In perhaps one of the most exciting WNBA Finals in a long time, the New York Liberty won 67-62 over the Minnesota Lynx in Game 5 of the series Sunday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York and clinched the franchise’s first WNBA championship in 28 years.
But their win was not without controversy.
With just 5.2 seconds left in regulation, the Liberty inbounded the ball to Breanna Stewart, who may or may not have taken a few steps before taking a dribble and going up against the Lynx’s Alanna Smith. The whistle blew, and Smith was called for a foul. Minnesota’s coach, Cheryl Reeve, challenged the call, believing Smith did not touch Stewart.
The referees deliberated for a few moments and returned with a decision. The call on the floor stood. Stewart made the free throws, effectively sending the game into overtime.
The Liberty went on to win by five in overtime.
“This s*** was stolen from us,” an angry Reeve said during a postgame press conference.
Sorry Cheryl, but I have to disagree.
This year’s WNBA Finals was one to remember with two Olympic coaches competing against each other, one original franchise going for their first championship in 28 years, and the other going for their fifth title win.
The series saw numerous leads, games decided in the final seconds, and a three by New York’s Sabrina Ionescu that quieted thousands at the Target Center. During Game 4, a must-win for the Lynx, the teams battled through 14 lead changes and 13 ties before Minnesota claimed victory forcing a Game 5.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but the Lynx played in the same number of games as the Liberty, giving them the same amount of time to win a championship. The series was best out of five, meaning whichever team made it to three wins first was the victor.
“I saw a very physical and aggressive New York team,” Reeve said during the Lynx’s postgame news conference. “We know this from being a part of the games for so long that sometimes you get away with this stuff when you’re physical and aggressive, and they certainly did. It’s a shame that officiating had such a hand in a series like this.”
It’s no secret, the WNBA referees have been awful this season, but you can’t blame the refs this time.
Reeve acknowledged the Liberty shot a measly 30% from the field, which included a pathetic showing from both Ionescu and Stewart. Why didn’t the Lynx capitalize on the Liberty’s poor shooting? Instead they complained about the discrepancy in the number of times they went to the free throw line compared to the Liberty.
New York shot 25 free throws while Minnesota shot 8.
“It just doesn’t feel right that you lose a series with that level of discrepancy,” she said. “We don’t have a team that whines and complains and all that stuff. Sometimes, it probably hurts us. Maybe being a little more, I don’t know, something. But you have a star player like Phee that just — I don’t get it. I don’t get how she can be held and go to the basket and get hit, and then a marginal, at best, at best, sends their best player to the free throw line. I mean, that’s tough. It’s tough to swallow.”
Despite claiming the Lynx don’t whine about “all that stuff,” Reeve critiqued the officiating in Game 3, pointing out that her player Napheesa Collier was being treated differently than Stewart.
“If you don’t want to call it a hold at one end, don’t call it at the other. Be consistent. Every team asks for that.”
In 2016, Reeve also blamed the officials for costing the Lynx the championship when they missed a shot clock violation with a little more than a minute left in the game. The missed call supposedly cost the Lynx a back-to-back championship that year.
“I mean, congratulations to the Liberty on their first championship,” she said after her team’s loss on Sunday. “It took them 28 years. Congrats to them. We were that close to our fifth. Just didn’t happen.”
Better luck next time, Cheryl.