The 2025 Minnesota Lynx revenge tour was in full effect entering Barclays Center: last year’s WNBA Final runner-ups flaunted a league-best 28-5 record and remained undefeated (3-0) against defending champion Liberty.
And Tuesday night was a perfect opportunity for the Lynx to send a message that 2025 is their year. A 4-0 regular-season sweep to a potential playoff opponent — one that eliminated you in a thrilling do-or-die WNBA Finals Game 5 — would let the Liberty know a playoff rematch is welcomed and could go much different a year ago.
But the Liberty too felt Tuesday night was a perfect opportunity to send a message — a 85-75 victory while shorthanded to avoid a regular-season sweep.
WHAT A SHOT FROM SABRINA IONESCU pic.twitter.com/8u2jajM7nz
— Steve Jones Jr. (@stevejones20) August 20, 2025
The dagger was served by Sabrina Ionescu, who dribbled the ball steps away from halfcourt as the shot clock ticked below 10. She then dribbled to right towards Maria Kliundikova, rose up for a 30-footer and drained the shot before falling to the ground.
Barclays Center erupted as Ionescu stayed on her floor. And to add salt into Kliundikova’s wound, officials deemed her closeout a Flagrant 1.
It essentially ended the game and restored hope back into Liberty faithful.
With star Breanna Stewart still sidelined, Jonquel Jones played her role as lead messenger from the start. Her nine first-quarter points eventually ballooned to a game-high 22 on 7-of-10 shooting.
The Liberty’s five-out offense didn’t keep Jones from straying away from the paint too much. The final quarter featured several entry passes and pick-and-rolls involving the team’s engine. And her 10 rebounds secured another double-double that the Barclays Center crowd has gotten so used to seeing.
Jones grabbed two boards off the offensive glass, one that led to a bucket in the opening minute of the fourth and another two minutes later that got her to the free throw line.
Her rebounds also created opportunities for Sabrina Ionescu, who contributed 17 points and 11 assists.
The efforts helped the Liberty get a game against a Lynx squad waiting all offseason to get revenge for losing grips of a WNBA title last October. And it could provide some confidence in case the two teams match up in the postseason.
Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello, however, didn’t think a regular-season finale win against the Lynx does much for a potential postseason matchup.
“We want to win. It’s not about the playoffs,” the head coach said prior to tip-off. “It’s about playing better than what we have and playing in a mini-series and seeing how we can exchange a few things that we will change and execute it, because that’s what you’re going to need in a playoff game, because you’re playing each other consecutively.”
Perhaps Brondello was right, considering both teams have yet to play each other at full strength. MVP candidate Napheesa Collier didn’t play Tuesday due to an ankle injury, and New York’s Isabelle Harrison and Nyara Sabally joined Stewart on the Liberty bench.
Without Collier, the Lynx leaned on Courtney Williams, who contributed 17 points, five rebounds and two assists.
The Lynx also had three reserves — DiJonai Carrington, Natisha Hiedeman and Kliundikova — score in double digits.
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