Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers (5) dribbles past Minnesota Lynx guard Kayla McBride (21) as she drove the baseline during the first half at College Park Center in Arlington, May 14, 2026.
Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News
The 2026 WNBA playoffs begin Sunday, with the No. 7 seed Dallas Wings visiting the No. 2 seed Golden State Valkyries at the Chase Center for Game 1 of their first round series.
Below are the first round playoff pairings and predictions for this year’s WNBA postseason.
Playoff pairings
No. 1 Minnesota Lynx vs. No. 8 New York Liberty
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No. 2 Golden State Valkyries vs. No. 7 Dallas Wings
No. 3 Las Vegas Aces vs. No. 6 Indiana Fever
No. 4 Atlanta Dream vs. No. 5 Washington Mystics
Best first-round matchup
The first round has plenty of intriguing matchups, including the 2024 WNBA Finals rematch between the No.1 Minnesota Lynx and the No. 8 New York Liberty.
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But the clash between the No. 3 Las Vegas Aces and the No. 6 Indiana Fever might be the best one. Indiana took the regular season series against the defending WNBA champions, though Las Vegas won the last meeting 86-84 in overtime. In the previous two games, the Fever beat the Aces by 16 or more points.
The teams met in the WNBA Semifinals last season, with the Aces winning the series in five games. Their rosters boast the top three scorers in the league, as the Fever claim Caitlin Clark (22.3 ppg) and Kelsey Mitchell (24.7 ppg) and the Aces possess defending league MVP A’Ja Wilson (26.2 ppg).
Semifinalists
No. 1 Minnesota Lynx vs. No. 4 Atlanta Dream
No. 2 Golden State Valkyries vs. No. 3 Las Vegas Aces
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Finalists
No. 1 Minnesota Lynx vs. No. 3 Las Vegas Aces
Dark horse team
The No. 7 Wings struggled against top teams this year, losing their regular season series to the No. 1 Lynx, No. 2 Valkyries, No. 4 Dream and No. 5 Mystics.
But if Dallas can get past Golden State, which won its regular season series 3–0 against the Wings, it looks like it could be a dark horse in this year’s playoffs.
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Dallas hasn’t played its best basketball against the Valkyries, but Golden State hasn’t looked as formidable in its last two games. The Valkyries fell 90-82 to the Portland Fire in overtime in the second-to-last game of the season and edged out the Los Angeles Sparks 76-75 in the regular season finale.
The Wings won their regular season series against No. 3 Las Vegas, No. 6 Indiana and No. 8 New York. Dallas went 0–4 against Minnesota, but two of those games were decided by eight points or less. Atlanta also swept the Wings, beating Dallas by five points or less in two out of three games.
Dallas beat Washington to open the teams’ regular season series, but the Mystics won the last two games by six points or less.
Star guard Paige Bueckers (20.9 ppg) gives the Wings an edge whenever she’s on the court, but it will also take consistent performances from veteran guard Arike Ogunbowale and forward Jessica Shepard for Dallas to shock the league in this year’s playoffs.
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WNBA champion
With a star-studded roster that includes Rookie of the Year front runner Olivia Miles and four-time champion Cheryl Reeve as coach, the Minnesota Lynx have been in control for what feels like the whole season. If they play like they have all year, they should secure their fifth WNBA championship.