‘No love lost’: Lynx, Liberty set for long-awaited WNBA Finals rematch Wednesday

The WNBA schedule has drawn widespread criticism this season, and this week brings one of its more unusual quirks. The Lynx and the Liberty, last year’s Finals participants, will meet for the first time since that series — in late July, two-thirds into the regular season.

“It should’ve been the first game of the season,” said Lynx forward Napheesa Collier. “That would make the most sense.”

Instead, the league’s two top teams will meet at Target Center on Wednesday, nine months after their championship clash. It’s the first of four matchups over the next seven games, including a playoff-like stretch of three in a row.

But any hope of billing Wednesday’s 7 p.m. tip as a Finals rematch — a chance for the Lynx to avenge a controversial Game 5 loss — was quickly dismissed by Collier.

“It’s been so long, like, it’s almost August,” the Lynx All-Star said. “So it’s just the two top teams going against each other. ... It doesn’t really feel like retribution.”

The Lynx have the league’s best record at 22-5, and the Liberty is second at 17-8.

But playing without Breanna Stewart (leg injury) the Liberty lost 92-82 to the lowly Dallas Wings on Monday, prompting a 40-minute team meeting immediately afterward.

“We just didn’t look like ourselves in terms of understanding the places that make us great, which is to be physical, be aggressive, play with pace,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said Tuesday, later pointing to a crucial stretch in the third quarter during which Collier didn’t get a touch for seven straight possessions.

Guard Bridget Carleton likened Tuesday’s practice to the team “taking its vitamins.” The Lynx completed shell drills, rebounding drills — foundational work that can fall by the wayside amid nonstop scouting reports and travel.

Carleton sees Wednesday’s matchup in a similar sense: it’s routine.

“Our group has a good enough maturity about us that we know it’s just another game on our schedule. ... I feel like the narrative from last year is almost dead by this point, ’cause it’s almost August,” Carleton said.

There are plenty of differences for both squads since October.

They’ve also enjoyed lineup stability and relative health, unlike the injury-riddled Liberty. 2024 Finals MVP Jonquel Jones returned July 22, having already missed 12 games, and now two-time league MVP Stewart is questionable for Wednesday.

The Liberty have used 10 different starting lineups and leaned on smaller rotations, which should be favorable to the Lynx. Natasha Cloud, acquired by the Liberty this offseason, has become a key playmaker and defender.

Reeve said “it’s too soon” to tell if it’s a true rivalry, but she can see the early makings of one.

“There’ll be no love lost when we play each other,” Reeve said.

In case that needed underscoring, Reeve added a final jab when asked about Liberty newcomer Emma Meesseman — the top free agent in the world who chose New York over Minnesota last week. Meesseman won’t be available Wednesday, as she’s working to secure her work visa, but Reeve wanted to make one thing clear: