WNBA Playoffs Poised for Shockwaves: Which Underdog Will Topple the Titans?

When the WNBA playoffs roll around, you know the script is always going to have some wild twists. This year? Oh, it’s a doozy. Picture this—a Las Vegas Aces team absolutely scorching the courts with a historic hot streak, the Indiana Fever quietly plotting upsets like a clever fox, and the Atlanta Dream flying just under everyone’s radar as a seriously underrated threat. Add to that the Golden State Valkyries, the rookie phenoms making history as the first-ever expansion team to punch their ticket to the postseason in their inaugural season. Sounds like a recipe for chaos, right? So, can anyone really predict how this madness is going to unfold? Buckle up, because after the dust settles on the regular season, Round 1 promises jaw-dropping matchups that nobody should take lightly. LEARN MORE.

A scorching Las Vegas Aces squad, the upset-minded Indiana Fever, and an underrated title contender headline this year’s postseason in which anything can happen.

The WNBA playoffs, as usual, are not short on storylines or questions.

In Las Vegas, the Aces enter the postseason on a hot streak for the ages. A potential title defense for the New York Liberty won’t begin at Barclays, as the reigning champs occupy the fifth seed and must trek the desert to face the Phoenix Mercury.

The Atlanta Dream have flown under the radar all year but could be ready to put the basketball world on notice with their roster of unheralded veterans.

And the Golden State Valkyries probably won’t say they’re merely happy to be here, but … they probably are just happy to be here. They’ve already made history as the first expansion team to make the WNBA postseason in their inaugural season.

After wrapping up the regular season on Thursday, here’s how things shape up in Round 1.

No. 1 Minnesota Lynx vs. No. 8 Golden State Valkyries

Congratulations on the best inaugural season in WNBA history, Valkyries!

For your prize, you get to play the Lynx, who were No. 1 in Opta’s TRACR rankings (11.6), had the best offensive rating (109.5), defensive rating (97.5), net rating (12.1), field goal percentage (47.2), 3-point percentage (37.8), and most assists (23.3 per game) in the WNBA this year.

Godspeed.

The Lynx also dominated all four meetings this season, winning three of them by double-figures. The Valkyries are a defensive-minded team that gets stagnant on offense, evidenced by their No. 10 offensive rating, and that identity has gotten them further than most expected – but now they’re facing a defensive-minded team that also scores more than everyone else, making the Valks’ path to victory quite narrow.

This has been a near-storybook year for the W’s latest expansion team. Making the postseason at all is a historic feat, and Ballhalla will be bananas when this series shifts back to the Bay for Game 2. But upending the mighty Lynx might require some divine intervention.

Napheesa Collier looks to lead Minnesota to the promised land after wrapping up the second 50-40-90 season in WNBA history. This team can shapeshift into any form at any time. If the Lynx need offensive pop, call on Courtney Williams or Natisha Hiedeman. When the defense needs to lock down, Alanna Smith and midseason trade addition Dijonai Carrington (who hopes to play in this series despite nursing a shoulder injury) are on call.

There’s no wiggle room against the Lynx, because whenever you think you’ve figured them out, they can morph into a whole different team before your eyes.

No. 2 Las Vegas Aces vs. No. 7 Seattle Storm

Facing A’ja Wilson and the Aces never looks fun. Playing them while they are tied for the second-longest winning streak in league history and Wilson is playing historically elite basketball sounds like a nightmare.

The three-time WNBA MVP has scored 30-plus points in eight of the Aces’ 16 straight wins, and recorded a double-double in nine of them. Her career accomplishments are nearly never-ending, yet this may be the best she’s ever played, and it’s directly translating to a staggering win streak.

The Seattle Storm are the unfortunate team that has to face the (once again) juggernaut Aces. The Storm are just 7-10 since Aug. 1, and there isn’t one stat that stands out as the big problem … which is kind of the problem.

While the Storm still field a talented roster, led by Nneka Ogwumike (18.3 points per game), Skylar Diggins (6.0 assists) and the always-elite defense of Gabby Williams, there likely isn’t enough consistent offensive pop on this team to trust them against the torrid Aces.

No. 3 Atlanta Dream vs. No. 6 Indiana Fever

Perhaps the least talked about title contender, the Dream have been a force all season.

What has caused the Dream to go so unnoticed despite dominating pretty much the entire WNBA season? Perhaps it’s because their veteran core is full of impact players who aren’t household names.

Allisha Gray, Bri Jones, Jordin Canada, Naz Hillmon are all having sensational seasons, but they’re doing so in somewhat anonymity when compared to the league’s stars. The team’s most popular player, Brittney Griner, has seen her volume go down considerably – averaging under 10 points per game for the first time in her career.

If the Lynx didn’t exist, the Dream would be far more ubiquitous – they are No. 2 in offensive rating, defensive rating and net rating. For how dominant the Lynx have been on both ends, the Dream really aren’t too far behind. This team is 15-3 in its past 18 games.

Once again, they’re not the star of the show because another team is doing things slightly better, but the Dream will force you to watch this postseason. Their opponent, the now-shorthanded Fever, have done an admirable job staying afloat after Caitlin Clark, Sophie Cunningham, Aari McDonald and Sydney Colson all suffered season-ending injuries.

Kelsey Mitchell (20.2 points per game) and Aliyah Boston (15.0 points, 8.2 rebounds per game), have emerged as one of the best duos in the league.

Odyssey Sims and Aerial Powers are experiencing late-career resurgences with the Fever, and they couldn’t come at a better time. Stephanie White has kept the lights on even when the injury bug has bitten this team over and over again.

What started as a powerhouse Finals contender at the beginning of the year has morphed into a true underdog story out of pure necessity.

No. 4 Phoenix Mercury vs. No. 5 New York Liberty

This being a first-round matchup feels illegal. Every positional matchup is fun in this series, but keep an eye on the underrated point guard battle between Mercury rookie Monique Akoa Makani and Liberty veteran Natasha Cloud.

You don’t need to squint too hard to see shades of a young Cloud in Akoa Makani’s game, and watching them battle on both ends (Akoa Makani could sneak onto a WNBA All-Defense team as a rookie) should be thrilling.

The rest of the matchups, like Breanna Stewart vs. Alyssa Thomas, should be just as exciting. The Mercury and Liberty finished the season with identical records, but Phoenix earned the No. 4 seed thanks to winning the season series.

The Liberty went just 11-11 in the second half of the WNBA season, but two-time Stewart missed a chunk of those games with a knee injury and Sabrina Ionescu (18.2 points per game) also missed four games recently before returning for the last two.

Plus, we watched the Liberty go 9-0 to start the season – showing that dominant team from last year is still in there somewhere. But along the way, the Liberty will be challenged by the Mercury and Thomas, who just wrapped up the best passing season – one of the best overall seasons, really – in WNBA history.

Thomas’ 9.15 assists per game are the most in a full season (Courtney Vandersloot had 9.95 assists in a 22-game 2020 season) and her eight triple-doubles stand alone, too.

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