After a long and arduous season, the WNBA playoffs are finally upon us. The postseason begins on Sunday with the WNBA Finals slated to end by Oct. 19 at the latest. A league-record, 44-game schedule determined the top eight seeds. The first round is a best-of-three series in a 1-1-1 format, with the higher seed hosting Game 1 and, if necessary, Game 3. The semifinals, a best-of-five format, are 2-2-1, with the higher seed hosting Games 1, 2, and 5.
For the first time in league history, the WNBA Finals will expand to a best-of-seven series, featuring a 2-2-1-1-1 structure, in which the higher seed would host Games 1, 2, 5, and 7.
Before the action starts, here is a preview of the first round with picks on winners.
Napheesa Collier is the first player in WNBA history to have a season with 20+ PPG on 50/40/90%. pic.twitter.com/KGxVJch89R
— Real Sports (@realapp_) September 12, 2025
Lynx: Minnesota has been the best team in the WNBA from start to finish. A franchise-record 33 wins gave head coach Cheryl Reeve’s group a cushion between it and the rest of the league that reached 5.5 games at one point in the regular season. MVP candidate Napheesa Collier leads the Lynx into a first-round matchup against the Golden State Valkyries, whom they defeated to end the campaign.
Valkyries: Golden State was in the driver’s seat of its own destiny entering the final game of the regular season. Needing a victory over the Lynx to guarantee the No. 7 seed, the task proved to be too much for the Valkyries, as they fell to Minnesota 72-53 to end the season on a three-game losing streak. The loss dropped them to the eighth seed and ensured a three-game series with the Lynx, who swept them in the regular season series (0-4).
Series pick: Minnesota Lynx (2-0)
What the Valkyries did this season in the stands and on the court will stand the test of time. Golden State became the first expansion franchise in WNBA history to sell out every home game and surpassed the 1998 Detroit Shock for most wins by an expansion franchise in its inaugural season. However, the Lynx are the first overall seed for a reason.
This is a team that has had a chip on its shoulder for nearly a year since the 2024 WNBA Finals, where it lost to the defending champion New York Liberty. The Valkyries caught the eye of millions online and around the Bay Area for their tough, gritty style of basketball, which fans instantly fell in love with. It proved to be the case in several big games against superior teams, but this is the playoffs, and the music changes ever so slightly.
Aces: Las Vegas was the eighth seed nearly six weeks ago. Since then, the Aces jump-started a 16-game win streak on a march to the No. 2 seed, which is now the longest stretch to end a season in WNBA history. The trade for NaLyssa Smith proved to be the best midseason acquisition of the year, given where the team was and is now entering yet another grueling playoff run. From MVP candidate A’ja Wilson to the end of the bench, the buy-in has been crystal clear.
Storm: Seattle entered 2025 with legitimate championship aspirations after returning Olympic silver medalist Gabby Williams to the trio of All-Stars Skylar Diggins, Nneka Ogwumike, and Ezi Magbegor. Through the first half of the season, the team looked the part with a 14-9 record at the All-Star break, which was the fourth-best record in the league. For the third straight season, head coach Noelle Quinn’s squad has finished with a sub-500 record in the second half.
Series pick: Las Vegas Aces (2-0)
A’ja Wilson makes history! 👑
Her 13th 30-point game this season sets a new single-season record, passing Jewell Loyd and Maya Moore 🔥
#WNBA
— ESPN Australia (@espnaustralia.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 7:03 AM
Seattle has an opportunity to steal a game from the Aces, but the reason that this is unlikely lies in clutch time. This period in basketball is when there are five minutes left in the fourth quarter with a scoring margin of five points or less. In 19 clutch scenarios this season, Las Vegas is 14-5, giving them the best record in the league. The Storm sits one game below .500 (14-15), which is the second-worst record of any playoff-bound team. In the second half, the team went 4-9. The Indiana Fever finished at 8-10, but superstar guard Caitlin Clark played 13 total games, and her team still finished with a top-six seed. The Storm proved on a plethora of occasions that its late-game strategy and execution leave a lot to be desired, and a first-round series with the Aces is not the time to solve what ails them.
Credit: Atlanta Dream on X
Dream: The Las Vegas Aces received a noteworthy amount of attention due to a league-record 16-game win streak to close out a season, but Atlanta is right there. Rookie head coach Karl Smesko’s group won 15 of its last 18 games, including a six-game win streak. Two of the losses were to the Aces, the only team Atlanta failed to beat at least once this season (0-3). Atlanta’s 30 wins were the most in franchise history, surpassing the 23 wins achieved in 2018.
Smesko, a Coach of the Year candidate, transformed the Dream overnight, averaging 84.4 PPG with a 110.5 offensive rating (99.0 in 2024). Defense has always been a calling card for Atlanta, and it continued under Smesko, posting a 100.5 defensive rating, which is the best in the league. From Allisha Gray to Naz Hillmon, there are several players on the roster who enjoyed career years under Smesko. Gray turned in one of the most complete seasons for a guard in WNBA history, Rhyne Howard’s defense is finally appreciated on the grand stage, and Hillmon has excelled in her role. Hillmon is the Sixth Player of the Year frontrunner, and the proof is in the pudding. According to Across the Timelime, Hillmon is the first reserve in WNBA history to average 60 percent on twos and 80 percent on free throws while netting at least 5o three-pointers.
Fever: 2025 has not been an easy season for Indiana by any stretch of the imagination. A midseason departure by DeWanna Bonner and five season-ending injuries surely did not help matters. Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell have carried the team through thick and thin, which will be reflected in awards voting. Despite the never-ending injuries, the Fever adapted in a fashion I have not seen in professional sports, which led to a top-six playoff berth. Lexie Hull and Natasha Howard have been invaluable in their roles.
Series pick: Atlanta Dream (2-1)
At some point, the music stops, and the last one standing without a chair is eliminated. This is the near future that the Fever face at the hands of the Dream. This team has a no-quit mentality that is commendable during the regular season, but not against a fully healthy Atlanta team that has not received enough credit for most of this season. If Rhyne Howard does not miss nearly a month of action, the Dream would have two MVP candidates and one for Defensive Player of the Year in Howard. Indiana has recovered nicely in the face of losing a laundry list of names like Caitlin Clark, Sydney Colson, and Sophie Cunningham, but replacement players like Odyssey Sims, Shey Peddy, and Aerial Powers simply are not enough.
Alyssa Thomas has more triple-doubles this season (8) than the entire rest of the league combined (7).
Call her what she is: MVP. pic.twitter.com/dMYVrzGUlh
— Phoenix Mercury (@PhoenixMercury) September 10, 2025
Mercury: With an 88-83 win over the Los Angeles Sparks this week, Phoenix secured a first-round matchup with the defending champion New York Liberty. The Mercury have failed to win a playoff game since firing head coach Sandy Brondello after a loss in the 2021 WNBA Finals. Poetically enough, Brondello’s old team will face her current one in a clash of heavyweights.
It has been a joy and a pleasure to watch Thomas run the Mercury, especially on offense, to perfection. With a bevy of shooters at her disposal, we saw her game reach new heights that probably would not have happened back in Connecticut. The 2025 season might be the best of her career. The former Maryland Terrapin shot a career-high 53.5 percent from the field and boasts a league-record eight triple-doubles.
Liberty: When it comes to talent and depth behind it, you do not reach many teams before coming across New York. With former league MVPs in Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones, a top-five guard in Sabrina Ionescu, and one of the fiercest perimeter defenders in Natasha Cloud (who is a champion in her own right), the experience level is unparalleled. That is before arriving at the 2019 Finals MVP in Emma Meesseeman, who became the first player to win the award off the bench. Leonie Fiebich and Kennedy Burke have been more consistent on both sides of the floor than several of Phoenix’s bench players, who were on fire at one point this season.
Series pick: Liberty (2-1)
As terrific as Thomas has been, the star power in her supporting cast has not. All-Stars Kahleah Copper and Satou Sabally both missed a substantial period of games this season, but the Mercury kept chugging along. When they returned, Thomas carried the load still while they readjusted to live reps. In the playoffs against a New York team that has not played its best basketball over the last month, the defending champions will have something to prove, which will leave Thomas doing her best to steer her team to victory.
One of the biggest reasons Phoenix reached the postseason was beating teams that were below them in the standings for most of the season. The Mercury won the season series against every team below them but the Storm (split 2-2). That sounds great in theory, but that is before the realization that Phoenix went 2-9 against the Lynx, Aces, and Dream. Homecourt advantage against the Liberty will play a role in the outcome, but Phoenix has to show up for three straight wins, including one in Brooklyn. There has not been much lately that gives me reason to believe that this is achievable.
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Born and raised in Chicago, Christan Braswell is a women’s sports journalist with a focus on the WNBA and women’s college basketball. He’s an avid fan of elevator screens and stuffed-crust pizza. Outside of sports, he’s an avid cook and lover of the great outdoors.
Well dear readers, it has been a heck of a week or two in the league. Much of the drama centers around off the pitch movement, but the playoff race […]
