The Minnesota Lynx will face the New York Liberty in the WNBA Finals, and that was pretty clear about eight minutes into their WNBA semifinal Game 5 against the Connecticut Sun.

Facing a Sun team that recently defeated them seven straight in Minnesota, the Lynx rolled their way to a trip to New York with an 88-77 home victory.

Game 1 is scheduled for Thursday at 8:00 PM ET.

Napheesa Collier, the WNBA MVP runner-up and defensive player of the year, led the way with 27 points on 10-for-16 shooting, 11 rebounds, four assists and four blocks. Per ESPN stats and infoshe is the first player to record 25 points and 10 rebounds in three consecutive playoff games.

The Liberty-Lynx Finals will be a matchup between the best teams in the regular season standings, the best teams in East and West, and the best offensive (Liberty) and defensive (Lynx) teams in the league.

Lynx rode a huge 1st quarter, then a huge 2nd quarter, then…

The first half was all Lynx. Minnesota led 53-34 as it raced to the locker room, with Collier, Courtney Williams and Kayla McBride all scoring in double figures. Williams in particular was a threat for the Suns, shooting a perfect 6-for-6 from the field with four assists and one turnover.

In the second half the game started to turn, but not for long. Connecticut opened the third quarter on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to deficit points, but it stayed icy long enough for the Lynx to turn the game into a rout once again. For five full minutes, the Sun’s score remained at 41 points as the team missed six straight shots and committed five turnovers.

It wasn’t the prettiest quarter for the Lynx, who didn’t score a point in the first two or last two minutes of the frame, but it was enough to leave the result all but certain by the time the fourth quarter started. Even when the Sun cut the lead to twelve points with three minutes to go.

Can the Lynx disrupt Freedom?

This will be the Lynx’s first trip to the WNBA Finals since winning their fourth title in 2017. This team is very different from the one featuring Maya Moore, Sylvia Fowles, Lindsay Whalen and more.

Different isn’t necessarily worse, but the 2024 Lynx will enter the Finals as the underdog rather than a team trying to add to a dynasty. They could be a good fit for the role, as a team that ranked second in the NBA in defensive rating and just outlasted the No. 1 team in a five-game series.

The Liberty reached the finals after a four-game win over the two-time defending champion Las Vegas Aces. New York led the league with a 32-8 record in the regular season and had no trouble advancing through the playoffs, save for a vintage Aces performance in Game 3. In fact, Sabrina Ionescu, Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones are for an elite defense.

On the other hand, Collier is pretty good, as are Williams and McBride. The Lynx were just two wins worse than the Liberty in the regular season, and can show that the WNBA is not yet in the superteam era with a few more wins.

Is this it for the sun?

Tuesday could be the last game of an era for the Sun.

Connecticut has been one of the most consistently good teams in the WNBA for years and has weathered the loss of Jones to the Liberty after 2022, but four of its five starters just became free agents. Alyssa Thomas, DeWanna Bonner, DiJonai Carrington and Brionna Jones were all key players this season.

Keeping all four won’t be easy (Carrington is a restricted free agent, at the very least), but the bigger question might be what they would do next. Thomas and Bonner are both over 30, and it’s not like The Sun is trying to keep a recent championship team together. There will be tough questions in Connecticut this season.