WNBA: Sun and Lynx sweep opponents, advance to semifinals

Another pair of WNBA playoff games took place on Wednesday, and the results were the same: both top seeds beat their opponents and cruised to the semifinals.

This time, the No. 3-seed Connecticut Sun defeated the No. 6-seed Indiana Fever 87-81, and the No. 2-seed Minnesota Lynx took care of the No. 7-seed Phoenix Mercury 101-88. The two winning teams will now face each other in the semifinals.

Here is the recap on how both top seeds took care of business at home.

Sunset on Fever season

The Fever went on runs, gave a valiant effort and Caitlin Clark certainly showed up, scoring 25 points along with nine assists. However, it wasn’t enough against one of the best teams in the WNBA in the Sun.

Marina Mabrey was spectacular once again, scoring 17 points on 6-for-18 shooting. Alyssa Thomas was reliable as ever, playing all 40 minutes and contributing a double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds.

Connecticut controlled the majority of the game, but Indiana did make a push late, even taking the lead thanks to a Clark 3-pointer with four minutes left in the fourth. Unfortunately for the Fever faithful, the Sun took control from then on, outscoring Indiana 17-10 the rest of the way. Bad turnovers and missed shots hurt the Fever, and Mabrey hit a dagger 3-pointer with 46 seconds left to all but end the contest. Newly-minted Most Improved Player DiJonai Carrington and DeWanna Bonner went on to hit their free throws and close the door on the Fever season for good.

While the Fever had a historic season that we’ll be talking about for years to come, the toxicity and racism players had to deal with cannot be ignored. Throughout the game, disturbing images were being shared online of racist shirts being worn, while fans in attendance also were commenting on the hateful rhetoric being spewed.

You might think these were just a few bad apples or rare instances, but unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to have been the case. After the game, Thomas was adamant that the hateful rhetoric was uncalled for and demanded that the WNBA take action.

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has stumbled when confronted about this toxicity that has increasingly surrounded the league and its players. Still, the W’s official account on X did release a statement that seemed to address these problems after the conclusion of the game.

Hopefully, statements like this will be the beginning of the league taking proactive measures to denounce racism and ensure player safety. The last thing any of us wants to see is a player getting hurt merely for existing and doing their job to the best of their ability.

Was this Diana Taurasi’s last game?

The Lynx steamrolled the Mercury with Napheessa Collier operating the machinery, scoring 42 points on the night. That’s a WNBA playoff record for those keeping track at home. Phoenix had a solid start, but midway through the second quarter, Minnesota took control. In the third, they expanded their lead to double figures and never looked back.

Minus Collier’s domination, the lasting moment of this game was what might be the final time we see Diana Taurasi playing professional basketball. There have been loud rumblings that this is it for her, and she gave a heartfelt speech after her final regular-season game at the Footprint Center. If this is it, she may not have gone out a champion, but she did leave a legend. Lynx fans made sure to give her a standing ovation as she walked off the court after fouling out.

Boring first round?

While we had some incredible moments in the opening round, we also had all sweeps, with no lower-seeded teams winning a game. Where is the tension? How intriguing is the competition when the final result is so predictable? Yes, this is better than single-elimination games, but only marginally so.

The biggest issue is that there isn’t parity in the WNBA. The gap between the best and the rest is still massive. Until we get more expansion and talent spreads out, this won’t go away. A best-of-five format would be slightly better, as would give all teams home games, but you’d likely still have the top seeds dominating and lower seeds struggling to get one home victory.

For now, we turn the page and focus on the semifinals, which will likely be much more competitive. The teams are evenly matched, and all four teams have valid cases to win not only their series but also the championship.