With the 2025 WNBA Playoffs getting underway on Sunday, which first-round sequence carries the most effective headlines?
The WNBA Playoffs: take pleasure in them whilst you can.
With a probably brutal labor battle on the horizon, the league and its high eight finishers will get a final hurrah of types with the annual postseason match, which will get underway with a quartet of quarterfinal openers all through Sunday. The league-leading Minnesota Lynx tip off motion in opposition to the eighth-ranked Golden State Valkyries earlier than the Atlanta Dream hosts the Indiana Fever within the early afternoon.
Shortly after, the defending champion New York Liberty takes on the Phoenix Mercury, opening on the highway because the fifth-seed in opposition to the fourth, whereas the runner-up Las Vegas Aces and their epic profitable streak will shut issues out in opposition to the Seattle Storm in a Sin Metropolis nightcap.
In celebration of the postseason, Ballislife ranks the 4 first-round matchups so as of watchability, that will help you profit from the WNBA time that’s assured on the present calendar.
4. Dream vs. Fever
If something, the Dream can salvage a relative nightmare for the league, even when there’s actually nothing in it for them past a long-sought development: it has been 9 years for the reason that Dream has seen its identify transfer on the WNBA bracket, the second-longest such lively drought in league historical past. Instantly behind them, sarcastically sufficient, the Fever is true forward of them at 10, however that gained’t be sufficient to shift the intrigue on this first-round set.
Atlanta quietly rose to the third seed, headlined by sterling sharpshooting from Allisha Grey and Rhyne Howard, to not point out Naz Hillmon’s breakout as a dependable depth star that’s projected to finish with the Sixth Lady of the Yr honor in her pocket. All the pieces concerning the Dream, past the legendary Brittney Griner, hints at their serving as a “not prepared for prime participant” on this bracke, however the firepower is actually there to show the basketball world fallacious.
With out Caitlin Clark, Are the Fever Doomed?
Alas for Atlanta, it’s trapped in a matchup with the downtrodden Fever, which is counting down the innumerable days till opening day 2026. A very good little bit of luster from any Fever playoff sequence is, after all, tarnished by the shortage of Caitlin Clark, who headlines an harm report that might nicely function a beginning 5. From an Indianapolis perspective, the sequence might be price watching solely to see what extra Kelsey Mitchell can probably do to maintain this crew afloat—attending to the sixth seed, frankly, is spectacular sufficient—however that’s not sufficient to raise it over the opposite matchups.
Even with Mitchell’s breakout season, taking down Indiana doesn’t do any favors for a Dream group seeking to show itself, because it’s onerous to consider any notable reward for placing the Fever out of its distress. That hurts this sequence by way of watchability.
3. Lynx vs. Valkyries
Has the air been let loose of Ballhalla? It positively appears like a gap has been poked, even with bearing in mind its going through off in opposition to a not-so-Minnesota-nice squad.
A late tumble down the playoff board led to by a three-game shedding streak (the streak sandwiched by these very Lynx) is comprehensible, even forgivable, contemplating all that has transpired within the Bay Space this season.
However what really stings is the truth that the Valkyries gained’t even have the comforts of residence to probably ship them off in Recreation 2: a beforehand scheduled tennis match at Chase Middle is forcing the Valkyries on the highway to San Jose, the place they’ll host the defending finalists on Wednesday evening. Golden State, after all, has defied its authentic critics earlier than, however defeating an indignant group of earlier runner-ups and ending Napheesa Collier’s attainable MVP tour early seem to be tall duties for anybody, a lot much less a bunch making its maiden postseason voyage and lacking franchise faces Tiffany Hayes and Kayla Thornton.
If and when the inevitable involves move, the Valkyries may have nothing to be ashamed about. They hit the jackpot on the subject of enlargement and possibly by no means had a believer at any level this season, due to each their enlargement standing and the rising listing of accidents. On the very least, followers can be handled to Collier’s brilliance, Alanna Smith’s protection, Kayla McBride’s outdoors capturing, and the heroics of StudBudz Natisha Hiedeman and Courtney Williams.
The anticipated final result of this sequence yields a end result the place everybody wins in a way, in order that appears like an ideal cause to depart it out of final place.
2025 WNBA title odds! 💍
The playoffs begin in the present day, and the Lynx are the favorites!
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— Ballislife Bets (@BallislifeBets) September 14, 2025
2. Aces vs. Storm
As little as a month in the past, some felt that Las Vegas was ripe for a first-round upset, which in all probability would’ve elevated its sequence on a listing equivalent to this.
All that and extra, after all, is of regardless of to A’ja Wilson, who’s poised to crash each the MVP and playoff events. What might nicely stand as Wilson’s magnum opus to this point shouldn’t be missed, and he or she has been aided on this latest by newcomers and returnees alike.
The Aces’ season appeared to hit a brand new degree when NaLyssa Smith broke out of North Texas purgatory and Jewell Loyd ultimately discovered her Sin Metropolis footing after a rocky begin. Kelsey Plum is gone, however Wilson nonetheless has championship cohorts Chelsea Grey and Jackie Younger in tow, each hitting their relative stride because the postseason ramps up.
Vegas is clearly the primary attraction right here, however the Storm, partly aided by the late acquisition of Brittney Sykes and the sneaky two-way recreation of Gabby Williams, might nicely carry the defensive fortitude to bust the Aces. Aided by the legendary presence of Nneka Ogwumike, the Storm break up a four-game set with Las Vegas this 12 months, and so they enter the match principally wholesome, which makes them one of many extra intriguing circumstances on the backside of the bracket.
1. Mercury vs. Liberty
Maybe the one sequence able to night prognosticators, a very good variety of headlines and subplots reside in the midst of the bracket.
Is a wholesome way of life the metropolitan key? Phoenix took all however one quarter of the four-game common season set, however the lone Liberty win got here when it had a full Seafoam contingent accessible on July 25. Even with that in thoughts, the Mercury’s propensity for rebounding (Natasha Mack), forcing turnovers (Satou Sabally), or each and extra (Alyssa Thomas), Phoenix appears tailored to finish the Liberty’s repeat run.
However New York’s conventional beginning 5, headlined by its “huge three” of Sabrina Ionescu, Jonquel Jones, and Breanna Stewart, is undefeated when it begins and finishes a recreation collectively, a ledger maxing out at 10 appearances because of the aforementioned recurring accidents. No crew on the bracket carries extra postseason expertise than New York, which has a mixed 252 video games of WNBA playoff work to this point, and that doesn’t embody the worldwide {hardware} equivalent to Olympic medals and abroad MVP titles.
Phoenix and New York beforehand supplied one of many final nice reminiscences of the single-game playoff spherical, because the Mercury took a slender 83-82 choice en path to the WNBA Finals in 2021. That run, sarcastically, was not solely overseen by Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello but in addition serves as the newest event the place the fifth seed on the WNBA bracket secured any form of development.
The one draw back of the sequence? The sheer quantity of firepower and headlines is sufficient to make one overlook that the presumably exhausted winner’s will probably be a bout with the league-leading Lynx.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags
