Forty likely heart-pounding minutes.
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That’s how close the Minnesota Lynx are to the franchise’s fifth WNBA title.
Bridget Carleton made a pair of free throws with two seconds left and the Lynx were able to stave off elimination by beating New York 82-80 on Friday in Game 4 of the WNBA Finals in front of 19,210 boisterous fans at Target Center.
A winner-take-all Game 5 is Sunday night in Brooklyn.
Four teams have won a WNBA crown after being down 2-1 in the finals. The last? Minnesota in 2017.
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Out of a timeout after a New York shot clock violation with 18.3 seconds to play, the game tied at 80, and “Gonna Fly Now” from “Rocky” reverberating through the arena before play resumed, Courtney Williams missed a jumper, but Carleton grabbed the rebound and was fouled by Sabrina Ionescu.
She calmly swished her two foul shots.
A desperation 3-pointer by Ionescu was off the mark. She hit a 28-foot 3 with one second left to win Wednesday’s Game 3.
Neither team led by more than six points in a game that felt like a title fight and had 14 lead changes and 13 ties.
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All five Lynx starters finished with double-figure scoring, with Kayla McBride netting a team-high 19 points, including a trio of treys. Williams had 15 and Napheesa Collier had 14 points, nine rebounds and four steals, setting a WNBA Finals record with four straight games with at least three steals.
Maybe the heart and soul of Minnesota’s game was Alanna Smith. The Lynx center gutted her way through an injured back and finished with 12 points and seven rebounds.
Two of New York’s top three weapons were borderline AWOL for much of the night. Ionescu and Breanna Stewart were a combined 10 of 36 from the field. Stewart finished with 11 points on 5-of-20 shooting; Ionescu had 10 points on 5-of-16 shooting. She missed all five treys.
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But Jonquel Jones was outstanding with 21 points.
Just as it looked like New York was about to pull away midway through the third quarter, the Lynx made a season-saving comeback, scoring nine of the final 11 points in the quarter for a 64-63 lead.
Baskets by Cecilia Zandalasini and Dorka Juhász pushed the lead to 68-63, but a 9-2 Liberty answer tied the game at 70 with 5:47 left.
A three-pointer by Jones keyed an 11-0 Liberty run for a 61-55 lead midway through the third quarter, but Williams fed Smith for a layup, and, after an offensive rebound by Smith, Collier made a free throw before Smith sank a 3 from the corner for the game’s ninth tie and a deafening roar from the towel-waving home fans.
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Minnesota was up 46-45 at the break after late back-to-back 3-point plays by Williams and McBride.
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