New York finally solved Minnesota -- what does it mean for the WNBA playoffs?

After meeting in last year's WNBA Finals, the Minnesota Lynx and New York Liberty didn't play again until 2½ months into the 2025 season. Now they've played four games in a three-week span -- wrapping up their regular-season series Tuesday with an 85-75 Liberty victory after three Lynx wins. What did we learn from this marquee matchup?

New York coach Sandy Brondello said Tuesday she wasn't thinking too much about the playoffs or what it would be like to potentially face Minnesota again in the postseason. But she added of the first-place Lynx, "The closer you play them to the end of the year, I think that helps."

The Liberty (22-13) still have nine games left in the regular season and are trying to secure a second-place finish behind the 28-6 Lynx, who've been parked atop the standings for much of the season.

"It's nice to finally get a win against them; the playoffs is another story," Brondello said. "I'm glad we're past them now. We're focused on the next nine games. It's all about focusing on us and getting as high a position as we can in the standings."

While many might have preferred the series to be spread out during the regular season, the fact that their four games were played so close together and nearer to the postseason gives us an idea of what another Minnesota-New York showdown might look like. It also allows us to see more about where these teams stand with the playoffs -- which open Sept. 14 -- less than four weeks away.

Jonquel Jones looked like the Finals MVP

For all of New York's talent, the 6-foot-6 Jones is the team's biggest matchup advantage against an undersized Minnesota frontcourt. Jones averaged 17.8 points on 56% shooting in last year's Finals, earning series MVP honors.

Although Jones had been similarly efficient against the Lynx through the first three matchups, shooting 64% from the field -- best against any opponent she has faced more than once this season -- she has yet to match her average from the 2024 Finals, topping out at 17 points Saturday.

That changed Tuesday, when Jones scored a game-high 22 points on 7-of-10 shooting, plus 10 rebounds for her 100th career WNBA double-double. She's the seventh player to reach the mark, per ESPN Research, which notes that the Liberty are unbeaten all time (32-0) in Jones' regular-season double-doubles.

Intriguingly, Jones did much of her scoring damage on the perimeter. Five of her seven field goals came outside the paint, including a trio of 3-pointers. But Jones' eight defensive rebounds helped New York play relatively even on the glass, which had been an advantage for Minnesota in the first three matchups. -- Kevin Pelton

The Liberty must be aggressive offensively

In Saturday's 86-80 Lynx victory in Minnesota, the Liberty were limited to 5-of-8 shooting from the line while the Lynx were 23-of-33. The Liberty didn't spend much time talking about the officiating after the game, but it clearly bothered them.

"It's tough to win a game shooting eight free throws in this league," Ionescu said. "I'd say we just controlled the things that we could and really didn't focus on the things out of our control, like the players we don't have and the free throws we didn't get."

They still didn't have injured Breanna Stewart on Tuesday, but things were more even at the foul line. The Liberty went 14-of-18 there, while the Lynx were 11-of-14.

Asked what the Liberty did better Tuesday, Ionescu said, "I think just attacking. We were super decisive on what we were doing before we caught the ball. In some of the other games, we were trying to make decisions after we caught the ball, and in turn it kind of stalled our offense. Tonight you saw a team that made decisions really, really quick." -- Michael Voepel

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Lynx take down Liberty 86-80

The Lynx hold on to beat the Liberty 86-80 in a WNBA Finals rematch.

This is a rivalry -- and we'd be lucky to get it in the playoffs

There is a lot of rivalry talk in the WNBA these days, but Tuesday's game reaffirmed what we've seen develop since the 2024 Finals and their contentious ending: New York vs. Minnesota is indeed a rivalry, even if some downplay it.

The discussion began earlier this week, when on a recent Studbudz stream, Courtney Williams called the Liberty a "punk ass" team. Brondello addressed the comment with local reporters this week, saying "Of course we have a rivalry ... yes, we don't like each other, it's just how it is."

When the Liberty beat out the Lynx in the Emma Meesseman sweepstakes, it only added fuel to the fire. (Cheryl Reeve saying the Belgian star "made the wrong choice.") When asked about that dynamic, Brondello quipped, "Get over it."

Maybe it was partly a result of the Liberty not wanting to get swept in the regular-season series, but Tuesday had a playoff feel. Cementing that aura? Ionescu's ridiculous four-point dagger with 33.8 seconds left, a moment that must have made the Lynx sick with the memory of her iconic shot in Game 3 of last year's Finals. Asked about the play on the court after the final buzzer, Ionescu replied with a smile, "Night, night."

One thing is clear: A Liberty-Lynx rematch in the 2025 playoffs will provide excellent basketball and healthy level of drama and spice. -- Alexa Philippou

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Sabrina Ionescu ignites the home crowd with late and-1 trey

Sabrina Ionescu buries a 3-pointer and draws a foul to give the Liberty some key insurance late.

We still don't have the full picture

These Lynx-Liberty matchups didn't quite live up to the early-season hype because of the star power off the court: Stewart (bone bruise) missed all four meetings, while Napheesa Collier (ankle) was sidelined for all but the first.

For the Liberty, Stewart has yet to play alongside midseason addition Meesseman, and their frontcourt has been depleted the past month with Kennedy Burke, Nyara Sabally and Isabelle Harrison all missing time. While the Lynx haven't experienced the same injury bug, recent addition DiJonai Carrington has yet to play alongside Collier.

The biggest question is whether the Liberty can get healthy and put it all together in time to repeat -- and knock off the best team in the league. The good news is that Stewart is hoping to return by her Aug. 27 birthday, 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 new teammates and a new system, but we've seen what New York looks like at full strength: It is undefeated (9-0) when Ionescu, Stewart and Jones play full games. Time will tell whether the Liberty can return to that form. -- Philippou

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Collier's 30 points lead the Lynx past the Liberty.

Napheesa Collier delivers a dominant performance to stop New York's comeback and secure the win for Minnesota.

The Lynx haven't shown any significant weaknesses to attack

It's difficult to see the Lynx losing a playoff series. Minnesota hasn't lost back-to-back games in 2025. The Lynx won the first three games against New York by seven, 12 and six points, and this loss isn't going to dent 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 while Collier is out.

Being so far ahead in the standings hasn't made the Lynx complacent. Reeve talked Saturday about how the Minnesota-New York rivalry this season and last 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 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 for its four titles, about the similarities.

"I was recalling how exhausting it is to play each other," Reeve said. "But at the same time, it's fun. It's incredible. It's what you do [this] for. It brings out the best in you and the worst of you, all at the same time. That's why it's so exhausting, because there's so much talent on both sides." -- Voepel