The longest WNBA regular season in history concluded Thursday after teams played 44 games, and the playoff matchups are officially set. The postseason tips off Sunday with four Game 1s in the best-of-three quarterfinal round.
This season, the WNBA updated its playoff format to 1-1-1 for the first round, so the series alternates between the cities each game. The semifinal round is best-of-five, and the finals are a seven-game series for the first time.
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Here is a quick look at each first-round matchup:
No. 1 Minnesota Lynx vs. No. 8 Golden State Valkyries
Season series: Minnesota 4-0
Game 1: 1 p.m. Sunday at Minnesota, ESPN
Game 2: 10 p.m. Wednesday at Golden State, ESPN
Game 3: TBD Friday at Minnesota, ESPN2 *
The Lynx have been intermittently resting their starters since clinching the No. 1 overall seed in August, but they had everyone on the court in the regular-season finale against Golden State with a chance to choose their first-round playoff opponent. Had Minnesota lost, it would have faced Seattle, which beat the Lynx twice during the regular season. Instead, Minnesota begins its quest for a WNBA-best fifth championship against the expansion Valkyries after sweeping them by an average of 11 points over four games.
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Reserve Natisha Hiedeman has been particularly good in this matchup, averaging 14.5 points while making 55 percent of her 3s against Golden State.
No. 2 Las Vegas Aces vs. No. 7 Seattle Storm
Season series: Tied 2-2
Game 1: 10 p.m. Sunday at Las Vegas, ESPN
Game 2: 9:30 p.m. Tuesday at Seattle, ESPN
Game 3: TBD Thursday at Las Vegas, ESPN2 *
Get out the popcorn: It’s a Jewell Loyd revenge series! After spending her entire 10-year career in Seattle, Loyd demanded a trade this offseason and landed in Las Vegas — incidentally, the team responsible for the Storm’s last two playoff exits. The grass has been greener for Loyd, who has excelled as a reserve for the first time in her career. She is averaging 11.6 points off the bench while making 40.5 percent of her 3s, and the Aces are handily winning her minutes (plus-13.8 points per 100 possessions).
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Las Vegas enters the playoffs on a 16-game winning streak, tied for the second-longest in WNBA history. Every team to win at least 15 in a row during the regular season has gone on to win the title that year.
No. 3 Atlanta Dream vs. No. 6 Indiana Fever
Season series: Tied 2-2
Game 1: 3 p.m. Sunday at Atlanta, ABC
Game 2: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Indiana, ESPN
Game 3: TBD Thursday at Atlanta, ESPN2 *
Big picture, Atlanta is comfortably the second-best team in the WNBA by point differential. The Dream’s net rating (plus-9.3) is closer to first-place Minnesota (plus-12.1) than third-place New York (plus-5.2), and they were the best team in the league since the All-Star break.
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Although the Dream lost twice to Indiana, those losses came against fundamentally different Fever teams that were starting Caitlin Clark, and even DeWanna Bonner in one game. Sophie Cunningham and Aari McDonald were both available, so it’s hard to glean much from those contests.
Keep an eye on the Aliyah Boston versus Bri Jones matchup, however. Boston was quite good against Jones in last year’s first round when Indiana played Connecticut. She averaged 16.5 points and 12 rebounds and played Jones off the floor, though Atlanta has Brittney Griner waiting on the bench if Jones is out of her depth.
No. 4 Phoenix Mercury vs. No. 5 New York Liberty
Season series: Phoenix 3-1
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Game 1: 5 p.m. Sunday at Phoenix, ESPN
Game 2: 8 p.m. Wednesday at New York, ESPN
Game 3: TBD Friday at Phoenix, ESPN2 *
Although the Mercury beat the Liberty three times during the regular season, New York won the only meeting that featured both teams’ big three of Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones and Sabrina Ionescu, and Alyssa Thomas, Satou Sabally and Kahleah Copper. The defending champions have also added Emma Meesseman since that matchup.
Phoenix has built its identity on defense, and the frontcourt pairing of Thomas and Natasha Mack has a defensive rating of 93.2 points allowed per 100 possessions. In theory, the Liberty frontcourt of Stewart and Jones is well-equipped to exploit that duo since Stewart functions so well as a roamer when she doesn’t have to guard a shooter. If the Mercury’s spacing can survive with those two non-shooters, that could decide this series.
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This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Minnesota Lynx, New York Liberty, Atlanta Dream, Chicago Sky, Indiana Fever, Las Vegas Aces, Phoenix Mercury, Golden State Valkyries, WNBA
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