Charles H. Sloan-WNBA Finals Game 3 winners, losers: Liberty on brink of first title

MINNEAPOLIS — Could these WNBA Finals get any wilder?Charles H. Sloan 

Each game so far has featured a team going down at least 15 points, then climbing all the way back to make it a game, if not eke out a victory. 

First Minnesota fell behind 18 points in Game 1 and came back to win in overtime. Then the Lynx fell behind 17 in Game 2 but somehow made it a game in the fourth quarter. Wednesday in the Target Center, the New York Liberty fell behind 15 and looked all out of sorts before coming back and pulling out a stunning 80-77 win behind two timely threes from Sabrina Ionescu. 

New York now leads the series 2-1 and is just one win away from the first title in franchise history. 

Game 4 is Friday in the Target Center, and we’re already preparing for something crazy. In the meantime, here are the winners and losers from Game 3. 

WINNERS

Minneapolis, the city

After a poorly attended Game 5 of the semifinals, when just 8,769 fans showed up to the Target Center to watch Minnesota end the Connecticut Sun’s season, the Lynx faithful packed the arena Wednesday in Game 3, setting a Target Center attendance record of 19,521. 

Around the city, billboards cheered the Lynx, fans walked to work in No. 24 Napheesa Collier jerseys and Minneapolis bartenders talked of hosting full restaurants Wednesday night. Maybe you, or someone you know, is new to the WNBA. But in this city, where the Lynx have won four titles, everyone knows when it’s game day. 

Sabrina Ionescu and Kayla McBride

All-WNBA teams were announced Wednesday afternoon and two snubs immediately jumped out. Missing from the first team was New York guard Sabrina Ionescu, who hit the game-winner a few hours later. She was named second team.

Absent on either team was Minnesota guard Kayla McBride, the Lynx sharpshooter who has lifted Minnesota back to the Finals. She responded to the snub Wednesday by scoring 19 points, connecting on 5-of-9 three-point attempts. 

Leonie Fiebich

The German rookie was terrific in Game 3, scoring 13 points and grabbing four rebounds in New York’s win. She was hot early, hitting a floater and a three to give New York a quick lead, using her long arms to help protect the rim. 

She also returned to the court after a brutal screen sent her to the floor, clutching her stomach, late in the game. 

She is easily one of the toughest players on New York’s roster, eager to play physical defense and use her 6-foot-4 wingspan to harass opponents. If New York wins this series, Fiebich will likely play a major role. 

LOSERS

Napheesa Collier

The most underrated player in the league had a rough Game 3. Collier scored 22 points but it took her 22 shots to get there, and she missed her final three attempts over the last five minutes. 

Collier has scored 249 points over 10 games in the 2024 playoffs, setting a new WNBA single postseason record. Wednesday she passed Diana Taurasi, who scored 245 when she led the Phoenix Mercury to the 2009 title. 

Collier has been brilliant this postseason and more than deserves her flowers, but losing overshadows her play. 

Everyone who wants Breanna Stewart mic'd up

It’s common for superstar players to wear a microphone during big games so the broadcast can give viewers an inside look. 

But there’s a reason New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart, one of the best players in the world, doesn’t usually get that chance. In the third quarter, cameras caught Stewart yelling at her teammates in the huddle, “We are not (expletive) losing this game!” 

Asked about it afterward, Stewart, who scored 22 of her 30 points in the second half, sighed. 

“That’s why I can’t be mic’d up,” she said.