The Minnesota Lynx were the best team in the WNBA for the majority of the season, finishing with the league’s best record as a result. This was in large part due to the sensational rookie exploits of Olivia Miles.
But the Lynx certainly did not peak at the right time and this led to them being swept by the New York Liberty in two games, with the WNBA’s Coach of the Year, Cheryl Reeve, and Rookie of the Year, Miles, eliminated in one fell swoop.
Miles in particular struggled down the stretch. She found herself on the bench in the second half of Game 2 despite being uninjured as she had a rough go of it in her first playoff appearance.
Miles had a total of only 16 points and 2 assists and shot 20% from the field in the two-game sweep.
Reeve gave the Liberty credit after the loss and did not seem overly surprised by the result.
“There are sometimes when you have that team and that would be the case, you should feel that way,” Reeve said about championship expectations.
“I have not felt like we’ve had that team over these three years, and so what we’re doing is sort of maybe exceeding expectations in the regular season, and then when it comes playoffs, maybe we don’t quite have the right group to be effective,” she added.
It sounds like some changes could be coming for Minnesota, with Napheesa Collier’s looming free agency being at the top of the list of offseason storylines.
Miles will surely bounce back, but she got a rude awakening after what was mostly a comfortable first WNBA season.
On the other side, the Liberty have arguably underachieved this year. However, they seem to be finding their footing at the right time, and it may be strategic.
Coach Chris DeMarco noted after the win that Breanna Stewart was able to play extended minutes because they managed her workload during the regular season in preparation for this. And once New York got Leonie Fiebich back from injury, they became a different squad due to her outside shooting and length on the perimeter defensively.
New York looks to be a threat to win it all heading into the semifinals—just ask the Lynx.
They will face the winner of the series between the Atlanta Dream and Washington Mystics next. The Dream hold a 1-0 advantage heading into Game 2 tonight, which airs on ESPN at 7 pm ET.
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