In Minnesota’s victory, Courtney Williams delivered down the stretch

“That’s the feeling everybody had. Bang! A horn goes off, a ball goes in and now it’s time to leave?!” Moran said in the ESPN SportsCentury documentary of the game. “We have to leave now? Isn’t there another encore? If we light a match will Bruce come out and do ‘Born to Run’?”

Few entertainers on the planet, if any, from Bruce Springsteen to Ellie the Elephant could pull off following an act like the 45 minutes of playoff basketball bliss between the Minnesota Lynx and the New York Liberty in Game 1 of the 2024 WNBA Finals Thursday night. A game that achieved classic level status before a winner had even been decided and showcased a masterclass in clutch buckets from Lynx veteran guard Courtney Williams.

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‘One possession at a time’

Put a storytelling microscope on any one of the Minnesota Lynx’s 37 wins across all competitions in 2024 and you’ll get 37 different stories. Through the course of a long season the Lynx have shown themselves to be a team of versatile skill sets, one that can win in a variety of ways. 

In Game 1 of the 2024 WNBA Finals, they managed to win an instant-classic/overtime thriller where they possessed the lead for fewer than 200 total seconds across 45 minutes of nail-biting basketball.  

“I think it defines our team in terms of being able to get through difficult times,” Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve said during the postgame press conference. “That’s what we say when we talk about it in all these interviews we’ve been giving. You have to be mentally tough and resilient. You have to look inward and not blame other people and give each other confidence. We were that team and I’m thrilled that we could hang in there.”

The Liberty led by as many as 18 points. The WNBA’s No. 1 seed had its foot on the gas and was rolling in front of 17,732 raucous fans. The Lynx clawing all the way back to win, from the depths of 18 down, matched the 1999 Houston Comets for biggest comeback in WNBA playoff history. Coming back from 15 down with fewer than five minutes remaining hasn’t been done by any team in league history. Per ESPN Stats and Info teams were 0-183 in that scenario entering tonight.

No longer. 

A game in which the Lynx barely held the lead, gave up 10 second chance points in the first 10 minutes, and got beat 20-5 on the offensive glass. It does beg the question — how? 

“I think just taking it one possession at a time,” Lynx forward Napheesa Collier said postgame. “We’ve been in situations where we’ve been down before, and that’s when we really lean on our defense. That’s something we were talking about — getting three stops in a row, chipping at it a little bit at a time. Not thinking about the point difference, but thinking about the possession that we need to get a stop and a score. That’s just what we were talking about at halftime.” 

Minnesota’s defense limped out of the gates in the first quarter, but the Lynx and the Defensive Player of the Year, Collier, found their footing when it mattered most. Collier finished the game with nine rebounds, six blocks and three steals. Her DPOY attributes were on full display in the fourth quarter and overtime as the primary defender on Liberty forward Breanna Stewart, crucially holding the former league MVP to just one made basket on eight attempts. 

“Every game, I try to go out and impact defensively,” Collier said. “Especially when they are going on a run like that, they have amazing offensive players, and so trying to be as disruptive as I can.”

As disruptive as Collier was on the defensive end, she was explosive with the ball in her hands. She shot 10-for-16 from the field for 21 points, including the bucket that proved to be the game winner, a fadeaway over the Liberty’s 6’6 center Jonquel Jones punctuated by her signature phenomenal footwork. Per league PR, Collier became the the first player in WNBA postseason history to record at least 21 points, eight rebounds, six blocks and three steals in a game. 

Courtney Williams delivers down the stretch

Collier excelled during Game 1 and yet — to find the main character in this Game 1 story — the gaze must be directed elsewhere: to veteran guard Courtney Williams.

“From a basketball standpoint, Courtney recognized that she had to get more aggressive — not pick up her dribble,” Reeve said. “Her team needed her to be aggressive, to go score the basketball. We needed some help. Phee got going as well, but Courtney has been around for a while. She has been in Finals games, and she knows her team needed her to get aggressive.” 

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The Lynx trailed 81-66 with fewer than five minutes remaining. After scoring just six points in the first half, Courtney Williams erupted in the fourth, scoring 15 of her team-high 23 points in the fourth quarter and overtime.

The Lynx responded with six unanswered points. A layup by Jones gave New York a double-digit lead with 3:23 on the clock when Williams went to work, scoring eight of a 12-0 Lynx run, capped by a four-point play that will not only live forever in Lynx lore but, most importantly, gave them their first lead of the game with 5.5 seconds on the clock. 

“I mean that’s just a testament to how we believe in each other,” Williams said. “We have so many great 3-point shooters and the fact that these girls are out here trying to get me the ball — I mean, I could cry. This is just amazing. I love it [here]. Like I say that all the time, and I don’t just say that for fun. These people that I’m around, we believe in each other so much. It’s crazy, man. I’m happy to be here.”

Many lifetimes took place before the 5.5 seconds on the clock melted to zeroes. 

A foul on Collier put Breanna Stewart at the free throw line with a chance to bury the Lynx with 0.8 seconds left. She hit the first but missed the second, and breathed further life into Minnesota’s comeback. 

“It felt like we got a second chance,” Collier said. “Obviously you don’t want to be put in that position. Wish I wouldn’t have fouled. Wish it wouldn’t have been called, whatever it was. But yeah, you’re not thinking about that in the second. You’re just thinking, making sure they didn’t get the rebound, making sure we’re boxing out and going to our next play.”

Courtney Williams added another five from the field in the extra session, setting up Collier for the eventual game-winner. The five minutes and five-and-a-half seconds after her four-point play were a roller coaster for the Lynx but — after the shot went in, followed by the clutch free throw — they never trailed again. Ensuring the four-point play could take its place as an iconic shot, and not just a highlight in a heartbreaking loss. 

“I don’t know where it ranks,” Williams said when asked after the game where it ranks in her career. “It’s one right now because we are here. I like to be where my feet are planted. So it’s one right now.”

A No. 1 shot to make it a Game 1 to remember.

It’s natural to elevate Thursday night’s game to legend status in the hours after its conclusion, but it shared many similarities with the wins Minnesota has collected against elite competition this season.  

“I thought New York played terrific,” Reeve said. “Their pace was terrific. They run so many great things. They are unique in what they do. They found JJ repeatedly. She had a tremendous game. We had to overcome a lot.

“And then you look up at the end and we held them [shooting] below 40%, which is monumental. A lot of that was obviously late. We got big stops when we needed them. Repeatedly, whether the ball is going out of bounds or 50/50 balls, referees, whatever happens — jump balls, fouls, all that stuff — we just had to be gritty at the end. We had to get stops to win and that’s what I’m proud of.”

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