WNBA First-Round Playoff Matchups Set
The WNBA playoff seeding came down to the final regular season games, literally. The standings have seen a lot of moving and shaking in the last week given how bunched up the postseason teams are, but the dust has finally settled and first-round matchups are set.
The Minnesota Lynx beating the Indiana Fever combined with the surging Washington Mystics defeating the Chicago Sky moved the Mystics into the 5th seed and the Fever into 6th. Meanwhile, the Las Vegas Aces beat the Phoenix Mercury and the Golden State Valkyries stormed back to defeat the Los Angeles Sparks, so those two teams held their seeds at No. 3 and No. 2 respectively.
Here are the first-round matchups after that movement.
No. 1 seed Minnesota Lynx vs No. 8 seed New York Liberty
This was the one matchup set prior to the final regular season game. The Lynx have been the best team all season long but don't exactly enter the playoffs rolling. Minnesota did rout the Fever in the regular season finale, but they weren't playing their best basketball heading in. Rookie sensation Olivia Miles missed the last two games to rest a calf injury.
The Liberty did not meet expectations this year and Breanna Stewart sat out their final game due to knee soreness. But Stewart is obviously a proven winner and New York is not a typical eight seed.
No. 2 Golden State Valkyries vs No. 7 Dallas Wings
The Valkyries, the best defensive team in the league, will take on an explosive Wings team led by Paige Bueckers.
Golden State has exceeded expectations in the second season for the franchise, while Dallas has had the biggest year-to-year turnaround in league history. Bueckers and company will attempt to crack the length and perimeter defense of the Valkyries, with two of the possible three games taking place in front of the raucous home crowd in the Bay area.
No. 3 Las Vegas Aces vs No. 6 Indiana Fever
The defending champions will take on the league's best offense in the Fever, with three of the top players in the MVP conversation taking the floor. Reigning MVP, and the favorite to win it again, A'ja Wilson leads the Aces, while Indiana is powered by its backcourt duo of Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell.
The Fever won two of three versus Las Vegas and the one loss came in overtime. Aliyah Boston guards Wilson as well as any player in the WNBA and Indiana will look to push the pace against the decorated veterans on the Aces.
No. 4 Atlanta Dream vs No. 5 Washington Mystics
Angel Reese will be in for a battle on the interior against the Mystics frontline featuring Kiki Iriafen and Shakira Austin.
Plus, Sonia Citron is well-equipped to guard the Dream's elite-perimeter scoring duo of Allisha Gray and Rhyne Howard. This should certainly be a fun matchup as the young Washington squad enters the playoffs red-hot.
Given how much parity there is, the first round of the WNBA playoffs should be full of nail-biters. The best-of-three series get underway Sunday when the postseason commences.
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Robin Lundberg is a media veteran and hoops head who has spent the bulk of his career with iconic brands like Sports Illustrated and ESPN. His insights have also been featured on platforms such as Fox and CNN and he can currently be heard hosting shows for Sirius XM and on his burgeoning YouTube show. And now he brings his basketball expertise to Women's Fastbreak on SI!
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