# 2016 WNBA Finals

The 2016 WNBA Finals, officially the WNBA Finals 2016 presented by Verizon for sponsorship reasons, 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.

## Road to the Finals
### Standings and playoffs

| Western Conference vte | 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 vte | 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 |
| First round: Single elimination (Sept. 21) | First round: Single elimination (Sept. 21) | First round: Single elimination (Sept. 21) | Second round: Single elimination (Sept. 24 and 25) | Second round: Single elimination (Sept. 24 and 25) | Second round: Single elimination (Sept. 24 and 25) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 28 – Oct. 6) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 28 – Oct. 6) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 28 – Oct. 6) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 28 – Oct. 6) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 28 – Oct. 6) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 28 – Oct. 6) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Oct. 9 – 20) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Oct. 9 – 20) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Oct. 9 – 20) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Oct. 9 – 20) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Oct. 9 – 20) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Oct. 9 – 20) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Oct. 9 – 20) |
| | | | | | | 1 | Minnesota Lynx | 113 | 96 | 82 | | | | | | | | |
| | | | 3 | New York Liberty | 94 | 8 | Phoenix Mercury | 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

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

## 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.