The WNBA playoffs begins with best-of-three first round matchups followed by a best-of-five semifinals and finals. (Photo courtesy of Tiempo Latino)
After four months of regular season play, the WNBA playoffs tip off this Sunday, with the league’s top eight teams facing off in postseason play.
The one-seed New York Liberty is coming off a historic season, becoming the first team to win at least 32 games in consecutive seasons. Led by the dynamic duo of reigning MVP Breanna Stewart and All-Star guard Sabrina Ionescu — and a nightly double-double threat in Jonquel Jones — the Seafoam Green look to avenge last season’s loss in the WNBA finals against the Los Vegas Aces.
Following a year marked by inconsistent play, a mediocre 19-21 record and a first-round playoff loss to the Connecticut Sun, the Minnesota Lynx rallied behind superstar forward Napheesa Collier to reach 30 wins for the first time in franchise history. Propelled by an excellent defense, boasting the league’s second-best defensive rating, the 2024 WNBA Commissioner’s Cup winners seek to add to their trophy case and win their fifth WNBA finals.
The Connecticut Sun got off to a fiery start to begin their 2024 campaign, beginning the summer 9-0 before falling in the Commissioner’s Cup semifinal to the Liberty. With a well-rounded cast of six players averaging double-digit points per game, including the versatile Alyssa Thomas averaging 10.3 points per game, alongside 8.5 rebounds and 7.9 assists per game, the Sun look to set ablaze the rest of the league in this year’s postseason.
The reigning back-to-back WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces look to make it a three-peat this postseason. Led by the likely MVP in A’Ja Wilson, who recently became the single-season scoring leader, her co-star Kelsey Plum and one of the league’s most decorated head coaches, Becky Hammon, the Aces remain a threat for title contention despite a slip in the overall season standings from last year.
The fifth-seeded Seattle Storm returns to the playoffs for the first time since Breanna Stewart’s departure for New York. Despite having lost out on home-court advantage in the playoffs due to crucial losses during the closing stretch of the season, the Storm still have a chance to make some thunder in this year’s playoffs, with Jewell Loyd, Nneka Ogwumike, and Skylar Diggins-Smith leading a well-rounded scoring attack for Seattle.
The story of the sixth-seeded Indiana Fever has been the sensational rookie season from Caitlin Clark. Despite a frustrating 1-8 start to the season, the team has rallied behind Clark’s shotmaking skills and playmaking mastery — she recently beat the WNBA single-season assist record. While the Fever remains relatively inexperienced, being tied for the second-youngest team by age in the association, Indiana will still gladly accept ending a seven-year playoff drought.
Coming off a disappointing 9-31 season devastated by injuries, the Phoenix Mercury return to the WNBA postseason. While nine-time All-Star Britney Griner has missed a handful of games throughout the season, the team has hovered around a .500 record thanks to the efforts of Kahleah Copper, whose career-best 21.6 points per game have helped Phoenix remain afloat.
Finals prediction: Liberty vs. Sun, New York wins its first-ever NBA finals in a clash with Connecticut.
