If you missed yesterday’s WNBA finals, you missed out. Bi time. The Minnesota Lynx defeated the Los Angeles Sparks 85-76. This was their fourth title win in seven years. Which is a pretty incredible feat. Sylvia Fowles had 17 points and broke her own WNBA Finals record by getting 20 rebounds to lead the Lynx to their fourth championships in seven years. This all took place during game 5, last night. Which, in my opinion, makes it less exciting, but that doesn’t take away from their win.
Lindsay Whalen, point guard for the Lynx, celebrated the win by saying this:
“I think every time you do this, it gets a little more special because it gets a little harder, and more meaningful because you know it’s not easy. It’s not something we try to take for granted ever.”
Maya Moore had 18 points and 10 rebounds and made a great basket with only 26 seconds to play. Whalen had 17 pounds, 8 assists. While Seimone Augustus added 14 points, and 6 assists to help the Lynx move in to tie with the Houston Comets for more titles in league history. Which means that next year’s win for the Lynx will be so much sweeter. The Lynx managed to come back from the brink of disaster by winning Games 4 and 5. They were down 2-1 heading into game 4.
And this wasn’t an easy task for the Lynx either. They have had an incredible rivalry with the Sparks. This is the second straight year that the WNBA finals have seen these two teams battle it out. Last year, the Sparks won in the last few seconds of the game. The first two games of this year’s series were decided by a total of three points. Yes, that’s in total. All of this is incredible for the entire league. There have been some pretty dominant teams at the college level for sure, but this feels different. You might remember UConn’s 90 and 111 game win streaks, for example. But that doesn’t hold a candle to the Lynx’s four titles. At least not in my opinion. An 111 game winning streak is incredible, but it’s stretched over multiple seasons.
There is also a theory that if you’re that good, then people think you’re too good. When you win that many titles, those wins become less and less impressive. Maybe to the fans, but like Whalen pointed out, they’re so much more difficult for the team itself. And incredible when you get the win.
It’s interesting to me that we, as fans, can see it as just another win. But to the players in the game, it’s so much more. It’s incredible. I kind of think like this when it comes to NBA playoff time. I mean, how many times can we see a Steph Curry/LeBron James match up? It gets old. But what I will always remember is when the Cavaliers won their last title, LeBron cried. Not because it was easy to get there. Not because they were “too” good. But because it took hard work and dedication to get to that point.
And it’s no different for the Lynx. They have been working hard to get to the playoffs and even harder to win that title. The rivalry between the two teams (much like Golden State and Cleveland) makes it more interesting. Sure, they’ve both been in the finals before. They know the other players. They know the stakes. What they have to be able to do is bring it home for a win. And that’s exactly what the Lynx did. It was an incredible series, for both teams, but only one can be a winner.