Soon will come the start of the 2024 WNBA Finals between the Minnesota Lynx and New York Liberty. It is shaping up as the hotly anticipated capper to the most closely watched season in league history, and has a number of fans looking back on their favorite championship moments.
There have been no shortage of such moments since the league's 1997 founding, including the Houston Comets' four-peat to start the league's history and Los Angeles Sparks forward Nneka Ogwumike's memorable Finals-winning shot in 2016. However, there is a feat that has been accomplished in the NBA that has never taken place in the WNBA—despite a best-of-five format that would appear to invite it.
The Challenge of Coming Back From a 2–0 Deficit in the WNBA Finals
Since 2005, the WNBA Finals has had a best-of-five format after a one-game format in '97 and a best-of-three format from 1998 to 2004. Coming back from a 2–0 deficit has proven difficult. Unlike in the NBA—where all playoff series are best-of-seven—WNBA teams can find themselves teetering on the brink of elimination after just two games.
Thus, overcoming a 2–0 deficit is an imposing task, and relatively few teams in the history of the WNBA Finals have even faced it.
Has Any Team Ever Come Back From a 2–0 Deficit in the WNBA Finals?
It has never happened. In fact, no team that has fallen down 2–0 in the WNBA Finals has ever so much as forced Game 5.
Why? It's hard to say, considering it has happened five times in the NBA (most recently in 2021). Perhaps the psychological hole of being down 2–0 in a best-of-five championship series is too much, creating a mental block that does not exist in best-of-seven series.
Notable Attempts to Come Back From 2–0 Deficits in WNBA Finals History
There have been two instances in which a team fell down 2–0 in the WNBA Finals and recovered to win Game 3. Interestingly, both came in the past two seasons.
In 2022, the Connecticut Sun fell down 2–0 to the Las Vegas Aces and won Game 3 105–76. In 2023, the Aces went up 2–0 on the Liberty; New York won Game 3 87–73 and nearly took Game 4, losing by one.
Historical Significance of Overcoming a 2–0 Deficit in Sports
The five teams that have overcome 2–0 deficits in the NBA Finals have all entered league lore—who can rattle off a list of iconic championship series in that sport without mentioning center Bill Walton and the 1977 Portland Trail Blazers, or forward LeBron James and the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers?
These comebacks require a rare constellation of talent and mental fortitude—something the WNBA has always had in spades. However, teams down 2–0 in best-of-five series often find themselves running short on time; the first squad in the league to master that will rewrite this article in the future.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Has Any Team Ever Come Back From a 2-0 Deficit in WNBA Finals History?.
