between the referees and Naphessa Collier. It came after Collier picked up her fourth foul and got into an argument with the referees. Fans on X did not miss the resemblance, with many commenting on how her energy reminded them of Caitlin Clark. Yet, this was not the only occasion when Sabrina was on the front foot.

After the New York Liberty routed the Indiana Fever during Caitlin Clark’s regular season home WNBA debut in May, a reporter asked Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello, “What can you say about your interior penetration so far, Particularly from your smaller players, like Sabrina.” Sabrina immediately took note of it as she turned to Breanna Stewart, who was sitting next to her, and whispered, “small?”

After the coach finished answering the question, Sabrina said, “I’m 5’11”, Jeff.” While there was nothing malicious here, it only brings forward the guard’s outspoken nature. Meanwhile, let’s take a look at how this particular series turned into one of the most exciting from a boring one.

What makes the Lynx vs. Liberty Championship series interesting?

The same reason for which some people thought that the series was boring turned out to be the most interesting part of the series. While the Liberty were ranked at the top for their offense, the Lynx were second in defense after the Connecticut Sun. However, as games progressed, the Liberty had to adopt an approach where they improved their defense, and the Lynx tried to match the offensive pace of the games.

New York had previously lost just one regular season series of twelve, interestingly, at the hands of the Lynx by a 2-1 margin. Next, when Minnesota met the Liberty during the Commissioner Cup’s Finale, the Twin City-based team defeated NY by a 94-89 margin.

In the playoff Finals, at halftime in Game 1, the Liberty led by 44-36 and tried to slow the game which ultimately backfired. The Lynx caught up with the Liberty in the second half as the teams were tied at 84 by the end of the fourth quarter. Hence, the matchup extended into the Overtime when the Liberty could only hit 9 compared to the Lynx’s 11, ultimately losing the game. Game 2 was almost going to bring a similar fate for the Liberty.

The Liberty shot an incredible 72% in the first quarter. By halftime, the Liberty had built a solid 49-37 lead. But, the Lynx made a run in the third quarter, even cutting the lead to just two points with four minutes left in the game. With the Liberty on the edge of another loss, Laney struck a three-pointer to push the lead back to five. That was the moment the table turned in Liberty’s favor, and they never looked back.

Then Game 3 and Game 4 have been so close that the tussle has gone onto the last few seconds. While Sab hit a thrilling 28-foot-three to help her team win Game 3 by an 80-77 margin with 2.4 seconds remaining, Bridget Carleton of the Lynx made two free throws with 2 seconds remaining, when Sab committed a shooting foul. This helped the Lynx make a comeback and win the game by an 82-80 margin, to level the series 2-2.

Therefore, these games have provided enough entertainment and hopefully, Game 5 will be no less. In a few hours from now, it will be clear if the Lynx repeat the Commissioner’s Cup performance or if the Liberty get to their first title after making it to the Finale series for two consecutive seasons and five times since the franchise was founded 28 years ago. With so much climax building up, let’s grab our popcorn and get ready for probably one of the most intense matchups in Game 5 of the Finals.