Lynx vs Liberty: Is it the best WNBA rivalry? Analysis and Playoffs in sight

After facing each other in last year’s WNBA Finals, the Minnesota Lynx and the New York Liberty met again in the 2025 season, after two and a half months. Recently, they have faced each other four times in a span of three weeks, culminating their regular season series with an 85-75 victory for the Liberty, after three Lynx wins. What lessons did this stellar matchup leave us?

The closer you play against them at the end of the year, I think that helps.

Sandy Brondello, New York coach

The Liberty (22-13) still have nine games left to play in the regular season and are looking to secure second place behind the Lynx, who have dominated the standings for much of the season.

It’s good to finally get a win against them; the playoffs are another story. I’m glad we’re done with them. We’re focused on the next nine games. It’s about focusing on ourselves and getting the highest possible position in the standings.

Sandy Brondello, New York coach

The proximity of these four games to the postseason offers a glimpse of what could be another matchup between Minnesota and New York. It also allows for a better assessment of the state of these teams less than four weeks before the start of the playoffs, scheduled for September 14th.

Jonquel Jones shined as the Finals MVPJones, at 6’6″, is the biggest advantage for New York against Minnesota’s interior lineup. Jones averaged 17.8 points on 56% efficiency in last year’s Finals, earning him the series MVP award. Although Jones had been equally efficient against the Lynx in the first three matchups, with 64% field goal shooting, she still hadn’t matched her 2024 Finals average, reaching a maximum of 17 points on Saturday. That situation changed on Tuesday, when Jones scored a game-high 22 points on 7-of-10 shooting, plus 10 rebounds for her 100th double-double in the WNBA. Surprisingly, Jones did much of his scoring from the perimeter. Five of his seven field goals were from outside the paint, including three three-pointers. Jones’ eight defensive rebounds helped New York play relatively balanced on the boards, which had been an advantage for Minnesota in the first three matchups.The Liberty must be aggressive on offenseIn the Lynx’s 86-80 victory on Saturday in Minnesota, the Liberty only made 5 of 8 free throws, while the Lynx scored 23 of 33. The New York team didn’t dwell much on the refereeing performance after the game, but it clearly bothered them.

It’s hard to win a game shooting eight free throws in this league. I’d say we just controlled the things we could and really didn’t focus on the things outside of our control, like the players we don’t have and the free throws we didn’t get.

Ionescu

Although they didn’t have Breanna Stewart, who was injured, on Tuesday, the situation at the free throw line was more balanced. The Liberty scored 14 of 18, while the Lynx made 11 of 14.

I think we just attacked. We were very decisive in what we were doing before we received the ball. In some of the other games, we were trying to make decisions after receiving the ball, and in turn that stalled our offense. Tonight you saw a team that made decisions very, very quickly.

Ionescu

A Developing RivalryThe Tuesday game reaffirmed the rivalry between New York and Minnesota, even if some downplay it. The discussion began when Courtney Williams called the Liberty a “punk” team. Brondello responded to local reporters saying: “Of course we have a rivalry… yes, we don’t like each other, that’s how it is.” The Liberty’s victory in the bid for Emma Meesseman added more fuel to the fire. When asked about that dynamic, Brondello joked: “Get over it.”

Perhaps in part because they didn’t want to be swept in the regular season series, Tuesday had a playoff atmosphere. Sealing that atmosphere? Ionescu’s incredible four-point play with 33.8 seconds remaining, a moment that surely made the Lynx remember their iconic shot in Game 3 of last year’s Finals. When asked about the play on the court after the final buzzer, Ionescu responded with a smile: “Good night”.

One thing is clear: a rematch between Liberty and Lynx in the 2025 playoffs will offer excellent basketball and a good level of drama and excitement.The Incomplete PictureThe Lynx-Liberty matchups didn’t live up to the season’s expectations due to key absences: Stewart (bone bruise) missed all four games, while Napheesa Collier (ankle sprain) was absent from all but the first one. For the Liberty, Stewart has yet to play alongside mid-season addition Meesseman, and their frontcourt has been depleted in the last month by the absences of Kennedy Burke, Nyara Sabally, and Isabelle Harrison. Although the Lynx haven’t suffered the same plague of injuries, DiJonai Carrington has yet to play alongside Collier. The big question is whether the Liberty can recover and join in time to repeat and defeat the best team in the league. The good news is that Stewart hopes to return for her birthday, August 27, or at least by the end of the month. It won’t be easy to reincorporate players into the mix as Meesseman continues to acclimate to her new teammates and a new system, but we’ve seen what New York looks like at full capacity: It’s undefeated (9-0) when Ionescu, Stewart, and Jones play full games. Time will tell if the Liberty can return to that form.The Lynx have not shown significant weaknessesIt’s hard to imagine the Lynx losing a playoff series. Minnesota hasn’t lost consecutive games in 2025. The Lynx won the first three games against New York by seven, 12, and six points, and this loss won’t affect their confidence. Tuesday’s game had more impact for New York than for Minnesota. That said, the Lynx and Reeve are trying to perfect everything they do, even with Collier out. Being so far up in the standings hasn’t made the Lynx complacent. Reeve spoke on Saturday about how the rivalry between Minnesota and New York this season and the previous one reminds her of what the Lynx experienced in 2016 and 2017 against the Los Angeles Sparks. The Lynx finished first in the regular season over the Sparks in both years, but Los Angeles won the WNBA Finals in 2016 and Minnesota prevailed in 2017. Both series went the distance. Reeve said she had been reminiscing with assistant coach Lindsay Whalen, Minnesota’s point guard during their four titles, about the similarities.

I was remembering how exhausting it is to play against them. But at the same time, it’s fun. It’s incredible. It’s what you do this for. It brings out the best and the worst in you, all at the same time. That’s why it’s so exhausting, because there’s so much talent on both sides.

Reeve