2016 WNBA Finals

The 2016 WNBA Finals was the best-of-five championship series for the 2016 season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The top-seeded Minnesota Lynx held home court advantage in the Finals, but lost three games to two to the second-seeded Los Angeles Sparks. The series followed a 2–2–1 format, and eschewed from the previous tradition of having the Western Conference champion face the Eastern Conference champion. Instead, in the 2016 season, the top eight teams qualified for the playoffs, regardless of conference. Both WNBA Finals teams were from the Western Conference. The Sparks won a semifinal series against the Chicago Sky to determine one of the Finals berths; the first-seeded Lynx defeated the Phoenix Mercury to earn the other. Candace Parker was named the 2016 WNBA Finals MVP. Renee Brown, outgoing Chief of Basketball Operations and Player Relations of the WNBA, issued statements following games 4 and 5 saying the referees had made an error in each game. Nevertheless, the Sparks won the series 3 games to 2.

2016 WNBA Finals

Team Coach Wins Los Angeles Sparks Brian Agler 3 Minnesota Lynx Cheryl Reeve 2
Dates	October 9–20
MVP	Candace Parker (Los Angeles Sparks)
Hall of Famers	Lynx: Seimone Augustus (2024) Lindsay Whalen (2022)
Eastern finals	Los Angeles Sparks defeated Chicago Sky, 3–1 (Note: the semifinal rounds as of 2016 were not divided by conference)
Western finals	Minnesota Lynx defeated Phoenix Mercury, 3–0

Road to the Finals

Standings and playoffs

Western Conference	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Conf.
1 - Minnesota Lynx	28	6	.824	—	15–2	13–4	15–1
2 - Los Angeles Sparks	26	8	.765	2	14–3	12–5	11–5
7 - Seattle Storm	16	18	.471	12	10–7	6–11	7–9
8 - Phoenix Mercury	16	18	.471	12	11–6	5–12	6–10
e - Dallas Wings	11	23	.324	17	6–11	5–12	8–8
e - San Antonio Stars	7	27	.206	21	4–13	3–14	1–15

Eastern Conference	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Conf.
3 - New York Liberty	21	13	.618	—	10–7	11–6	11–5
4 - Chicago Sky	18	16	.529	3	11–6	7–10	8–8
5 - Indiana Fever	17	17	.500	4	8–9	9–8	8–8
6 - Atlanta Dream	17	17	.500	4	11–6	6–11	9–7
e - Connecticut Sun	14	20	.412	7	8–9	6–11	4–12
e - Washington Mystics	13	21	.382	8	5–12	8–9	8–8

See also: 2016 WNBA Finals

	First round: Single elimination (Sept. 21)					Second round: Single elimination (Sept. 24 and 25)					Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 28 – Oct. 6)								WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Oct. 9 – 20)
											1	Minnesota Lynx		113	96	82
						3	New York Liberty	94			8	Phoenix Mercury		95	86	67
	5	Indiana Fever	78			8	Phoenix Mercury	101											1	Minnesota Lynx	76	79	75	85	76
	8	Phoenix Mercury	89																2	Los Angeles Sparks	78	60	92	79	77
											2	Los Angeles Sparks	95	99	66	95
						4	Chicago Sky	108			4	Chicago Sky	75	84	70	75
	6	Atlanta Dream	94			6	Atlanta Dream	98
	7	Seattle Storm	85

Note: Teams re-seeded after second round and semi-finals.

WNBA Finals

Sylvia Fowles of the Lynx (left) and finals MVP Candace Parker of the Sparks in Game 2

Maya Moore and Sylvia Fowles of the Lynx (right) and Nneka Ogwumike of the Sparks (left) who ultimately made the winning basket

This finals series was arguably the best the WNBA has ever seen. The classic Western Conference showdown did not disappoint. Los Angeles managed to steal Game 1 on the road with a 78–76 victory. Sparks veteran guard Alana Beard hit a buzzer beater. Minnesota bounced back in Game 2, with an effective 79–60 dropping of the Sparks to tie the series at a game a piece. Lynx forward Maya Moore led the charge with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Game 3 took place in LA, where the Sparks put themselves one win away from their first title in 14 years, with a dominant 92–75 win over Minnesota. Sparks superstars Candace Parker and Nneka Ogwumike combined for 45 points on 19-of-33 shooting. Despite home court advantage in Game 4, the Lynx responded to a devastating loss with a narrow win 85–79, forcing a decisive Game 5 back in Minnesota. The game was very close, but with 3.1 seconds remaining in the game, Ogwumike hit the game-winning shot, grabbing an offensive rebound and scoring, to put her team ahead 77–76. The Sparks emerged as champions for the first time since 2002. Parker, the team's number 1 pick in the 2008 WNBA draft, delivered 28 points and 12 rebounds as she won her first ever WNBA championship. Parker was also named Finals MVP.

Game 1

Alana Beard hit a tie-breaking baseline jumper as time expired to give the Sparks the series lead after a seesaw first game.

ABC

Sunday, October 9, 2016 2:00 PM (CDT)

Report

Los Angeles Sparks 78, Minnesota Lynx 76
Scoring by quarter: 21–18, 13–18, 22–24, 22–16
Pts: Ogwumike 19, Toliver 19 Rebs: Ogwumike 9, Parker 9 Asts: Chelsea Gray 4, Parker 3, Toliver 3		Pts: Moore, Fowles, Whalen 18 Rebs: Fowles 13, Moore 6 Asts: Whalen 6
Los Angeles leads 1–0

Target Center, Minneapolis, MN Attendance: 12,113 Referees: Maj Forsberg, Jeff Wooten, Tom Nunez

Game 2

ESPN

Tuesday, October 11, 2016 7:00 PM (CDT)

Report

Los Angeles Sparks 60, Minnesota Lynx 79
Scoring by quarter: 14–18, 11–21, 21–15, 14–25
Pts: Ogwumike 14 Rebs: Ogwumike 12 Asts: Beard, Carson, Parker 3		Pts: Moore 21 Rebs: Fowles 15 Asts: Fowles 4
Series tied 1–1

Target Center, Minneapolis, MN Attendance: 12,832 Referees: Michael Price, Billy Smith, Roy Gulbeyan

Game 3

ESPN2

Friday, October 14, 2016 6:00 PM (PDT)

Report

Minnesota Lynx 75, Los Angeles Sparks 92
Scoring by quarter: 17–32, 23–16, 18–22, 17–22
Pts: Brunson, Fowles 14 Rebs: Moore 7 Asts: Moore 5		Pts: Parker 24 Rebs: Ogwumike, Parker 9 Asts: Beard 7
Los Angeles leads 2–1

Galen Center, Los Angeles, CA Attendance: 8,093 Referees: Tom Mauer, Eric Brewton, Amy Bonner

Game 4

ESPN

Sunday, October 16, 2016 5:30 PM (PDT)

Report

Minnesota Lynx 85, Los Angeles Sparks 79
Scoring by quarter: 22–20, 24–20, 19–19, 20–20
Pts: Moore 31, Whalen 13 Rebs: Fowles 13 Asts: Augustus 5, Moore 5		Pts: Gray 20, Toliver 15 Rebs: Ogwumike 8 Asts: Beard 4
Series tied 2–2

Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA Attendance: 12,885 Referees: Roy Gulbeyan, Maj Forsberg, Kurt Walker

Game 5

ESPN

Thursday, October 20, 2016 7:00 PM (CDT)

Report

Los Angeles Sparks 77, Minnesota Lynx 76
Scoring by quarter: 17–18, 11–16, 26–21, 23–21
Pts: Parker 28 Rebs: Ogwumike, Parker 12 Asts: Beard 6		Pts: Moore 23 Rebs: Brunson, Fowles 9 Asts: Moore 11
Los Angeles wins WNBA Finals, 3–2

Target Center, Minneapolis, MN

Team rosters

Minnesota Lynx roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs G/F 33 Augustus, Seimone 6' 0" (1.83m) 169 lb (77kg) 04-30-1984 LSU 11 F 32 Brunson, Rebekkah 6' 2" (1.88m) 185 lb (84kg) 12-11-1981 Georgetown 13 G 51 Cruz, Anna 5' 9" (1.75m) 136 lb (62kg) 10-27-1986 Spain 3 C 34 Fowles, Sylvia 6' 6" (1.98m) 212 lb (96kg) 10-06-1985 LSU 9 F 24 Hampton, Keisha 6' 1" (1.85m) 171 lb (78kg) 02-22-1990 DePaul R F 3 Howard, Natasha 6' 2" (1.88m) 171 lb (78kg) 09-02-1991 Florida State 2 F/C 4 McCarville, Janel 6' 2" (1.88m) 218 lb (99kg) 11-03-1982 Minnesota 11 G 21 Montgomery, Renee 5' 7" (1.7m) 143 lb (65kg) 12-02-1986 Connecticut 8 F 23 Moore, Maya 6' 0" (1.83m) 178 lb (81kg) 06-11-1989 Connecticut 6 G 7 Perkins, Jia 5' 8" (1.73m) 168 lb (76kg) 02-23-1982 Texas Tech 13 G 13 Whalen, Lindsay 5' 9" (1.75m) 166 lb (75kg) 05-09-1982 Minnesota 13	Head coach Cheryl Reeve (La Salle) Assistant coaches Shelley Patterson (Washington State) Jim Petersen (Minnesota) Athletic trainer Chuck Barta (Wisconsin-La Crosse) Assistant trainer Kate Taber (Iowa) Legend (C) Team captain (FA) Free agent (IN) Inactive (S) Suspended Injured

2016 Los Angeles Sparks roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs G/F 0 Beard, Alana 6' 1" (1.85m) 160 lb (73kg) 05-14-1982 Duke 12 F 10 Belyakova, Evgeniya 6' 0" (1.83m) 150 lb (68kg) 06-27-1986 Russia R G/F 17 Carson, Essence 6' 0" (1.83m) 163 lb (74kg) 07-28-1986 Rutgers 8 G 23 Dabović, Ana 6' 0" (1.83m) 157 lb (71kg) 08-18-1989 Serbia 1 F 28 Dubljević, Jelena 6' 3" (1.91m) 179 lb (81kg) 05-07-1987 Montenegro R G 12 Gray, Chelsea 5' 11" (1.8m) 170 lb (77kg) 10-08-1992 Duke 1 F/C 7 Gruda, Sandrine 6' 4" (1.93m) 185 lb (84kg) 06-25-1987 France 4 C 42 Lavender, Jantel 6' 4" (1.93m) 185 lb (84kg) 11-12-1988 Ohio State 5 F 30 Ogwumike, Nneka 6' 2" (1.88m) 174 lb (79kg) 07-02-1990 Stanford 4 F/C 3 Parker, Candace 6' 4" (1.93m) 175 lb (79kg) 04-19-1986 Tennessee 8 G 20 Toliver, Kristi 5' 7" (1.7m) 130 lb (59kg) 01-27-1987 Maryland 7 C 21 Wauters, Ann 6' 4" (1.93m) 193 lb (88kg) 10-12-1980 Belgium 8	Head coach Brian Agler (Wittenberg) Assistant coaches Tonya Edwards (Tennessee) Amber Stocks (Cincinnati) Athletic trainer Courtney Watson (California) Strength and conditioning coach Kelly Dormandy (Springfield College) Legend (C) Team captain (FA) Free agent (IN) Inactive (S) Suspended Injured

Controversies

After both Game 4 and Game 5 of the WNBA Finals, the league acknowledged that they had made officiating mistakes late in the games that might have affected their final outcomes. Regarding Game 5, the league released this statement: "After reviewing postgame video, we have determined that Nneka Ogwumike's shot with 1:14 remaining in regulation time should not have counted due to a shot clock violation, and that the referees improperly failed to review the play under the instant replay rules." A similar statement was released after Game 4 after the league admitted to have blown an eight-second violation call. Nevertheless, the outcomes of the games remained the same, with Minnesota taking game 4 and Los Angeles taking game 5.

External links

• Finals schedule at WNBA.com