WNBA Playoffs: Lynx defeated Sun in Game 5 and will face Liberty in the WNBA Finals

It's the Minnesota Lynx who will face the New York Liberty in the WNBA Finals, and that was pretty clear about eight minutes into their WNBA Semifinal Game 5 against the Connecticut Sun.

Against a Sun team that recently beat them seven straight times in Minnesota, the Lynx rolled to a trip to New York with an 88-77 home win. Game 1 is scheduled for Thursday at 8:00 p.m. ET.

Napheesa Collier, the WNBA MVP runner-up and defensive player of the year, led the way with 27 points on 10 of 16 shooting, 11 rebounds, four assists and four blocks. Per ESPN stats and infoShe is the first player to record 25 points and 10 rebounds in three straight playoff games.

The Liberty-Lynx finals will be a matchup between the best teams of the regular season, the best teams from the East and West, and the best offensive (Liberty) and defensive teams (Lynx) in the league.

Lynx had a tremendous first quarter, then a tremendous second quarter, then…

The first half was all about Lynx. Minnesota led 53-34 heading into the locker room, with Collier, Courtney Williams and Kayla McBride all scoring in double figures. Williams, in particular, was a threat for the Suns as he shot a perfect 6-of-6 from the field with four assists and one turnover.

The game started to turn in the second half, but not for long. Connecticut opened the third quarter with a 7-0 run to cut the lead to one point, but stayed ice cold long enough for the Lynx to turn the game into a rout again. For a full five minutes, the Sun's score remained at 41 points as the team missed six straight shots and committed five turnovers.

It wasn't the prettiest quarter for the Lynx, who didn't score a point in either the first two or final two minutes of the frame, but it was enough to make the result all but certain early in the fourth quarter. Even when the Sun cut the lead to 12 points with three minutes left.

Can the lynx upset freedom?

This will be the Lynx's first appearance in the WNBA Finals since winning their fourth title in 2017. This team is very different from the team that included Maya Moore, Sylvia Fowles and Lindsay Whalen, among others.

Different isn't necessarily worse, but the 2024 Lynx will enter the Finals as underdogs rather than a team trying to add to a dynasty. They could be a good fit for this role as they are ranked No. 2 in the NBA in defensive rating as a team and have narrowly edged out the No. 1 team in a five-game series.

The Liberty reached the finals after a four-game series win over the two-time defending champion Las Vegas Aces. New York led the league with a 32-8 record in the regular season and had no trouble making the playoffs, aside from a classic performance from the Aces in Game 3. Sabrina Ionescu, Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones are in their own right a difficult task an elite defense.

On the other hand, Collier is pretty good, as are Williams and McBride. The Lynx were only two wins worse than the Liberty in the regular season and can show with a few more wins that the WNBA is not yet in the superteam era.

Is this about the sun?

Tuesday could be the last game of an era for the Sun.

Connecticut has been one of the most consistent teams in the WNBA for years, surviving the loss of Jones to the Liberty after 2022, but four of its five starters just became free agents. Alyssa Thomas, DeWanna Bonner, DiJonai Carrington and Brionna Jones were all key players this season.

Keeping all four won't be easy (Carrington is at least a restricted free agent), but the bigger question might be what they would do afterward. Thomas and Bonner are both over 30 years old, and it's not like the Suns are trying to hold together a current championship team. There will be tough questions in Connecticut this season.