TOP-SEEDED LYNX SWEPT BY LIBERTY IN WNBA PLAYOFFS

The Minnesota Lynx were eliminated from the WNBA playoffs after New York Liberty swept their series. Minnesota had finished the regular season as the top seed, while New York entered as the eighth seed with a 26-18 record. The result marked the first time in WNBA history a No. 1 seed was swept by a No. 8 seed, according to reports. The deciding game was played at Barclays Centre in Brooklyn on 29 September. New York won the series by a combined 32 points.

Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve had accepted her fifth WNBA Coach of the Year award a day earlier, after leading Minnesota to a WNBA-best 33-11 regular season record, according to reports. Rookie point guard Olivia Miles was named the league's unanimous Rookie of the Year. In the series opener in Minneapolis, New York won 91-75, with Breanna Stewart scoring 34 points, 12 rebounds and six assists on 11-of-18 shooting. New York shot 50.8 per cent from the field and 52 per cent from three-point range in that game, the figures showed.

Speaking afterwards, Reeve said Minnesota had exceeded expectations in the regular season for three years without having the roster to be effective in the playoffs. She described it as a recurring pattern rather than a single poor performance. The sweep came almost two years after the Lynx lost the 2024 WNBA Finals to the Liberty in five games, with Game 5 decided in overtime at 67-62 after a foul call let Stewart tie the score from the free-throw line. Minnesota's Napheesa Collier is set to enter free agency, according to reports, which have speculated on her possible next destination.