2011 WNBA Finals

Result

Finals MVP: Seimone Augustus

Minnesota's first WNBA title, the start of a dynastic run that would bring the franchise four championships across seven seasons (2011, 2013, 2015, 2017).

Games

Finals context

The Minnesota Lynx's first championship launched what would become the defining dynasty of the WNBA's second decade, and it came via a clean sweep of an Atlanta Dream team appearing in its second straight Finals. Minnesota, which finished the regular season 27-7 for the league's best record, took Game 1 at home, 88-74, behind 26 points and 11 rebounds from Rebekkah Brunson and 22 from Finals MVP Seimone Augustus, breaking the game open with a 13-0 run to start the fourth quarter and dominating the paint, 52-30, while blocking a Finals-record 11 shots. Angel McCoughtry, Atlanta's star, scored 35 points in the loss, a preview of a series in which she would be brilliant individually but unable to overcome Minnesota's collective defense. Game 2 saw Augustus explode for 36 points as Minnesota won 101-95, overcoming a 24-point first-half eruption from McCoughtry (who finished with 38, breaking her own Finals scoring record) by holding Atlanta to just 2-of-13 shooting in the second half and closing the game with a decisive 10-0 run. Minnesota completed the sweep in Atlanta, winning Game 3, 73-67, as Augustus (16 points) and a clutch late three-pointer from rookie Maya Moore (15 points) held off a Dream team that had cut the deficit to a single point in the fourth quarter before Minnesota's defense — again focused on containing McCoughtry, who finished 9-of-25 for 22 points — and free-throw execution sealed the title. Augustus was named Finals MVP after averaging 24.7 points on 58.7 percent shooting across the series, a dominant, efficient performance that overshadowed the more heralded Moore in her rookie season. The championship carried enormous significance for a Minnesota franchise that had not made the playoffs since 2004 and had never previously won a single postseason series; the turnaround followed the franchise's decision to draft Moore first overall and Augustus's return to full health after abdominal surgery. It was also the first professional sports championship for the state of Minnesota since the Twins won the 1991 World Series, and the series marked the first Finals in league history to feature two female head coaches, with Cheryl Reeve facing Marynell Meadors. This title proved to be only the beginning: the Lynx, built around a core of Moore, Augustus, Brunson, and eventually Lindsay Whalen and Sylvia Fowles, would return to the Finals five more times over the following seven seasons and win three additional championships (2013, 2015, 2017), establishing themselves as the sport's defining dynasty of the 2010s. Atlanta, despite McCoughtry's heroics, fell to 0-2 in Finals appearances, a frustration that would extend with a third loss in 2013.

Sources

• Wikipedia — 2011 WNBA Finals
• Basketball-Reference.com — WNBA Playoffs