2024 WNBA Finals
The New York Liberty beat the Minnesota Lynx 3-2 to win the 2024 WNBA Finals — the franchise's first title — with Jonquel Jones named Finals MVP.
The 2024 WNBA Finals were won by the New York Liberty, who defeated the Minnesota Lynx three games to two to claim the first championship in the franchise’s history, 28 seasons after the club was founded as one of the WNBA’s original eight teams in 1997. The best-of-five series ran from October 10 to October 20, 2024, and ended with a 67-62 overtime win in a winner-take-all Game 5 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn — the first overtime game in a deciding Finals contest in league history. Liberty center Jonquel Jones was named Finals MVP.
| Fast facts | |
|---|---|
| Champion | New York Liberty (1st title) |
| Runner-up | Minnesota Lynx |
| Dates | October 10–20, 2024 |
| Venues | Barclays Center (Brooklyn); Target Center (Minneapolis) |
| Result | Liberty won series 3–2 (best-of-five) |
| Finals MVP | Jonquel Jones (New York) |
| Peak attendance | 19,521 (Game 3, Target Center) |
The setup
The Liberty arrived as the WNBA’s best regular-season team, finishing 32-8 for the No. 1 seed under head coach Sandy Brondello. The roster was the product of an aggressive 2023 rebuild: New York had traded for two-time MVP Breanna Stewart and center Jonquel Jones, pairing them with No. 1 overall pick Sabrina Ionescu to form a core widely described as a superteam. That group reached the 2023 WNBA Finals but lost to the Las Vegas Aces, and the 2024 season was framed around finishing the job. New York opened the playoffs by sweeping the Atlanta Dream 2-0, then eliminated the two-time defending champion Aces 3-1 in the semifinals, reaching the franchise’s sixth Finals appearance.
Minnesota, seeded second at 30-10, was the more surprising finalist. Coach Cheryl Reeve — the winningest coach in league history and architect of the Lynx dynasty of the 2010s — had rebuilt around forward Napheesa Collier, guard Kayla McBride and returning guard Courtney Williams, with Australian forward Alanna Smith anchoring the defense. The Lynx swept the Phoenix Mercury 2-0 in the first round, then survived a five-game semifinal against the Connecticut Sun to reach their seventh Finals, the most of any franchise. Minnesota had not appeared in a Finals since its last title in 2017.
How it happened
Game 1 in Brooklyn set the tone for a series decided at the margins. Minnesota erased a double-digit deficit in the final minutes and won 95-93 in overtime, becoming the first team in WNBA playoff history to trail by 15 or more points in the final five minutes and win. New York answered emphatically in Game 2, winning 80-66 behind a smothering defensive effort — Breanna Stewart recorded a Finals-record seven steals — before a home crowd of 18,046.
The series then moved to Minneapolis, where the Liberty stole home-court advantage. In Game 3, New York won 80-77 after Sabrina Ionescu buried a three-pointer with roughly one second remaining, in front of a Target Center-record crowd of 19,521. Minnesota staved off elimination in Game 4, 82-80, when Bridget Carleton hit two free throws in the closing seconds and Liberty stars Stewart and Ionescu combined to shoot poorly from the field. That sent the series back to Brooklyn for a decisive Game 5.
Game 5 was a defensive struggle in which New York’s leading scorers largely disappeared. Stewart shot 4-for-15, and Ionescu went 1-for-19 from the field, missing her first 13 attempts — the most consecutive misses in a winner-take-all game in WNBA history. The Liberty were carried instead by Jones and by reserve forward Nyara Sabally, who scored 13 points in 17 minutes. A late foul call on Alanna Smith with 5.2 seconds left in regulation sent Stewart to the line for two free throws that forced overtime, and New York outscored Minnesota 7-2 in the extra period to win 67-62 and its first title.
By the numbers
| Game | Date | Score | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Game 1 | Oct 10, 2024 | Minnesota 95, New York 93 (OT) | At Barclays Center; Lynx erase double-digit late deficit |
| Game 2 | Oct 13, 2024 | New York 80, Minnesota 66 | Stewart’s seven steals set a Finals record |
| Game 3 | Oct 16, 2024 | New York 80, Minnesota 77 | Ionescu three-pointer with ~1 second left |
| Game 4 | Oct 18, 2024 | Minnesota 82, New York 80 | Carleton free throws in the final seconds |
| Game 5 | Oct 20, 2024 | New York 67, Minnesota 62 (OT) | Clinches Liberty’s first championship |
Per Basketball-Reference and Wikipedia.
The record
- 1st New York Liberty championship in franchise history (28 seasons)
- 1st Overtime in a WNBA Finals winner-take-all game
- 7th Minnesota Lynx Finals appearance — most all-time
- 6th New York Liberty Finals appearance
Per Basketball-Reference and Wikipedia.
Honors
- 2024 WNBA champion — New York Liberty
- Finals MVP — Jonquel Jones
- Runner-up — Minnesota Lynx
- Champion head coach — Sandy Brondello
- 2024 WNBA MVP — A'ja Wilson (Las Vegas Aces)
- Final best-of-five Finals (best-of-seven from 2025)
Per Olympics.com and Basketball-Reference.
The arguments
The debate that lingered from the 2024 Finals was less about the winner’s pedigree than about the way Game 5 turned. Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve argued publicly that the title had been “stolen” from her team, singling out the late foul on Alanna Smith that sent the game to overtime and criticizing the league’s coach’s-challenge review process. Reeve contended the contact was marginal and should have been overturned on challenge; the WNBA declined to fine her for the remarks. Liberty supporters and neutral observers countered that New York had earned the outcome across five games — winning the No. 1 seed, taking home-court in Minneapolis, and closing out despite catastrophic shooting nights from Ionescu and Stewart in the decider.
A second, older argument attached to the champion itself. New York’s 2023 acquisitions of Stewart and Jones drew the superteam label, and some framed the eventual title as the inevitable purchase of a ring rather than an organic build. Defenders noted that the same roster had lost the 2023 Finals outright, that Jones’s Finals MVP run and Sabally’s Game 5 emergence were unscripted, and that assembling talent has never guaranteed a championship in a parity-driven league. Both readings were still cited in the seasons that followed.
Why it matters
The 2024 WNBA Finals delivered New York its first championship after nearly three decades of near-misses, and it did so in one of the most dramatic formats the league had produced — two overtime games and the only winner-take-all Finals contest ever to require extra time. It also marked the last title decided under the best-of-five format, with the WNBA expanding the Finals to best-of-seven beginning in 2025, giving the series a distinct place as the closing chapter of an era in the league’s postseason history.