Minnesota Lynx win the 2011 WNBA championship – A Look back at their playoffs journey: Part 4
WNBA Finals
Game-1: Minnesota Lynx 88 – Atlanta Dream 74
Rebekkah Brunson recoded a double-double with a team-high 26 points and a game-high 11 rebounds as Minnesota Lynx defeated Atlanta Dream 88-74 in game-1 of the best-of-three WNBA Finals on October 2 at Target Center.
The game was an evenly fought affair in the first three quarter, but Lynx exploded in the last period to pull away.
Seimone Augustus was the second leading scorer for Lynx with 22 points and seven assists. Lindsay Whalen added 15 points while Maya Moore ended with 11 points, six rebounds, two steals and two blocks.
Angel McCoughtry led all scorers with 33 points, including 19 in the third quarter. Unfortunately for her and the Dream, Minnesota’s starters picked up their game at just about the same time. Lindsey Harding also had 20 points
while Iziane Castro Marques posted 10 points for Dream.
Atlanta were the better team in the first 20 minutes on the court and carried a 39-36 lead at halftime. Minnesota limited the Dream to 23 points in the third quarter and tied the game at 62, heading into the fourth and then took
control with a 13-0 run.
WNBA Finals
Game-2: Minnesota 101 – Atlanta 95
On October 5, Augustus pulled off a monstrous night with 36 points as Minnesota once again raced away down the stretch to stun Atlanta 101-95 in game-2 of the WNBA finals. The win put Lynx on the brink of their first WNBA title.
Lindsay Whalen and Jessica Adair contributed 13 points each in Minnesota’s second consecutive victory of the series. Atlanta’s forward Angel McCoughtry once again led all scorers with 38 points on 10 for 22 shooting from the field
and 16 for 21 from free throw line. Lindsey Harding had 16 points; Iziane Castro Marques came off the bench with 14 points while Sancho Lyttle added 13 points.
McCoughtry ruled the court in the first half with 24 points as Atlanta held a 58-50 advantage at intermission. Lynx cut the deficit by three points in the third quarter and then started the fourth on a 12-4 run to regain the lead.
Atlanta responded swiftly though and took an 85-81 lead late. What followed though was a stretch of offensive artistry, which witnessed Lynx reel off a 16-2 to take commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five WNBA championship series.
WNBA Finals
Game-3: Minnesota 73 – Atlanta 67
Augustus had 16 points, five rebounds and four assists as Minnesota won the WNBA crown for the first time in their franchise history with a hard-fought 73-67 victory over Dream on October 7.
Moore racked up 15 points and dished out seven assists while Brunson added 13 points and nine rebounds in the victory. McCoughtry once again led the Dream with a game best 22 points, five rebounds and three steals while Erika de
Souza had a double-double with 15 boards and 11 points.
Atlanta led 37-33 at halftime on the back of McCoughtry’s 11-point effort. Minnesota however pegged Dream back in the third period and converted their halftime deficit into a 52-45 lead by its end.
Atlanta fought back in the fourth quarter and trimmed Minnesota’s lead to one with 01:17 remaining in the final buzzer. However, they could not handle the Lynx’s down the stretch once again and conceded nine points on free throws
to suffer the sweep.
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