The New York Liberty evened the 2024 WNBA Finals series against the Minnesota Lynx on Sunday with an 80-66 victory, setting things up nicely for Wednesday’s Game 3.
Breanna Stewart had 21 points, eight rebounds, five assists and a Finals-record seven steals. She and her teammates also held Minnesota’s Napheesa Collier to 16 points, her second-lowest output of the postseason, and they held Minnesota to its lowest single-game total in these playoffs with 66 points.
Game 3 heads to Minneapolis on Wednesday night at 8 PM ET. Read below to see our experts' picks and predictions for this critical contest.
If it weren’t for a miraculous comeback in the final five minutes of regulation and overtime in Game 1, the Lynx would be on the brink of getting swept right now. This is a good team, second best in the WNBA during the regular season, but it needs to start off much better than it has in the first two games of the series.
Look for that to happen Wednesday night at home, where Minnesota is 20-5 overall, and 4-1 in the postseason.
The Lynx are 14-11 against the spread at home this year. The team is 4-2 ATS in its last six overall and 4-2 ATS in its last six versus the Liberty. Minnesota defeated the Liberty 84-67 in the one game played at Minnesota in the regular season.
New York has done well away from Barclays Center this season. The Liberty are 17-5 overall on the road, 16-6 against the spread, and they split their two games in Las Vegas in the WNBA semifinals. New York is 5-1 ATS in its last six games on the road, but it is also only 6-12-1 ATS in its last 17 against Minnesota.
In front of an expected 20,000-person capacity crowd, look for the Lynx to get off to a much quicker start. This game should be tight throughout as both teams are desperate to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series.
Look for the Lynx to cover the +2.5 spread as underdogs at home on Wednesday night.
After dropping 188 points in the thrilling series opener that went to overtime, Minnesota and New York came back to Earth with 146 total points in Game 2. As the series goes on, the teams should get tighter on defense.
Both teams have played to the Over consistently in the postseason, with Minnesota going Over in four of its last five and New York htting the Over in five of its last seven, but Game 2 feels like a harbinger of things to come.
Look for the Lynx and Liberty to play a defensive struggle and total Under 160.5 points in Game 3.
Despite the Game Two setback, Williams continued her strong postseason performance with 15 points, eight assists and six rebounds. She is averaging 19 points per contest so far in the WNBA Finals.
Look for Williams to continue her strong recent play and finish with more than 12.5 points in Game Three.
Like Williams, Jones continued her strong postseason form. The former WNBA MVP had 14 points and nine rebounds in the Game Two victory, on par with her 14.2-point, nine-rebound playoff average this season.
She continues to be a strong tertiary scoring option for the Liberty. Betnijah Laney-Hamilton added 20 points in New York’s Game Two win, while Sabrina Ionescu had 15 points.
Jones should continue to be the team’s third or fourth scorer, and with the bench getting shorter and shorter in the postseason, the Liberty will need every one of Jones’ 14-15 points.
Look for Jones to score more than 13.5 points for the fourth straight game.
New York Liberty | -150 ML |
Minnesota Lynx | +125 ML |
Spread | New York Liberty -2.5 |
Total Points | O/U 160.5 |
Breanna Stewart (NY Liberty) | O/U 22.5 |
Napheesa Collier (MIN Lynx) | O/U 20.5 |
Sabrina Ionescu (NY Liberty) | O/U 18.5 |
Jonquel Jones (NY Liberty) | O/U 14.5 |
Kayla McBride (MIN Lynx) | O/U 13.5 |
Courtney Williams (MIN Lynx) | O/U 13.5 |
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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.