MINNEAPOLIS -- All the building blocks line up like blue-and-green dominoes when you look back at what has led to this tremendous run of success for the Minnesota Lynx, who celebrated their fourth championship after a 85-76 victory over Los Angeles in Game 5 of the WNBA Finals on Wednesday at Williams Arena.
Last year, the Lynx and their fans were crushed to lose Game 5 of the Finals on a last-second shot by the Sparks.
This year when they went behind 2-1 in the series -- and the Sparks had another chance to clinch the title in Los Angeles -- things seemed bleak for the Lynx, at least to outsiders.