Talent advantage. Rest advantage. The Minnesota Lynx were 3-1 against the New York Liberty entering the WNBA Finals, but the Liberty deserved their status as favorites, at least in Game 1 at the Barclays Center on Thursday night.
The announced crowd of 17,732 — largest for New York this season — would be going nuts for the team that’s been the W’s best all season, the team that had three days off compared to Minnesota’s one.
For three-and-a-half quarters, the script stayed straight. New York got out to an incredible start, a 32-19 first quarter on the back of 3-point shooting and two-way energy.