MINNEAPOLIS — Through four games, the WNBA Finals have been decided by the slimmest of margins. A missed free throw sending the game into overtime and a blown layup on one end turning into a 3-pointer on the other were just a couple of the dramatic finishes. Three of the four contests have come down to one possession, and the winners often can’t point to anything they’re doing definitively better than the losers.
In a series with minimal separation, when there are no secrets between the two teams after eight meetings this year, New York had to look to its stars to make plays. The Liberty had heroic moments from their big three Wednesday, but with a chance to end the season and clinch their first title in franchise history, New York’s best came up short. With an 82-80 Minnesota victory, the series swings back to Brooklyn for a decisive Game 5 on Sunday.
From the start of Game 4 on Friday night, Breanna Stewart was off balance, missing her first eight field-goal attempts, which tied the longest drought of her career to begin a game. Her 3-point looks were in rhythm, but many of her attempts inside the arc were in a crowd when it would have behooved her to swing the ball to an open teammate. Instead, she forced a lot of shots in the paint that created bad floor balance in…
