Courtney Williams helps The Lynx reach the final

When the Minnesota Lynx defeated the Connecticut Sun in Game 5 of the WNBA semifinals on Tuesday, it looked like they had been working together for years. They were the better team on both ends of the floor. Part of that can simply be attributed to the existence of Napheesa Collier, who had at least 25 points and 10 rebounds in her third straight game, a WNBA postseason record, and could probably turn a quartet of traffic cones into a solid basketball team.

But that's why watching The Lynx was a pleasure because it's not a one-woman show. Instead, they value a harmonious basket style with a lot of ball movement. Watching them skate past the Sun 88-77 and enjoying the traditional Electric Slide after the win, it was hard to believe that such a cohesive team was so new: Only five players on that Lynx team returned left the squad last season. and of those five, only three have played a significant role in this playoff run. This team was assembled in free agency and on the trade block by Cheryl Reeve and her dual duties as head coach and president of basketball operations. Tuesday's elimination game was particularly a showcase for the Lynx's key offseason addition: senior guard Courtney Williams, who had 24 points, seven assists and five rebounds.

Williams plays an extremely strenuous brand of basketball without ever seeming truly taxed. She is perky and relentless at all times; She draws attention to herself just as much when she's tormenting an opposing ballplayer as when she's catapulting herself into the lane. As much as Collier is the backbone of this team, it is Williams' aggressiveness that gives them many of their early advantages, both in transition and in the half court. Once she punches a hole in the defense, any number of auspicious things could happen. When Williams has both feet in the paint, she can choose her own adventure: swing-swing, corner three from one of her many shooters; Hit the rolling collier for a smooth layup; or a sneaky finish on the edge itself.

Williams' energy was rivaled only by her father's, Sitting on the sidelines, but more often standing. “Where are the rest of the dads?” Donald Williams asked SB Nation’s Noa Dalzell. “How can you miss this kind of euphoria?”

In the first half of Game 5, Williams took scoring responsibility into his own hands, shooting 6 of 6 from the field and helping extend the Lynx's lead, which proved insurmountable. Coming back in the third quarter, Williams started to force the issue a bit and the ball got stuck in her hands more than Reeve would have liked, but after some time on the bench, the guard returned to her usual ways and made the save The Lynx maintained the flow of the game in the final spurt.

Williams had played for four different WNBA teams — including two separate stints with the rival Sun — before arriving in Minnesota, a team that had just failed its 2023 tank job so badly that it made the playoffs. Minnesota clearly just needed a solid lineup as Collier developed into an MVP-caliber player. Williams offered tremendous athleticism, some of the best mid-range shots in the league – the only other player to hit 100 mid-range shots in the regular season was league MVP A'ja Wilson, and Williams matched her in terms of efficiency – and a capable partner in the pick-and-roll game with Collier, a move that proved particularly effective because the Lynx had the league's best spacing.

ESPN analyst Chiney Ogwumike, who played alongside Williams with the Sun early in her career, pointed out how much the guard has developed her game over her nine seasons. Coming into the league, Williams was an unprepared individual who focused on scoring points with one-dribble pull-ups. Now she played the point and orchestrated an offense well enough to reach the WNBA Finals.

Even the woman responsible for hiring Williams, who won both Coach of the Year and Executive of the Year awards that season, didn't expect it to go so well. “I am blessed. I don't know if I really knew what we were getting. I had definitely watched the basketball player for years,” Reeve said after the game. “But I don’t know if I knew exactly what we were getting.”