They defeated the Washington Mystics in three games in the conference semifinals, and swept fourth-seeded Indiana, the defending WNBA champions, who had upset the top seed, the Chicago Sky, in the first round.

The Dream featured Angel McCoughtry, who won her second consecutive scoring title in 2013, as well as Brazilian center Erika de Souza.

The Lynx swept both fourth-seeded Seattle and pre-season favorites Phoenix to win their third consecutive Western Conference crown.

The season series was tied, 1-1: The Minnesota Lynx came out determined not to lose game one at home as they had in the 2012 WNBA Finals.

Seimone Augustus led the Lynx in scoring with 20 points, and all five starters finished the game in double figures.