The WNBA started in playoff mode in September and after three weeks of fighting for the rankings, which remained exciting until the final hours, it is now time for the actual postseason. For the top seeds, team history is at stake and icons could play the last games of their careers.
All eight playoff teams begin their best-of-three first-round matches on Sunday.
Aces want to score third win in a row, the future of the four core teams is uncertain
The defending champion Las Vegas Aces are in a new position as they try to win their third straight title. The franchise, which won both titles as the No. 1 overall pick, is outside the top three for the first time since 2019, and the road to the championship title is more difficult in what could be the final year for the sensational core four.
Head coach Becky Hammon said she didn’t notice an increase in performance from her team at the start of training camp and that it has been missing all year. The Aces started 6-6 while three-time point guard Chelsea Gray was nursing a leg injury and trying to shift into high gear in recent weeks. A’ja Wilson, the projected MVP who broke the single-season scoring record, elevated her play to an even more dominant level, but she can’t win games on her own.
It could be the final run for the four core players who make up the bulk of the Aces’ offense. Wilson (2018, No. 1 overall pick) signed a two-year contract extension in June 2023, while Gray (2021 free agent) and guard Jackie Young (2019, No. 1 overall pick) each signed two-year extensions last spring. Kelsey Plum (2017, No. 1 overall pick) is an unrestricted free agent, according to data from Her Hoop Stats. Reserves Tiffany Hayes, Alysha Clark and Sydney Colson are also UFAs and could clear 40% of their salary cap space in an active offseason.
The Aces have not been as successful at home this year as they were last year, when they went 19-1. The Aces will host the first two games of the first round against Seattle. They could face New York in a semifinal rematch that would begin with two games in Brooklyn.
The Houston Comets are the only team in WNBA history to win three games in a row, winning the league’s first four championships in a two-round, best-of-three playoff format.
Liberty still has no interest in the franchise’s first championship
The Liberty franchise knows how to get to a WNBA Finals. How to win it is another story. New York is the only original franchise without a championship title, despite having made five Finals appearances, including last year’s loss to the Aces. Could this year finally be their time?
The Liberty have carved out a pristine position for themselves with the No. 1 overall pick, an All-Star-studded starting lineup that has played together for two seasons, and a deeper bench. Although they have remained at the top of the standings for most of the season, their path to the playoffs could prove problematic. New York could face Las Vegas in the semifinals and Minnesota in the finals, both teams that have given them trouble in the final weeks of the regular season.
The Liberty blew a 20-point lead against the Aces and had to fight for the win 75-71. It was a reminder of the 2023 Finals and that Las Vegas is not going to go down easily. A week later, the Liberty dug themselves into a 26-point hole against Minnesota – their biggest deficit of the season – and despite an incredible performance from reigning MVP Breanna Stewart with 38 points and 18 rebounds, they were unable to recover and lost 88-79.
Sabrina Ionescu, an MVP candidate whose improved play has lifted New York, hasn’t shot as well since the All-Star/Olympic break. She’s hit less than 30% of her attempts six times, and all but one has come since the break. She hit 4-of-21 (2-of-12 threes) against Minnesota and 6-of-21 against Las Vegas (1-of-9 threes). That’s not enough for the star guard to beat the league’s best. The Liberty also need to get Jonquel Jones in early and more often to win these series, should they come.
Lynx and Storm fight for league history
A win by Minnesota or Seattle would break the three-way tie with the defunct Houston Comets for the most championships by a franchise in league history.
The Lynx have the best chance to be the first to win their fifth title and could arguably be considered the favorites for the postseason despite their No. 2 position behind the Liberty. Minnesota marched into Brooklyn and dismantled the super team with their “collective,” as Cheryl Reeve put it, boasting a historic assist rate, excellent defense and outstanding three-point shooting.
Minnesota won four championships in a seven-year span under Reeve in the 2010s. The last jersey – Maya Moore’s – from that legendary group was retired by the franchise this summer.
Seattle’s superteam comes into the race with fewer chances. The Storm won their four titles in three different decades, the last of which came in 2020 with Sue Bird, Breanna Stewart and Jewell Loyd. Phoenix could tie them all this season with a fourth franchise championship.
Diana Taurasi’s retirement is imminent
Is this the last time we’ll see Diana Taurasi play in the WNBA? It’s a clever marketing tactic to sell tickets to regular-season home games, but it’s also a fair question. The three-time WNBA champion and 2009 MVP is coming off her 20th season of play and has long said she wasn’t “just going to walk away.” It’s in character to follow the path of Candace Parker, who made her offseason decision without much fanfare, rather than the path of Sue Bird, who went on a “retirement tour” in her final season.
Taurasi said this week that she doesn’t want to make any “emotional, hasty decisions” and while she knows “the end is near,” she doesn’t know right now when exactly that will be. Taurasi is an unrestricted free agent and has already said she will not bid for the 2028 Olympics, an indication that the end of her career is within the next four years.
The No. 2 Lynx host the No. 7 Mercury in the first round with the first two games in Minneapolis. Phoenix must secure a win to play the decisive Game 3 at home in front of X-Factor fans.
Taurasi, 42, won two Finals MVPs in a career spent entirely in Phoenix. Whether it’s this offseason or another, she’ll retire with a plethora of records, including the most points in WNBA history by a significant margin over Tina Charles. The logo, updated in 2019, is said to be based on Taurasi and feature her signature bun.
What’s next for the Sun if it’s not a title?
The Sun are one of the most successful franchises of the last decade, but they don’t have a championship to show for it. In that time, they’ve signed spectacular free agents, changed coaches, and made a rare midseason trade. Is this finally their season, and if not, how do they get there?
The Sun are eager to compete for the chip after bolstering their three-point shooting and offensive space with Marina Mabrey, who joined them during the break after requesting a transfer from Chicago. Defense remains the Sun’s calling card, with a league-best defensive rating of 94.5 and just average offensive rating (their offensive rating of 102 ranks seventh).
Connecticut, however, has won most of its wins against the bottom teams and struggled otherwise. The Sun are 4-9 against the other top five: Liberty (1-3), Lynx (2-1), Storm (1-2) and Aces (0-3). And two of those wins against Minnesota came in the first half of the season. That should give fans reason to think about the Sun in later rounds if the team gets past the first. Connecticut faces Indiana, one of the strongest teams since the Olympic break.
The Sun will have big decisions to make in the offseason either way. Their longtime core of Alyssa Thomas, DeWanna Bonner and Brionna Jones are unrestricted free agents, according to Her Hoop Stats. Bonner and Jones signed one-year deals last summer. Mabrey is one of three players signed for 2025. She and reserve forward Olivia Nelson-Ododa have guaranteed contracts, and Tyasha Harris is unprotected. The WNBA has not yet announced how the expansion draft will work for the Golden State Valkyries, so the status of certain players is still uncertain.
They’re also at a disadvantage when it comes to attracting star players who are out of contract. They don’t have their own training facility – an active arms race among elite franchises – and as the league’s most rural team, they have the most difficult travel.
Will Caitlin Clark and Fever surprise each other?
The question that has been on everyone’s mind for weeks: How far can the fever go?
For Indiana, the first-round matchup with Connecticut is a good draw to reach the semifinals for the first time since reaching the finals in 2015. Indiana is a completely different team than the one that suffered a 21-point loss in Connecticut at the season opener.
Caitlin Clark is playing more like a seasoned veteran as her rookie season comes to an end and Kelsey Mitchell is healthy again after an ankle injury limited her minutes in the preseason. They have formed the league’s most dangerous backcourt and have averaged 49.1 points overall since the All-Star/Olympic break, up from 35 points previously.
Aliyah Boston and NaLyssa Smith are more comfortable with Clark, and Lexie Hull’s long-range shooting makes the team three dangerous opponents. After losing three times to the Sun in its first month of league play, Indiana blew apart the Sun’s league-best defense and won its fourth game last month, shooting 43% from the three-point line.
This is the third season the WNBA has used the best-of-three first-round series, and the Sun have played all three games as a No. 3 seed the last two years. In 2022, they lost Game 2 and were sent to Dallas. In 2023, the Sun lost Game 2 again and were sent to Minnesota.
In 2024, the state of alert will be renewed.
