Napheesa Collier had 30 points and nine rebounds, Kayla McBride added 24 points, and the Minnesota Lynx beat the short-handed New York Liberty 100-93 on Wednesday night in a rematch of last year's WNBA Finals.
After the game, Collier downplayed the narrative that it was a Finals rematch.
"I think as far as like this year, of course New York is the number two team in the league right now, they're a great team," said Collier after the game. "I think it's been so long, it doesn't feel like a Finals rematch. Maybe if like the schedule is different and we would have played them in the beginning of the year it would have, but now it just feels like two really good teams going against each other and I thought that's what it looked like tonight. Really fun to watch, I hope for other people. It's fun to play, you know, obviously."
"I thought New York, played great, I thought that, maybe the time they spent together post-Dallas game showed itself in our game and they were a handful," Lynx Coach Cheryl Reeve added. "Luckily we were able to score a little more than them. If the game went a little bit longer, that might not have been the case. A 31 point fourth quarter not ideal, but we found a way to win and it's a good win. Because winning in this league is not easy to do."
Speaking of that fourth quarter, Bridget Carleton made a 3-pointer from the corner with 7:08 remaining i to give Minnesota a 79-66 lead. She added Minnesota’s 14th 3-pointer — on just 27 attempts — less than two minutes later to make it 84-69 and give the Lynx a comfortable cushion.
Minnesota's lead reached 92-77 before New York scored 11 straight over a two-minute stretch to get within four. Collier ended the run on a three-point play with 50.1 seconds left for a seven-point lead.
Collier went 11 of 16 from the field and 6 of 9 at the free-throw line to record her fifth 30-point game of the season for Minnesota (23-5). The Lynx connected on a season-high 15 3-pointers and reached 100 points for the fourth time this season.
Sabrina Ionescu countered with 31 points for New York (17-9), which did not have star Breanna Stewart due to a bone bruise in her right knee. Isabelle Harrison added 15 points and Marine Johannes scored 14.
Alanna Smith added 12 points for Minnesota, and Carleton and Natisha Hiedeman each scored 10. Courtney Williams had a career-high 13 assists to go with six points and nine rebounds.
Collier drained a 3-pointer with 14.3 seconds left in the first half for a 51-42 lead. She scored 19 points in the first half, including the Lynx’s final 11 of the second quarter.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.