Two different series in the semifinals have brought us to one single destination: the 2019 WNBA Finals.
In one corner stand the Washington Mystics, the No. 1 seed that won an intensely-contested series against the Las Vegas Aces in four games, boasting an offense that forces defenses to pick their poison. On the opposite side awaits the No. 2 seed Connecticut Sun, which ran through the Los Angeles Sparks in a sweep, taking Games 2 and 3 by 48 combined points.
Washington is making its second-straight trip to the WNBA Finals, falling to the Seattle Storm in three games, and is hungry to make up for last season’s failure. The Sun haven’t been this far in the postseason since Mike Thibault, the current head coach of the Mystics, was walking their sideline in 2005.
There will be plenty to watch for when the series tips off Sunday, and before we get into some of the major storylines and matchups, let’s take a look at the schedule for the 2019 edition of the Finals:
WNBA Finals Schedule
Sunday, Sept. 29
2 Connecticut Sun at 1 Washington Mystics, Game 1 (3 p.m., ESPN)
Tuesday, Oct. 1
2 Connecticut Sun at 1 Washington Mystics, Game 2 (8 p.m., ESPN)
Sunday, Oct. 6
1 Washington Mystics at 2 Connecticut Sun, Game 3 (3:30 p.m., ABC)
Tuesday, Oct. 8
1 Washington Mystics at 2 Connecticut Sun, Game 4 (8 p.m., ESPN2)*
Thursday, Oct. 10
2 Connecticut Sun at 1 Washington Mystics, Game 5 (8 p.m., ESPN2)*
*= if necessary
Season Series
May 25 – Washington 69, Connecticut 84 (1-0 CON)
June 11 – Washington 75, Connecticut 83 (2-0 CON)
June 29 – Connecticut 59, Washington 102 (2-1 CON)
What To Watch For
The Thibault Connection
Thibault coached Connecticut from 2003-2012 until the team fired him after a 25-9 regular season and loss in the Eastern Conference Finals to the eventual-champions, the Indiana Fever. He was the team’s first coach after the franchise moved to Uncasville from Orlando in 2003 and took the Sun to eight playoff appearances in his 10 seasons, including two runs to the WNBA Finals and three more Eastern Conference Finals showings. He was named WNBA Coach of the Year in 2006 and 2008 and compiled a 206-134 regular-season record in Connecticut.
But his teams never won a title, and that ultimately led to his ousting.
“We have the ultimate respect and appreciation for everything Coach Thibault has done here, and he has played a huge part in establishing the Connecticut Sun as a model franchise in the league,” the Sun’s CEO Mitchell Etess told the Associated Press in 2012. “However, our ultimate goal is the championship, and this change is made in with an eye to accomplishing just that.”
Here we are, seven years later, and Thibault is back in the WNBA Finals for the fourth time with an absolute monster of a team by his side, in search of that elusive first title. Of course, who should stand in his way but the same franchise that let him go for failing to secure a championship.
To make matters more interesting, the Sun haven’t done all that well without Thibault, missing the playoffs for four-straight seasons after his firing and never returning back to the WNBA Finals. That is, until now, as the organization is three wins away from becoming the seventh active WNBA team with a crown. But before the Sun can get that monkey off their back, they have to defeat the same coach they dismissed.
Emma Meesseman is Healthy and Hot
When the Mystics played in the WNBA Finals last season, they were without Meesseman, their 6-foot-4 forward who is elite at stretching the floor. The Belgian can shoot from mid-range or behind the three-point line, she can rebound and her size makes her a load in the paint. She’s the perfect foil to Elena Delle Donne, and the difference she provides has been obvious this postseason.
Meesseman averaged 21.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.3 steals per contest in the series against Las Vegas, torching the Aces from every corner of the court. Her 27 points in Game 1 were crucial in Washington’s 97-95 win, she put up 30 in Game 2, and Mesesseman scored 13 of her 22 points in the fourth quarter of Game 4, sinking clutch shot after clutch shot that the Mystics absolutely needed.
The only poor showing from her in the series was in Game 3: a six-point, 3-of-8 from the field dud in a 92-75 whooping. See the difference?
Meesseman was the best player in the Las Vegas-Washington series, and Connecticut will have its hands full dealing with her if she pulls out similar performances.
Can Jonquel Jones and Alyssa Thomas Repeat Past Performances?
Connecticut took two of the three games these teams played against one another in the regular season, and in both victories, Jones and Thomas had fantastic games, with double-doubles and 20-plus point performances between them. Even in the blowout loss in the third meeting, Jones still posted 15 points and 7 rebounds.
The team’s guards dominated in Game 3 of the semifinals against the Sparks, but in the first two showdowns, it was Jones and Thomas who paved the path to victory. The duo put up 77 points and 43 rebounds together in the two games as Los Angeles had no answer for them.
The two did it in the regular season, too, and have established themselves as one of the most fearsome frontcourts in the W. They have had success against this Washington team before, albeit it only at home, plus those games were played months ago. As we all know, teams can change quite a bit over the course of weeks. While the results of those games might be meaningless now, how Jones and Thomas did is proof that they are capable of snatching victories from this Mystics side.
Someone Will Walk Away a Champion
We are guaranteed a first-time winner, and that alone is something to celebrate.
Some people find dynasties to be interesting, and there is something fascinating about sustained greatness. But when I’m watching sports, I want parity, variety and unpredictability. I want underdogs, and I want emotion. This is the exact scenario to amplify all of that.
There will be no Los Angeles Sparks, no Seattle Storm, nor no Minnesota Lynx dogpiling under confetti this year. You won’t see Cheryl Reeve, Bill Laimbeer or Brian Agler holding up yet another trophy.
Instead, it’s the Mystics or Sun, two teams with a painful past looking to write a positive present. Connecticut head coach Curt Miller is in his first WNBA Finals, and while Thibault has been here multiple times before, it would be his first championship. Delle Donne has established herself as the WNBA standard and is in need of a ring to validate it.
So much is at stake, but only one team can accomplish the goal it set at the start of 2019. With it all on the line, how could you look away?
