It's a tie game, 58-58, with 95 seconds left in regulation.

Sabrina hits her first 3 of the night after five misses, and starting the game 0-13.

Smith is back on the court for Minnesota out of the timeout and she immediately forces a jump ball on Jones.

Ionescu's fifth miss from range leads to a Lynx transition bucket and Minnesota has the lead back, 50-49, at 5:29 of the fourth. She's 0-12. Stewart is 3-12. And the Liberty are 0-14 from 3-point range.

Stewie said after winning the Aces semifinals series that "Liberty basketball" can mean winning ugly if they have to, and boy, oh, boy is this that (should they win).

Dorka is in for Smith

"We all we got." "We all we need." chants are breaking out at Barclays. It's the team's mantra this year.

That's the second time Alanna Smith has fallen and grabbed her back. She's not getting up now. The team came out to her and she's being seen by the Lynx training staff under the basket. That did not look good.

Ionescu has still not made a basket. That was her 11th miss. She has six assists.

A big quarter by the Liberty, 20-10, to take the lead. Sabally had nine points in the quarter and Jones added five. Baskets aren't going as easy for the Lynx as they were in the first half.

Ten minutes left in the season.

Collier picks up a third foul trying to guard Jones down low. Jones adds two free throws to her team-high total. She has 15 points.

Nyara Sabally, my goodness, have yourself a quarter. She has the Liberty's last seven points on agressive takes to the rim.

Courtney Williams is not having a good game. She's missed in the midrange on some looks that have become routine for her. The Lynx guard dog is 2-9 (0-2) with two assists and two rebounds. Not effective enough for a team that requires a balanced attack.

The tying and go-ahead buckets came from Nyara Sabally, who is playing a phenomenal series off the bench. She barely played while at Oregon (46 games over two seasons) due to injury. She is, of course, the younger sister of Satou Sabally and former Oregon teammate of Ionescu.

Minnesota is dominating this game, but isn't playing its best and could have put this away. Its a tie game, 38-38, and Barclays is alive at 3:23 of the third.

Sabrina Ionescu's first points come at 5:23 in the third quarter on free throws.

Stewie and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton hit buckets to pull Liberty within a possession, 34-31, and force Reeve to take a Lynx timeout. Phee also grabbed her second foul in between those baskets. Feels like a completely new ball game a swift 90 seconds into the third quarter.

Liberty came into tonight averaging 81 ppg in regulation (a high of 84 in Game 1, and 80 every game after). At the half they were on pace for 54.

Liberty gain some life and momentum at the end of the first half. Stewart scored her second basket on a cut. Kayla Thornton secured a steal on the other end (on the play Smith checked out after), but Stewart missed a 3. Jones (10 p/2r/1a) added two free throws.

Stewart has five points (2-8) and Ionescu is still scoreless (0-8). But Minnesota hasn't pulled away as it could right now. Collier is getting everything and anything (14p) and McBride has 9. Lynx are shooting 45.7% to Liberty's 28.6%.

Alanna Smith went down hard and clutched her back on that Minnesota turnover. She was slow to get up and didn't make it back down the court. Smith is currently bent over in front of the Lynx bench while Jones shoots free throws, and Dorka Juhasz checks in for her.

Well now we've had four fouls called within 36 seconds. Three on Minnesota (Smith, Phee, Williams).

... Maybe the referees heard both Cheryl Reeve and Sandy Brondello this week and decided they weren't needed. Leonie Fiebich is the only player to take free throws halfway through the second quarter. Two fouls called on Minnesota, one on New York.

Stewart's first bucket is in the first minute of the second quarter, so she's on the board.

Collier is up to eight points and Alanna Smith has five. The Lynx are shooting 42.9% (9-21) to the Liberty's 27.8% (5-18), which is the major difference. Minnesota has to keep the foot on the pedal and establish its guards for an inevitable Liberty burst. But if Stewie and Sab can't get going, who knows if that's in the cards for NY.

Lynx go up by nine, 19-10, with 44.6 left in the quarter. Again, Collier with a big bucket. It does feel as though the Lynx should be up by more considering neither Ionescu nor Stewart have scored. They're a combined 0-8.

Rough start for New York. Sabrina Ionescu missed all three 3 attempts. One was a rough airball. Stewart missed two attempts, including dead center in the paint on an open look. Sandy Brondello said pre-game Liberty need "paint touches to get good to great," which she's used often this series. Jones has four points on 2-of-2 shooting.

Collier is pacing Minnesota with six points (3-5). But Courtney Williams is 1-5 and had an air ball herself. The media timeout should help both sides get their composure and settle.

Neither team is really settled into this game. They look a little lost in the lights, except for Napheesa Collier. Cheryl Reeve has said repeatedly all series how consistent Phee is in her approach and demeanor. She said between Games 3 and 4 that would be pivotal for the Lynx in must-win games.

Welcome from Barclays Center, where play introductions are complete. There were big cheers for Breanna Stewart, the first to be announced, but MASSIVE ones for Sabrina Ionescu to end it. She's the franchise linchpin, the star they drafted and built around to be here. It looked like most of her family is here across the Liberty bench, and most jerseys are Ionescu (Oregon, Liberty and USA Basketball).

When Cheryl Reeve watched the Game 4 win back — first the broadcast version, then the clips — she saw room for improvement.

“We can play a lot better,” Reeve said. “I’m sure they (Liberty) feel the same. So hopefully, you know — I mean, hopefully not for them — but [you] hope for the best game. For both teams playing well. But hopefully, they don’t play as well as we do.”

Napheesa Collier said it’s nerve-wracking for fans rooting for a specific team, but for basketball fans in general it’s been “such good basketball to watch.” She called the excitement of this Finals a cherry on top of an incredible season as women’s hoops continues its ascension.

“I saw a tweet before, though, saying they don't want Minnesota and New York because it's going to be a boring Finals. I think everybody's eating their words. I mean, we're the two best teams in the league this year. So I knew it's gonna be great, and it has been great basketball.”

Sandy Brondello is urging her players to stay in the moment to avoid being too urgent, as they were in Game 4.

“I just keep saying, breathe. Breathe, people,” Brondello said. “Let's go. Let's get back to processes. You know, just focus on the things that you can control.”

One thing they can control is deflections. Brondello said they only had seven in Game 4 and the number they usually target is 20 for a win. She also wants to see them early in the game.