The 2002 WNBA Finals was the championship

series Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used in ...

of the 2002 WNBA season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The

Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks (LA Sparks) are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was foun ...

, top-seeded champions of the Western Conference, defeated the New York Liberty, top-seeded champions of the Eastern Conference, two games to none in a best-of-three series. This was Los Angeles' second title. As of 2020, this is the last time a WNBA franchise has won back to back championships. Coincidentally 2 months before the finals, the Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA would win their 14th title by sweeping a New York Metro team, the New Jersey Nets 4-0. The Liberty made their fourth appearance in the Finals in franchise history. The Sparks made their second straight Finals appearance. The Sparks went into the series as defending champions. 2002 marked their second WNBA championship. (The Houston Comets hold the record with four championships won.) The Sparks had a 25–7 record (.781), good enough to receive home-court advantage over the Liberty (18–14). To date, this is the last time the New York Liberty have reached the WNBA Finals.

Road to the finals

Regular season series

The teams had split the regular season series:

Game summaries

All times listed below are

Eastern Daylight Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small por ...

Game 1

Game 2

Nikki Teasley hit a series-winning three pointer with 2.1 seconds left. Teresa Weatherspoon tried to repeat history by trying to make a halfcourt heave at the buzzer, but the shot was blocked, and the Sparks won their second consecutive title.

Awards

*2002 WNBA Champion:

* Finals MVP: Lisa Leslie

Rosters

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Finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

Los Angeles Sparks New York Liberty

WNBA Finals The WNBA Finals are the championship series of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the conclusion of the league's postseason each fall. The series was named the WNBA Championship until 2002. Starting 2016 Verizon is the officia ...

Women's National Basketball Association Finals

Sports competitions in Los Angeles Sports competitions in New York City

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