{"id":37433,"date":"2025-07-25T23:22:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-25T23:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/37433\/"},"modified":"2025-07-25T23:22:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T23:22:08","slug":"if-the-wnba-playoffs-began-today-heres-who-would-face-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/37433\/","title":{"rendered":"If the WNBA playoffs began today, here\u2019s who would face off…"},"content":{"rendered":"

The WNBA<\/a> playoffs are set to begin on September 14, and 8 of the league\u2019s 13 teams will face off in a best-of-three series. <\/p>\n

Starting this year, first-round games will be played in a home-away-home format, meaning that the lower-seeded team is guaranteed to get at least one game in front of their home crowd. <\/p>\n

We\u2019re still about six weeks out from the conclusion of the WNBA\u2019s regular season, but here\u2019s who will face off if the playoffs were to begin today.<\/p>\n

No. 1 Minnesota Lynx vs. No. 8 Washington Mystics<\/p>\n

With a 21-4 record, the Lynx have been the WNBA\u2019s most consistent team. Napheesa Collier<\/a> appears to be a clear frontrunner for MVP, and Minnesota\u2019s three All-Stars \u2014 Collier, Kayla McBride<\/a>, and Courtney Williams<\/a> \u2014 seem motivated to bounce back from last year\u2019s Finals loss. <\/p>\n

The Mystics have exceeded expectations, in large part due to the play of their two rookies, Sonia Citron<\/a> and Kiki Iriafen<\/a>. Both players were named All-Stars, as was Brittney Sykes, who is having a career season at age 31. Washington would be a serious underdog in this series, but the fact that they\u2019re in the playoff race to begin with is something to celebrate. <\/p>\n

No. 2 New York Liberty vs. No. 7 Las Vegas Aces<\/p>\n

The last two WNBA champions would face off in a first-round series if the playoffs were to begin today. The Liberty (16-6) slid a bit when Jonquel Jones<\/a> went out with an ankle injury, but they\u2019ve now won four straight games and have added Belgian star Emma Meeseman<\/a> to the mix. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Aces have been underwhelming at 12-12, and Jewell Loyd has been a downgrade for Kelsey Plum<\/a>. Still, Las Vegas has three-time MVP A\u2019ja Wilson<\/a> and a championship core alongside Wilson headlined by Jackie Young<\/a> and Chelsea Gray. This would be a star-studded first-round series. <\/p>\n

No. 3 Phoenix Mercury vs. No. 6 Indiana Fever<\/p>\n

The Mercury (15-8) have quietly been one of the WNBA\u2019s most dominant teams. Satou Sabally and Alyssa Thomas<\/a> have led the charge, but Kahleah Copper<\/a> is back in the mix, too, after coming back from preseason knee surgery. DeWanna Bonner<\/a>, who joined the Mercury earlier this month, has been excellent in her four games, averaging 14.5 points on 51.4% shooting. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Fever (13-12) have had a frustrating season, headlined by the injury struggles of star sophomore guard Caitlin Clark<\/a>. Clark has dealt with calf and groin injuries and has appeared in just 13 games this season. Assuming she\u2019s back from her groin injury by the postseason, the Fever are a wildcard team to make a playoff push, in large part thanks to consistent play from fellow All-Stars Kelsey Mitchell<\/a> and Aliyah Boston<\/a>. <\/p>\n

This first-round series would also be an opportunity for Bonner to face the team she began the year with. <\/p>\n

No. 4 Seattle Storm vs. No. 5 Atlanta Dream <\/p>\n

The Storm (15-10) and Dream (14-10) would face off if the WNBA playoffs began today. The Dream have won just 4 of their last 10 games and are on the decline after starting the year hot, while the Storm have won 6 of 10 to hold onto fourth place. <\/p>\n

Seattle\u2019s strong play can largely be attributed to its All-Star trio of Skylar Diggins-Smith<\/a>, Gabby Williams<\/a>, and Nneka Ogwumike<\/a>, with Williams earning her first All-Star selection amid a career season, particularly on the defensive end. <\/p>\n

On the Dream side, Allisha Gray<\/a> is having an MVP-caliber season, Rhyne Howard<\/a> has earned her first All-Star selection, and the additions of Brionna Jones<\/a> and Brittney Griner<\/a> have elevated the Dream from a fringe playoff team to a contender. This would likely be one of the league\u2019s most competitive first-round series. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The WNBA playoffs are set to begin on September 14, and 8 of the league\u2019s 13 teams will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37434,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[1699,30492,10529,8587,424,18951,2493,27700,4052,419,11821,99,1596,7349,11985,434,4679,1700,1765,4808],"class_list":["post-37433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-all-womens-sports","tag-began","tag-com","tag-face","tag-front-page","tag-here","tag-if","tag-off","tag-playoffs","tag-s","tag-sbnation","tag-sports","tag-the","tag-today","tag-who","tag-wnba","tag-wnba-news","tag-wnba-content","tag-womens-sports","tag-would"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37433"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37433\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}