There are tough losses, and then there’s what the Liberty suffered in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals. The Liberty led by 18 points in the first half, 15 points in the fourth quarter and three points with under 10 seconds left in regulation, only to lose, 95-93, in overtime to the Minnesota Lynx in an all-time stunner Thursday night at Barclays Center. Breanna Stewart missed a would-be-game-winning free throw with less than a second remaining in the fourth quarter, then failed to finish a would-be-game-tying lay-up as time expired in OT. Lynx star Napheesa Collier’s fadeaway jumper over 6-6 Jonquel Jones with 8.8 seconds left in overtime proved to be the game-winner, putting the Liberty in a 1-0 hole in the best-of-five series. “We had our opportunities to win and we didn’t finish it,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said. “We’re disappointed.” It was a rough night for Stewart, who scored 18 points on 6-of-21 shooting, and fellow star Sabrina Ionescu, who scored 19 points after going 8-of-26 from the field. The Liberty, as a whole, shot 37.8% on 90 attempts, while the Lynx shot 50.7%. A roller-coaster game reached peak chaos in the fourth quarter’s waning seconds. With the Liberty leading, 83-80, Lynx guard Courtney Williams missed a 3-pointer, but Alanna Smith grabbed an offensive rebound and passed the ball back to Williams, who nailed her second attempt and got fouled by Ionescu. Williams sank her free throw, putting the Lynx up, 84-83, with 5.5 seconds remaining. That gave the Lynx their first lead of the game. On the next possession, Collier — the WNBA’s Defensive Player of the Year — blocked a lay-up attempt by Stewart. But Stewart got another chance, and Collier was called for a foul with 0.8 seconds to go. A review confirmed the foul occurred before the clock expired, and Stewart made her first free throw but missed the second, sending the game into overtime with the score tied, 84-84. “[When] they were reviewing the time, you’re just focusing on making the shot,” said Stewart, who made 84.5% of her free throws in the regular season. “Making the first one. Making the first one. Making the first one. And then the second one, the same. It’s when you want to be thinking about nothing else. It definitely sucks to miss.” The Liberty went scoreless for the first three minutes and 21 seconds of overtime and trailed, 93-89, with under a minute remaining. They tied the game, 93-93, with under 30 seconds left after Ionescu made a short jumper and Jones turned a steal into a transition lay-up. But Collier made her game-winner on the next possession, and Stewart failed to finish her lay-up attempt on the other end. “I want to be taking these shots,” said Stewart, a two-time Finals MVP with the Seattle Storm. “I feel like, knowing my teammates and that everyone has confidence in me, is important. It’s kind of like, on to the next and still making sure I’m aggressive any time I’m on to court. Obviously, as a player, it’s very frustrating.” All of that drama occurred after a red-hot start by the Liberty, who led 32-19 after the first quarter. Fueling the early offense was Jones, who scored 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting in the opening period. That was notable, considering the Lynx held Jones in check during their three wins over the Liberty in the regular season. Jones, a former WNBA MVP and a five-time All-Star, attempted five, three and seven shot attempts in those losses, averaging 5.3 points. Jones finished Thursday with a game-high 24 points and 10 rebounds, but the Liberty again went long stretches without featuring her in the offense. She attempted only one shot in the second quarter and two in the third, during which the Lynx climbed back into the game. “They switched with us a little bit more to stop us from going downhill,” Jones said of the Lynx’s mid-game adjustments. “I don’t know, I think the weight of the game was more about us … getting away from our principles versus what they did to kind of get us out of rhythm.” The Liberty appeared to be pulling midway through the fourth quarter when Stewart, Leonie Fiebich and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton each made 3-pointers in a span of two minutes and 10 seconds, putting them up, 81-66. But the Lynx ended regulation on an 18-3 run. Collier, the WNBA MVP runner-up, finished with 21 points on 10-of-16 shooting, eight rebounds and six blocks. Williams led the Lynx with 23 points. An original franchise still pursuing its first WNBA championship, the Liberty are seeking redemption after losing last year’s Finals in four games to the Las Vegas Aces. They now have more than two days to shake off Thursday’s crushing defeat before Game 2 at Barclays Center on Sunday afternoon. The Liberty became the first team in WNBA postseason history to lose a game it led by at least 15 points with under five minus remaining. The Lynx’s 18-point comeback was tied for the largest in WNBA Finals history. “We should have won this game,” said Fiebich, who had 17 points and went 5-of-9 on 3-point attempts. “We had many chances. We gave it away multiple times in the game, and that’s just really disappointing and not how we wanted to start the series.”