2009 WNBA Finals

Result

Finals MVP: Diana Taurasi

Games

Finals context

Phoenix's second title under Paul Westhead's high-octane system came against an Indiana Fever team in its first-ever Finals appearance, and the series delivered arguably the most offensively explosive Finals in league history. Game 1 in Phoenix went to overtime and finished 120-116, the highest-scoring game in WNBA history at the time, decided when Cappie Pondexter scored seven of her 23 points in the extra period; Katie Douglas set a career playoff high with 30 points for Indiana, and Ebony Hoffman set a franchise scoring record with 27 points on 12-of-14 shooting, but it was not enough after Douglas's game-tying three with 7.1 seconds left in regulation only delayed the outcome. Indiana responded in Game 2, winning 93-84 as Tamika Catchings, who had fouled out of Game 1, nearly recorded the first triple-double in Finals history with 19 points, 11 assists, and 9 rebounds. Indiana then edged Phoenix 86-85 in a taut Game 3, with Hoffman playing through a sprained shoulder to score 18 points, hit a go-ahead jumper with 57 seconds left, and block a potential game-winner from Tangela Smith with one second on the clock, giving the Fever a 2-1 series lead with a chance to clinch at home. Phoenix would not allow it: the Mercury took Game 4, 90-77, holding Indiana to just 12 fourth-quarter points — Catchings had 24 points and 12 rebounds in the loss — to even the series and force a decisive Game 5 back in Phoenix. There, the Mercury completed the comeback, winning 94-86 after Indiana had rallied from 10 down to tie the game at 80 with 4:29 left; Tangela Smith's only two field goals of the game, both threes, put Phoenix ahead for good, and Penny Taylor, playing through a prior ankle surgery, sealed it with two free throws under 40 seconds remaining. Diana Taurasi scored 26 points in the clincher and was named Finals MVP, with Pondexter adding 24. The series' offensive fireworks — headlined by the record-setting Game 1 — drew a surge in national attention, with ESPN2's audience for the series up more than 70 percent year-over-year and Game 4 alone drawing over 670,000 viewers. For Indiana, the near-triple-double from Catchings and the gritty performance from an injured Hoffman established the Fever as a genuine contender, a status the franchise would cash in three years later with its lone championship in 2012. Phoenix's title, meanwhile, was its second in three seasons (2007, 2009) and confirmed Westhead's unconventional up-tempo system, built around Taurasi, Pondexter, and Taylor, as one of the era's most effective championship formulas.

Sources

• Wikipedia — 2009 WNBA Finals
• Basketball-Reference.com — WNBA Playoffs