2015 WNBA Finals
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| Dates | October 4–14 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MVP | Sylvia Fowles (Minnesota) | |||||||||
| Hall of Famers | Lynx: Seimone Augustus (2024) Lindsay Whalen (2022) Fever: Tamika Catchings (2020) | |||||||||
| Eastern finals | Indiana Fever defeated New York, 2–1 | |||||||||
| Western finals | Minnesota Lynx defeated Phoenix, 2–0 | |||||||||
The 2015 WNBA Finals was the championship series for the 2015 WNBA season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). On August 26, vegasinsider.com projected that the Minnesota Lynx has the highest odds to win the series (11/10).[1]
The WNBA Finals were under a 2–2–1 rotation. The Lynx held home-court advantage as they had a better regular season record (22–12) than the Fever (20–14).
2015 WNBA regular season
| Eastern Conference | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Conf. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| x - New York Liberty | 23 | 11 | .676 | – | 12–5 | 11–6 | 13–9 |
| x - Chicago Sky | 21 | 13 | .618 | 2 | 13–4 | 8–9 | 14–8 |
| x - Indiana Fever | 20 | 14 | .588 | 3 | 11–6 | 9–8 | 13–9 |
| x - Washington Mystics | 18 | 16 | .529 | 5 | 11–6 | 7–10 | 10–12 |
| e - Atlanta Dream | 15 | 19 | .441 | 8 | 9–8 | 6–11 | 10–12 |
| e - Connecticut Sun | 15 | 19 | .441 | 8 | 8–9 | 7–10 | 6–16 |
| Western Conference | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Conf. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| z - Minnesota Lynx | 22 | 12 | .647 | – | 13–4 | 9–8 | 16–6 |
| x - Phoenix Mercury | 20 | 14 | .588 | 2 | 13–4 | 7–10 | 15–7 |
| x - Tulsa Shock | 18 | 16 | .529 | 4 | 12–5 | 6–11 | 11–11 |
| x - Los Angeles Sparks | 14 | 20 | .412 | 8 | 9–8 | 5–12 | 10–12 |
| e - Seattle Storm | 10 | 24 | .294 | 12 | 8–9 | 2–15 | 8–14 |
| e - San Antonio Stars | 8 | 26 | .235 | 14 | 7–10 | 1–16 | 6–16 |
2015 WNBA playoffs
| Minnesota Lynx | Indiana Fever | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 22–12 (.647) 1st West, 2nd overall |
Seeding | 20–14 (.588) 3rd East, 4th overall | |
| Defeated the (4) Los Angeles Sparks, 2–1 | Conference Semifinals | Defeated the (2) Chicago Sky, 2–1 | |
| Defeated the (2) Phoenix Mercury, 2–0 | Conference Finals | Defeated the (1) New York Liberty, 2–1 | |
Indiana Fever
The Indiana Fever finished 20–14, good for third place in the Eastern Conference. The Fever lost their first playoff game against the Chicago Sky, but rallied to win two straight elimination games, setting up a conference final against the New York Liberty. Once again, Indiana lost the first game of the series, but rallied to win two straight to reach the finals for the third time in franchise history, which gave Stephanie White the first rookie head coach to lead her team to the WNBA Finals.
Minnesota Lynx
The Minnesota Lynx finished with the best record in the Western Conference for the fourth time in five year, finishing with a 22–12 record. With the mid-season addition of Sylvia Fowles from the Chicago Sky, the Lynx eliminated the Los Angeles Sparks in three games. The Lynx then swept the Phoenix Mercury in the Western Conference Finals after a controversial foul called on Mercury guard Noelle Quinn on Maya Moore with 1.5 seconds left in the fourth quarter in Game 2, which gave them a chance to win their third WNBA title in five years.
Regular-season series
The Minnesota Lynx won the season series 2–0:
Series summary
- All times are in Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4).
Game 1
October 4
3:00pm ET |
| Indiana Fever 75, Minnesota Lynx 69 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 10–10, 25–19, 19–18, 21–22 | ||
| Pts: January 19 Rebs: Larkins 8 Asts: January 6 |
Pts: Moore 27 Rebs: Moore 12 Asts: Augustus, Whalen 4 | |
| Indiana leads series 1-0 | ||
Game 2
October 6
8:00pm ET |
| Indiana Fever 71, Minnesota Lynx 77 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 24–20, 17–19, 18–24, 12–14 | ||
| Pts: January 17 Rebs: Catchings, Larkins 9 Asts: Catchings, January 5 |
Pts: Fowles 21 Rebs: Fowles 9 Asts: Cruz, Moore 5 | |
| Series tied 1-1 | ||
Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
Attendance: 12,134 Referees: Michael Price, Maj Forsberg, Lamont Simpson |
Game 3
October 9
8:00pm ET |
| Minnesota Lynx 80, Indiana Fever 77 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 20–19, 18–23, 21–15, 21–20 | ||
| Pts: Moore 24 Rebs: Fowles 11 Asts: Cruz 5 |
Pts: Johnson 17 Rebs: Catchings 10 Asts: January 8 | |
| Minnesota leads series 2-1 | ||
Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
Attendance: 16,332 Referees: Denise Brooks, Roy Gulbeyan, Tom Mauer |
Game 4
October 11
8:30pm ET |
| Minnesota Lynx 69, Indiana Fever 75 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 20–15, 12–21, 14–22, 23–17 | ||
| Pts: Moore 20 Rebs: Moore 8 Asts: six tied 2 |
Pts: Johnson 15 Rebs: Larkins 6 Asts: January 5 | |
| Series tied 2-2 | ||
Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
Attendance: 10,582 Referees: Sue Blauch, Eric Brewton, Maj Forsberg |
Game 5
October 14
8:00pm ET |
| Indiana Fever 52, Minnesota Lynx 69 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 17–15, 4–12, 8–21, 23–21 | ||
| Pts: Catchings 18 Rebs: Catchings 11 Asts: January, Zellous 3 |
Pts: Fowles 20 Rebs: Brunson 14 Asts: Moore 5 | |
| Minnesota wins series 3-2 | ||
Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
Attendance: 18,933 Referees: Michael Price, Denise Brooks, Roy Gulbeyan |
Rosters
| 2015 Minnesota Lynx roster | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 2015 Indiana Fever roster | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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