Inside the Lynx's epic comeback and a WNBA Finals Game 1 instant classic

NEW YORK -- It wasn't just that the No. 1 seed New York Liberty lost the opening game of the WNBA Finals at home in gut-wrenching fashion. It felt as if they lost it multiple times.

Credit the never-give-up Minnesota Lynx. But in the stunned aftermath of a 95-93 overtime loss Thursday at Barclays Center, the Liberty were still trying to figure out just how it all happened.

Up by as much as 18 and by 15 with 5 minutes, 20 seconds left in regulation, the Liberty seemed very much in control. Then the comeback started for the Lynx, and the calamity began for the Liberty.

New York, which is hoping to win its first WNBA title this season, was outscored 18-3 in the game's final 5 minutes. The Liberty surrendered the lead with 5.1 seconds left on -- of all things -- a four-point play by Lynx guard Courtney Williams after Minnesota grabbed an offensive rebound off her miss.

Double gut punch.

"I definitely shouldn't have fouled her," New York's Sabrina Ionescu said of clipping Williams on a 3-pointer that swished. "But it's like, if we get [that] rebound, we win the game. There's so many of those moments."

Williams put the Lynx up 84-83, but the roller coaster was far from over.

With 3.9 seconds left, Minnesota's Napheesa Collier knocked the ball away from New York's Breanna Stewart, but none of the referees got a clear view of the play. So, a jump ball was called. Neither team had a timeout to call for a challenge, crew chief Isaac Barnett explained to a media pool reporter after Thursday's game.

Williams then was called for jump ball violation, and possession went to the Liberty. Collier, the WNBA's Defensive Player of the Year this season, subsequently blocked Stewart's shot out of bounds.

On the next play, Collier was called for a foul on Stewart, giving the Liberty a chance to likely win the game at the line with 0.8 of a second remaining in regulation. The Lynx's spirited rally looked like it was going to fall just short.

The play went for a review, giving Stewart -- a career 83.6% free throw shooter -- more time to think.

"You're just focusing on ... making the first one. Making the first one. Making the first one," said Stewart, who did just that to tie the score. "And then the second one, the same. It's when you want to be thinking about nothing else.

"It definitely sucks to miss."

But she did, then grimaced in frustration. Still, the Liberty had overtime to redeem themselves. And once again, Stewart -- a two-time MVP who won two WNBA championships with the Seattle Storm before joining the Liberty last year -- had a chance to win the game.

In the final 33 second of overtime, the Liberty got two steals and scored -- one by Ionescu and the other by Jonquel Jones -- to knot the score. The sellout crowd, having cycled through so many emotions at that point, was going wild.

But Collier, the MVP runner-up known for her cool, on-court stoicism, had another dagger to throw at the Liberty. Her 12-foot jumper with 8.1 seconds left put Minnesota back on top again.

"These people I'm around," said Williams, in her first season with Minnesota after signing as a free agent, "we believe in each other so much."

Yet the Liberty would suffer one last painful moment. Stewart got the ball and drove in from the left side, tossing the ball up with her right hand for a shot she has likely made thousands of times. But she missed this one.

"I had probably one of my cleanest looks. Didn't make it," Stewart said. "I want to be taking these shots."

Afterward, the Liberty players talked about still learning things, even though Thursday marked their 48th game of the season, counting the Commissioner's Cup final in June, which they also lost to Minnesota. The Liberty consoled each other in the locker room, saying that it was disappointing, but just one game in a best-of-five series.

But it felt like more.

"You have to be mentally tough and resilient," Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. "And we were that team."