The 2024 Women’s National Basketball League (WNBA) playoffs have begun and it opened with the Las Vegas Aces versus the Seattle storm.
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Game One of WNBA Playoffs
The number four seed Aces hosted the number five seed Storm in Las Vegas at Michelob ULTRA arena to a sold out crowd. The Aces had a slight advantage with unanimous MVP A’ja Wilson, who scored 21 points and 8 rebounds.
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The Seattle Storm started the game with a lead in the first quarter, 18-7. However, they were outscored in the second quarter by the Aces. This allowed the gap to close with Seattle at 42 and Las Vegas at 38.
The Storm led the game and seemed to have the Las Vegas Aces hanging by a thread for the first game of the playoffs. The Aces are also the two-time defending WNBA playoff champions.
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A win for Seattle would have been huge, however the fourth quarter brought rain onto their parade as they only scored two points in the fourth quarter.
- Las Vegas Aces: This is A’ja Wilson’s 18th playoff game with 20+ points, which ties her for 10th in WNBA history.
- Seattle Storm: The Storm led in rebounds, outrebounding the Aces by 40-33.
- Las Vegas Aces: The Aces rallied in the fourth quarter to outscore the Storm, 14-2.
- Seattle Storm: If they want to win game two against the Aces, they can’t back down. The Aces are not a team you can give space to shoot and score, because they will have a fire in them. Coach Noelle Quinn of the Storm will have to remind her team to let this game go, study the film, and play their best when they face off the Aces next.
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A’ja Wilson had this to say:
“They kind of punched us in the mouth in the first half, but in the second half we just figured it out. It just clicked with us on the defensive end, we have to buckle down. There’s no ifs, ands or buts about it. That’s where we can fuel our offense. We just started to lock in more. Turned up our physicality. (Coach) Becky (Hammon) yelled at us in the locker room. Obviously, that woke us up and we just took it personal.”
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The first round games have brought much drama in the fourth quarters. The Phoenix Mercury lose their first in a best of three playoff series against the Minnesota Lynx. The score was 102-95, with the Lynx taking the win at home at the Target Center. Second seed Lynx faced the number seven seed Phoenix Mercury in Minnesota with a 56-42 lead by half time.
The fourth quarter was tight in the final minutes, with a layup from Natasha Cloud putting the Mercury in the lead at 92-91 with 2:06 left in the game.
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However, the lead was momentarily enjoyed by the Mercury. The Lynx were not going to let that stop them. Kayla McBride sinks 4 out of 4 free throws in the final seconds. Napheesa Collier also sinks her 5 free throws in the fourth quarter and Bridget Carleton makes a 23-foot three point step back jump shot in the 39th second.
The Lynx fought off the Mercury to win the game, but not without feeling the consequences of a deliberate and motivated Mercury.
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Minnesota Lynx: A late rally by the Lynx allowed them to squeak away with the win in this first game. However, they led the first quarter by 15 points to only drop their lead. Finishing chances is going to be huge for the Lynx.
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Phoenix Mercury: Tenacity is their game and it got them to catch up to the Lynx, who blew their lead. This kind of grit and putting the work in will allow the Mercury to be dangerous in game two.
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Minnesota Lynx: Napheesa Collier had a playoff career high 38 points.
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Phoenix Mercury: Natasha Cloud is the first player in WNBA history to score 30+ points and 5+ assists in consecutive playoff games. September 19, 2023 saw her get 33 points and 9 assists. This year on September 22, she scored another 33 points and recorded 10 assists.
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The Connecticut Sun won the first game against the Indiana Fever, needing only one more win at home to secure semi-finals placement.
The score ended up with the Sun at 93, which was their seventh highest point production in postseason history. The Fever fizzled out at 69 points, with rookie star Caitlin Clark squeaking out only 11 points.
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The Sun have been to the playoffs more than the Fever, giving them more experience but the Fever didn’t initially seem shaken by this. The Sun knew defense would be key to victory, and DeWanna Bonner provided some of those key blocks for her team.
- Connecticut Sun: Taking the wind out of their opponents, the Sun figured out ways to shut Clark down including a block from DeWanna Bonner. Bonner finished the first 20 minutes with 16 points.
- Indiana Fever: This is the Fever’s first playoff appearance since 2016 and the current Connecticut head coach led them there that year. This is a chance for them to show everyone that they are more than just Clark and can win playoff games.
- Connecticut Sun: Marina Mabrey scored back to back three pointers right after Clark hit a 3 pointer to bring the game within six points. This kept the Sun’s lead in double figures for the rest of the game.
- Indiana Fever: The Fever have now dropped four of their last five matchups against the Sun and need to adjust their gameplay if they want to extend the series to 3 games and have a shot at semi finals.
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The first seed team, New York Liberty, played eighth seed, Atlanta Dream for the fourth matchup of the playoffs. The Liberty won 83 to the Dream’s 69, making that the first of two games needed to make it to the semi-finals.
Both teams were fairly matched in some areas heading into the game, such as turnovers and rebounds with 16-15 the Dream for turnovers and 37-36 rebounds with the Liberty leading.
It is in field goal percentages that the Liberty step forward, with 43.3% to the Dream’s 39.7%. The three point % also favored the Liberty at 34.8% to Atlanta’s 18.8%.
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The Liberty started rookie Leonie Fiebich over veteran Courtney Vandersloot, which the coach said helped them in their height category to defend against Rhyne Howard, who is the Atlanta Dream’s top regular season scorer.
Howard was the 2022 WNBA round one first pick and has 17.3 points per game average. The Liberty did well to cover Howard, who only scored 14 points in the first round playoff match.
During the game, the Dream experienced a four minute scoreless period which is 40% of their quarter. This is an easy moment to point out how the Dream need to find more creative ways to counter the Liberty, who didn’t slow down once.
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Fiebich scored a career-so-far high of 21 points, and is sure to start the next playoff game versus the Atlanta Dream.
- NY Liberty: The Liberty never trailed the Atlanta Dream, which must be a confidence boost for the number one seed team.
- Atlanta Dream: Physicality is going to be one of the benchmarks for Atlanta’s success. The Liberty came in their first playoff game ready to stop Atlanta’s fast-pace and Atlanta scrambled in response. They will need to match the energy of the Liberty to make it through game two.
- NY Liberty: The Liberty made their first six field goal attempts, which included four three-pointers.
- Atlanta Dream: Cohesion is necessary if the Dream wants to make it to a third game. Even though they beat the NY Liberty in their last regular season game, this is not the same team as the Liberty let their starters rest. The Dream will have to clean up their defense and show up from the first whistle.
The opening round of playoffs will feature four best of three series, in which the higher seeded team gets the home court advantage for the first two games. If a third game is necessary, then they will go to the lower seeded team’s home court.
Semifinals and championship rounds with a best of five series and play a 2-2-1 home-away format.
You can watch the playoffs for the WNBA on ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC. Check WNBA.com for updates.
