WNBA playoffs 2024: Predicting Aces-Liberty, Sun-Lynx semis

Michael Voepel

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Michael Voepel

ESPN Senior Writer

Michael Voepel is a senior writer who covers the WNBA, women’s college basketball and other college sports. Voepel began covering women’s basketball in 1984, and has been with ESPN since 1996.

Katie Barnes

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Katie Barnes

ESPN.com

Katie Barnes is a writer/reporter for ESPN.com. Follow them on Twitter at Katie_Barnes3.

Sep 26, 2024, 01:58 AM ET

Surprises in the first round of the 2024 WNBA playoffs? Try sweeps. The top four seeds each advanced to what should be two blockbuster semifinal series, which tip off Sunday.

What the first round lacked in drama with four 2-0 sweeps, the semifinals could have in abundance. The No. 1 seed New York Liberty will face the No. 4 Las Vegas Aces (3 p.m. ET, ABC) in a rematch of last season’s WNBA Finals. That matchup was set on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, the No. 3 seed Connecticut Sun advanced to the WNBA semifinals for the sixth consecutive season by eliminating the Indiana Fever.

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Then Napheesa Collier scored a WNBA playoff record-tying 42 points as the No. 2 seed Minnesota Lynx knocked out the Phoenix Mercury in what could be the last game of Mercury legend Diana Taurasi’s career.

Both semifinal matchups are between teams that have won WNBA titles and teams that haven’t. The Aces are the two-time defending champions, while New York is 0-5 in its past attempts playing for the championship.

The Lynx have won four titles — they came during a seven-season stretch when Minnesota made the Finals six times. The Sun have played in the Finals four times, most recently in 2022, but never won.

Four of the top-five finishers in MVP voting will be competing in the semifinals: unanimous winner A’ja Wilson of Las Vegas, second-place finisher Collier, New York’s Breanna Stewart (third) and Connecticut’s Alyssa Thomas (fifth).

Let’s look at the matchups for the best-of-five semifinals.