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How Caitlin Clark and the Fever returned to WNBA playoffs

INDIANAPOLIS — Caitlin Clark raised her hands and applauded the sellout crowd of 17,274 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Sunday night. The Indiana Fever had just defeated the Dallas Wings 110-109, with Clark dropping a career-high 35 points and eight assists. The crowd showed no signs of let-up on an NFL Sunday, and Clark and her teammates took their time leaving their home court for what could be the final time this season.

Players signed small red-and-white basketballs and launched them into the stands for eager fans to take home. The arena DJ kept the party going, playing DJ Khaled’s “All I Do Is Win” once the buzzer sounded and following it up with Kool & The Gang’s “Celebration.”

Indiana has had plenty to celebrate over the past few months.

With Clark living up to the hype that followed her from her legendary career at Iowa, a rejuvenated Fever franchise is back in the playoffs for the first time since 2016, the final year of the legendary Tamika Catchings’ career. Sunday’s result guaranteed Indiana its first .500 or better record since 2016 and clinched the No. 6 seed in the postseason, where its high-octane offense will look to knock off the 3-seed Connecticut Sun in a best-of-three, first-round WNBA playoff series.

Back in May, though, the playoff discussion seemed out of reach, the possibility of a semifinals berth almost unfathomable. The Fever desperately searched for an identity amid a 1-8 start. Clark, fellow former No. 1 pick Aliyah Boston and franchise stalwart Kelsey Mitchell looked like they were operating on different planes. All while the outside noise surged over what was going wrong in Indianapolis.

“It could have gone sideways real quick at 1-8,” Fever coach Christie Sides said last month. “The character of people that we have in that locker room, they just weren’t going to let that happen.”

With the benefit of time, especially the monthlong Olympic break, the Fever came together and discovered who they can be at their best: a team no one wants to face in the playoffs.

“I think that’s probably what I’m most proud of,” Clark said last week. “We start 1-8, and that really stinks. But nobody ever quit. We came in here every single day and continued to work. … We just weren’t executing. We weren’t really on the same page. We weren’t playing the same way that we are now. I’m proud of our group. We just continue to work and get better and be positive.”

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Can Indiana and Caitlin Clark be a spoiler in the playoffs?

Rebecca Lobo looks back at Caitlin Clark’s first regular season and previews the Fever’s first-round matchup against the Sun.

SITUATED IN THEIR film room, the Fever’s game goal board serves as a place where Sides lists the team’s keys to victory for each matchup. At the bottom of the board lies something else: a visual representation of their season results from May 14, their season opener, to the present.

Black W’s represent wins, red L’s losses. And the beginning of this series of letters has a lot of red.

Indiana’s competition to open 2024 featured a gauntlet of top-caliber WNBA teams. In their first four games, all losses, the Fever faced championship contenders in the Connecticut Sun and New York Liberty twice each, dropping their first two contests by a combined 57 points.

Including additional matchups versus the Seattle Storm (twice) and Las Vegas Aces, Indiana played its first 11 games in 20 days — by contrast, the Aces played six games in that span. By mid-June the Fever met New York and Connecticut for a third time, resulting in two more blowout losses.

Their 1-8 record in May was worse than their 3-6 start through nine games in 2023. ESPN Analytics said the Fever had the toughest schedule in the league prior to the Olympic break.

“From the competitor lens, I mean, awful, awful,” Boston told ESPN. “You never want to start a season the way that we did.”

Caitlin Clark and Indiana opened the season with five consecutive losses, including two losses apiece to league-leader New York and Connecticut. Jeffrey Brown/Icon Sportswire
With Clark bringing in a tsunami of attention from the college game to the WNBA, Indiana’s growing pains were observed and analyzed under a magnifying glass unlike any the sport had seen. Everyone had an opinion on whether Clark and the Fever were underachieving. Boston dealt with negative comments from fans amid a personal rocky start, ultimately deleting social media from her phone. Some onlookers called for Sides to be fired.

“[Those people] do not matter,” Indiana general manager Lin Dunn told ESPN. “That’s something that we had to learn with this team. All those people on social media, they’re not relevant. What matters is what the people around you, that you value, think and what you think. We had to make sure we blocked out the noise.

“I thought Christie did a good job of not worrying about whether ‘the people’ wanted her fired. All she had to know is that I didn’t pay any attention to ‘the people.'”

The narratives surrounding Clark took on a life of their own. Debate raged over whether her transition to the pros was a success: She showed moments of brilliance, but struggled with physicality, and at times the game moved too fast for her, leading to a litany of turnovers.

Clark’s competitive fire was on full display both when things were going right and when things weren’t. But if the chatter got to her, she didn’t show it.

“I think she really can’t hear because she’s really blocked out the noise from the outside world,” guard Erica Wheeler told ESPN. “To be that young, to have that weight on her shoulders, no matter what she does gets highlighted, whether it’s good or bad. … I tell her all the time, ‘You probably got bricks in your ears, you really don’t flinch when it comes to the outside noise.'”

“It could have gone sideways real quick at 1-8. The character of people that we have in that locker room, they just weren’t going to let that happen.”Fever coach Christie Sides

Even as wins proved difficult to come by, Fever personnel asserted it would take time for the team to come together. Clark and Boston were still learning how to play alongside each other, as was Mitchell, who had barely played in training camp because of an ankle injury that she was still working her way back from.

The team maintained perspective on the difficulty of its early-season slate plus the cadence of games leaving minimal practice time. “There’s a sense of, this is helping us get better,” Clark said after the team dropped to 0-4. “And there’s going to be a time this season where it really shows that these four games we opened the season with, it’s going to pay off.”

Dunn remembered thinking in those early weeks if the Fever could get through that stretch, keep making steady improvement and make it to the Olympic break, they were going to surprise some people. The team might have been frustrated initially, but the players chose to fight instead of fold. “Your culture is the foundation of your program,” said Dunn, the coach of the Fever’s 2012 championship squad. “We have really good people that come from championship-caliber programs, really good people that understand it’s a process, then they can get you through that tough time. Poor culture, we would have never made it.”

Now when Sides looks at her game goal board, it gives her chills to see the wave of red give way to black, the losses give way to a steady stream of wins — from one in May to seven in June, big-time victories over New York and Minnesota in July and a 5-1 run in August.

“This is Year 3 of my [rebuild] plan,” Dunn said, “and we’re right where we need to be.”

The connection between Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston proved especially important to Indiana’s success. Clark has assisted on 105 Boston baskets, tied for the most of any two-player combo in the league. Greg Fiume/Getty Images
WITH CLARK MIKED up for Indiana’s Aug. 18 home game versus Seattle, TV cameras caught a conversation between her and Boston on the Fever bench. With her arm around Boston, Clark turned to her teammate and told her, “You’re going to be amazing because you are amazing.” Boston responded, “Thank you, you too!”

That interaction wasn’t a one-off. The exchange has been part of the pair’s pregame routine since the beginning of the season, according to Boston, well before their turnaround. Clark said those words to Boston before a game one day, and it stuck. “It’s actually pretty cute and pretty nice,” Boston said, “because it’s words of affirmation for both of us right before we head out on that court.”

The Boston-Clark connection on the floor has become a nightmare for opposing defenses to contain, with Clark assisting on 105 Boston baskets, tied for the most of any duo in the league. So, too, is the Mitchell-Clark pairing, with Clark assisting on 81 of Mitchell’s makes.

The synergy took time to develop, just as the Fever promised, but no stretch was as critical to the team coming together as the Olympic break.

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Caitlin Clark’s career-high 35 points leads Fever over Wings

Caitlin Clark tallies a career-high 35 points in the Fever’s 110-109 win over the Wings.

Even as Indiana had started to win games toward the end of the first half, it couldn’t take the time to enjoy it, Sides said. “We were all just still, I don’t even know, stressed,” the coach said. “You couldn’t breathe with all the expectations of everyone on the outside.”

With just one Olympian (Kristy Wallace for Australia) in Paris over the break, 11 of the team’s 12 players had some time off before regrouping for what effectively was a mini training camp. As important as the basketball work was — especially to have real practice time — so too was the team bonding.

The coaching staff organized activities for the team before practice — a putting game, home run derby, minute-to-win-it competitions. They went to an obstacle course with rope swings and zip-lining and had a speaker meet just with the players to focus on team building.

“You don’t get into relationships, romantic or not romantic, without knowing the people,” Mitchell told ESPN. “To have a really good basketball team and a really good partnership, you have to know who you’re dealing with. As small as their grammar, hear the way they speak, being passionate about things and what they don’t like. I think it goes hand in hand when you’re trying to figure out how to get the next stop and get the next play.”

The Fever are a “goofy” team, Wheeler said, that likes to be light and have fun, but is still made up of competitors.

“We all just want to win,” guard Lexie Hull said, “and [learned we had to] put aside anything that would get in the way of that.”

The team that went 1-8 in May is a shell of the group that’s entering the postseason now, one that from June 1 to Sept. 10 boasted the third-best record in the league at 18-9. Indiana has coalesced around a big three and a fast style of play, with the Fever’s pace ranking second in the league since June. After the Olympics, Sides settled on a starting lineup featuring Hull, who provides a defensive presence on the perimeter and is shooting 63.2% from 3 in the second half.

Boston has adjusted her game from a post-up-centric style to thriving with Clark in the pick-and-roll, where she’s empowered to score or facilitate on the short roll. Clark said she and Mitchell, who’s shooting 50% from the field, 45% from 3 and a touch under 90% on free throws in the second half, now have an “unspoken communication.” Together they are arguably the most powerful offensive backcourt duo in the league: Mitchell ranks second in the league in scoring (23.4 PPG) and Clark third (23.1 PPG) since the Olympic break.

“That big three scoring trio … that’s why I tell our guards your greatness will be intertwined with each other,” Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon told ESPN prior to the teams’ two last week in Indianapolis. “When you play with each other, I make your life easier, therefore you shoot better, you score more points, you shoot a better field goal percentage and vice versa, and it goes on down the line. And I think they’ve kind of found that happy place with each other.”

The Fever’s offensive efficiency in May was a paltry 96.6 points per 100 possessions, second worst in the WNBA. Ever since? Best in the league at 109.6. Their defense has a ways to go but has made strides since its flat start to the season.

“Time is huge with a young team,” Hammon said. “Chemistry and that stuff just doesn’t happen.”

Since the WNBA resumed after the Olympic break, Kelsey Mitchell ranks second in the league in scoring at 23.4 PPG. Bri Lewerke/NBAE via Getty Images
The game has slowed for Clark, who said it was “almost overwhelming” at the beginning of the year to get trapped and blitzed so much off ball screens that she just wanted to get rid of the ball. Now, she’s “almost picking it apart in a way where I want to get blitzed,” she added, “that should offer us an advantage.”

Her film sessions with assistant coach Jessie Miller have shifted from showing her the basics of the different coverages she might see in games and how to make early reads, to the more intricate details, such as the next level of reads to make based on certain defensive rotations.

“She’s always just asking questions,” Miller told ESPN. “She wants to learn. She’s just this fierce competitor that always wants to win. So any kind of details you can give her to help her to be successful in the court, she just wants to learn and try to apply immediately, which is phenomenal. She’s just a fast learner, and she’s going to try her best to do whatever it takes that we need to win.”

Clark’s scoring has improved since May — she’s not just making more 3-pointers, but is also getting downhill and converting more. But her court vision and facilitating — where she has shattered a dizzying array of records — is where she has shined the most, a testament to the team’s surging chemistry. Of her 12 games with double-figure assists, all but two have come since the beginning of July. Her 38.0 points scored or assisted per game in 2024 marked the most in a season in league history.

“One thing about [Clark] is when things get hard, she’s not just going to quit,” Las Vegas Aces guard Kate Martin, Clark’s former Iowa teammate, told ESPN. “And she never did.”

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Caitlin Clark sets record for most assists in a season

Caitlin Clark sets a WNBA record for most assists in a season with 317.

THE FEVER WERE in striking distance. Late Friday against the two-time defending champion Aces, Indiana had cut a 13-point deficit to two with 1:48 to play, within reach of beating Las Vegas for the first time this season.

With A’ja Wilson switched onto her, Clark hoisted a deep 3 with 15 seconds left on the shot clock, and it bounced off the front of the rim. The Aces made her pay on the other end, as Jackie Young drove to the paint and kicked out to an open Kelsey Plum for a corner 3.

The Fever had the ball down three with less than 20 seconds on the clock, but Clark and Mitchell weren’t able to get open, and a 3-pointer from an open Boston rimmed out, ensuring a Las Vegas win.

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Even amid an up-and-down season, the Aces remain the gold standard to Indiana. They’re the only team the Fever did not defeat in the 2024 regular season. And they represent what Indiana hopes to emulate with its collection of top draft picks.

The Aces (formerly San Antonio Stars) franchise drafted Plum, Wilson and Young with back-to-back-to-back No. 1 picks from 2017-2019, ultimately winning WNBA titles in 2022 and 2023. Championships are the goal for the Fever behind their two top picks in Boston (2023) and Clark (2024), plus a pair of No. 2 picks in Mitchell (2018) and NaLyssa Smith (2022).

Last week was a reminder that that long-term goal is very much a work in progress.

As the third-youngest team in the league and coming off a seven-year postseason drought, the Fever wanted to treat their two games in three days against the Aces as a playoff series. Las Vegas comfortably beat Indiana by 11 on Wednesday, “so right now we’re going home because we just lost two games,” Sides said.

The frustration Sides felt from her team squandering a prime opportunity — she lamented their 11-for-20 free throw shooting, in particular — existed alongside a flicker of encouragement.

They were right there.

“I think it should provide us some confidence,” Clark said. “Every single time we’ve played this team, we’ve gotten better and better and closer and closer. And to see how far we’ve come from where we first started … now I felt like we were really in this game. We convert a few more times and convert our free throws, hopefully we’re walking away with a win.”

“We’ve worked our asses off to get to where we are, just being consistent with their effort daily since we got here,” Sides said. “When we played Vegas early, we weren’t there, and they got us. But right now, like they’ve got to really believe that we are there with those guys, and I think they do.”

Indiana has tasted success against the upper echelon of teams, but knows the postseason is different, especially with this being the first go for not just Clark, but the rest of its starting five. The Sun’s collective 222 games of playoff experience stand in stark contrast to the Fever’s 19 combined postseason games.

The Fever will need to minimize lapses on both ends of the floor, especially at the beginning of halves. Their defense — their Achilles heel much of the season — has to be the best it has been all year. Indiana, especially Clark, can’t let any frustration get the better of the Fever if things aren’t going their way.

But for a team that dramatically turned things around after people had already counted them out, maybe the Fever aren’t done.

“I always thought this year with this group that we were a playoff team,” Dunn said. “The question for me now is, what can we do in the playoffs? Are we old enough, wise enough, tough enough, experienced enough to surprise some people?”

WNBA playoffs 2024: First-round predictions, X factors, keys

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Rebecca Lobo looks back at Caitlin Clark’s first regular season and previews the Fever’s first-round matchup against the Sun. (1:22)

Multiple Contributors

Can the Las Vegas Aces and superstar A’ja Wilson three-peat as WNBA champions? Can the New York Liberty or the Connecticut Sun get their franchise’s first title? Might the Minnesota Lynx claim their fifth crown? Or could the league champion come from beyond the top four seeds? That includes the Indiana Fever appearing in the playoffs for the first time since 2016, led by rookie point guard Caitlin Clark.

The WNBA playoffs open Sunday. The final playoff team, the No. 8 seed Atlanta Dream, earned their spot Thursday, the last day of the regular season. The Dream got a 78-67 victory at New York, a game that admittedly meant nothing to the Liberty, who were already assured of their seed and the league’s best record.

But now those teams will turn around and start the playoffs at 1 p.m. ET Sunday (ESPN) in New York, followed by No. 6 Indiana at No. 3 Connecticut (ABC, 3 p.m. ET).

Then Diana Taurasi, in her 20th and possibly last WNBA season, will lead the No. 7 seed Phoenix Mercury against No. 2 Minnesota (5 p.m. ET, ESPN). That’s followed by the No. 4 Aces hosting the No. 5 Seattle Storm (10 p.m. ET, ESPN). The first round is best-of-three series, with the higher seed hosting the first two games.

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The Aces, however, could face a potential meeting with the Liberty in the semifinals; those teams met in the WNBA Finals last year. New York has played for the WNBA championship five times but hasn’t won a title yet.

The first-round winners will play best-of-five semifinal series, followed by the best-of-five WNBA Finals. We break down what we’ll see as the postseason gets underway and predict which teams will advance.

(1) New York Liberty vs. (8) Atlanta Dream

Regular season series: New York won 3-1

How New York got here: The Liberty fell short of their goal for a championship in last year’s WNBA Finals but have been better in Year 2 of their superteam, occupying the top spot in the standings for most of the season. Their starting five has another year of chemistry under its belt. Reigning MVP Breanna Stewart is still the second-best player in the world. Jonquel Jones had stretches where she looked like her 2021 MVP form, while Sabrina Ionescu took a step forward in her development. Their retooled bench helped them defensively and with their overall depth. Altogether, it has left Liberty fans optimistic that this might finally be their year.

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Tina Charles breaks two WNBA records in one night

Check out the highlights from Tina Charles’ night as she becomes the WNBA’s all-time leader in rebounds and double-doubles in the Dream’s victory over the Liberty.

How Atlanta got here: The 2024 Dream have been a roller coaster. Injuries to Jordin Canada and Rhyne Howard during the first half of the season hampered their early development, and the Dream went 7-17. Even with those players back in the lineup after the Olympics, they were just .500 in the second half, and it took a win over the Liberty on the final day of the regular season to clinch a playoff spot. But Atlanta will enter its first-round series — its second consecutive playoff appearance — on a three-game winning streak, tied for its longest run of the season. One bright spot regardless of the ups and downs: All-time great Tina Charles has been a steadying force in her first season back in the WNBA since 2022, nearly averaging a double-double in her 13th campaign.

How they match up: New York dominated this regular-season series until Thursday, when the Dream looked like they were fighting for their playoff lives, while the Liberty looked like they knew they had nothing to gain or lose. Atlanta’s defense has been more reliable than its offense this season, but can it really twice slow down a Liberty offense that has been best in the league all summer? On paper, the reigning WNBA Finals runners-up with a plus-11.7 net rating (first in the league) should comfortably handle the team with the minus-3.6 net rating (seventh) that hasn’t won a playoff game since 2018. We’ll see if Thursday ends up being a preview of a more competitive series than expected.

Biggest concern for the higher seed? Dropping two of their last three regular-season games (to the Lynx and Dream) wasn’t the most confidence-instilling stretch for the Liberty. Ionescu hasn’t been as efficient in the second half of the season, Jones not as dominant. And their defense left a lot to be desired in those losses. New York will hope to leave those issues behind as it seeks to clinch the franchise’s first title.

What will most impact the series? This matchup features two recent No. 1 picks and U.S. Olympians: Ionescu (2020, 5-on-5 Olympian) and Howard (2022, 3×3 Olympian). It’s hard to see Atlanta pulling off the upset without a sensational series from Howard. Ionescu, meanwhile, will look to find some rhythm and efficiency as the postseason gets going. — Alexa Philippou

Who will win the series:

Pelton: Liberty in 2
Philippou: Liberty in 2
Voepel: Liberty in 2

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1:41

Lynx outlast Sun in wild back-and-forth finish

The Lynx outlast the Sun 78-76 after four lead changes in the game’s final 23 seconds.

(2) Minnesota Lynx vs. (7) Phoenix Mercury

Regular season series: Minnesota won 3-1

How Minnesota got here: The Lynx added two key free agents, guard Courtney Williams and forward Alanna Smith, both of whom played for Chicago in 2023. Combined, they have averaged just over 21 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists. Among Minnesota’s returning players from 2023, forward Napheesa Collier has been an MVP candidate, forward Bridget Carleton is having the best of her six seasons and guard Kayla McBride is averaging the most 3-pointers per game (2.7) of her 11 years in the league.

Minnesota is first in the WNBA in defensive rating and in 3-point percentage. The Lynx won the Commissioner’s Cup final over New York on June 25, but then hit a lull tied to Collier missing time with plantar fasciitis. Between June 27 and July 17, Minnesota was 4-5. But Collier played more like herself at the Paris Games, and since the Olympic break ended, the Lynx are 13-2. It’s notable those two losses include a meaningless 68-51 loss Thursday vs. Los Angeles in a game in which Minnesota rested Collier and McBride. The Lynx have been one of the league’s most consistent teams.

How Phoenix got here: The Mercury have been consistent, too, but not in as positive a way as the Lynx. Phoenix has hovered around .500 the entire season. Center Brittney Griner missed the first 10 games with a toe injury. Guard Natasha Cloud, wing Kahleah Copper and coach Nate Tibbett are all newcomers to the Mercury this season. Taurasi said there is still a lot this team is figuring out about itself. When the Mercury have looked good, they’ve been impressive. But they’ve also been blown out in some games. Copper (back injury) returned for the regular-season finale Thursday after missing the previous three games. She leads Phoenix in scoring, and it seems unlikely the Mercury can upset the Lynx without a big series from Copper.

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How they match up: Minnesota’s three victories against Phoenix were all by double digits. The Mercury’s win in the series came on a last-second 3-pointer by Copper for an 81-80 win on June 7. The most recent matchup — an 89-76 Minnesota victory on Aug. 28 — was an example of why the Lynx are so hard to beat. They play exceptionally well as a team, their chemistry has been good even with the new pieces that they have added and their bench has been dependable.

Biggest concern for the higher seed? The Lynx have had very few games in which they just haven’t played well, and that’s especially true since the Olympic break. There is no reason to expect a letdown now. But the Mercury might be playing with a lot of emotion, especially with Taurasi potentially being in her last playoff. Because of the first-round format, a possible Game 3 in Phoenix is something the Lynx want to avoid.

What will most impact the series? How well Copper and Griner play will be a big factor in whether the Mercury can hang around and potentially force Game 3. The Mercury also must defend the perimeter at a high level with how well the Lynx shoot 3-pointers. If these playoff games go the same way the regular-season series went, Minnesota will sweep. — Michael Voepel

Who will win the series:

Pelton: Lynx in 2
Philippou: Lynx in 2
Voepel: Lynx in 2

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0:21

Fever-Mystics set WNBA attendance record with 20,711 fans

The Fever and the Mystics play in front of a sellout crowd of 20,711, which is the most attended game in WNBA history.

(3) Connecticut Sun vs. (6) Indiana Fever

Regular season series: Connecticut won 3-1

How Connecticut got here: The formula for the Sun has been the same for a while, even with the change in Stephanie White taking over as coach last season when Curt Miller went to Los Angeles. Connecticut is very strong defensively — which sets the tone for everything else the Sun do — and balanced offensively. Guard/forward DeWanna Bonner and guard Marina Mabrey (acquired from Chicago via trade on July 17) lead six Sun players who average double figures in scoring. Alyssa Thomas leads Connecticut in assists and rebounds.

The Sun started the season 9-0, then lost their first game to New York on June 8. Connecticut’s performance has been a little more uneven since, but all 12 of the Sun’s losses are to playoff teams.

Obtaining Mabrey was an important move, as she fits very well with the Sun’s offense, shooting better than 41% from 3-point range. She also is a good personality fit for Connecticut, which has long leaned into the “you’re underestimating us” mentality.

How Indiana got here: One of the most interesting storylines in the league this year: the Fever going from a 1-8 start to getting the No. 6 seed and ending their seven-season playoff drought. They’ve done it led by lottery picks: back-to-back No. 1’s Aliyah Boston (2023) and Clark (2024) and No. 2 Kelsey Mitchell (2018). Clark seems a lock to follow Boston as Rookie of the Year; she leads the WNBA in assists and is in the top 10 in scoring. Clark’s connections with Boston in the post and fellow guard Mitchell have steadily grown and made the Fever a fun team to watch when they are clicking on offense.

Forward NaLyssa Smith has had big games and can be an important factor on the boards. Guard Lexie Hull has been an energizing force on defense. Guard Erica Wheeler and center Temi Fagbenle have shown terrific leadership as veterans in how they have treated young star Clark and helped her adjust to the league. For all the heat coach Christie Sides has taken from social media critics, she has kept the Fever’s focus on improving.

How they match up: Their first matchup — a 92-71 Sun victory — was the season-opening game for both teams, as well as Clark’s WNBA debut. The teams met again six days later at Indiana and it was a much different game, with the Sun winning 88-84. Connecticut won big again over Indiana 89-72 on June 10. The Fever’s 84-80 victory came Aug. 28.

The most obvious difference between the teams is experience: The Sun’s core of Thomas, Bonner and Brionna Jones have played in the WNBA Finals together. The Fever are a younger team, including a rookie point guard in Clark.

“We’re a different team than we were to start the season,” Sides said. “We’re ready and prepared for Sunday. [The Sun] can play some hella defense, and we’ve just got to be ready. They’re going to make everything hard.”

This will be the first chance in the playoffs for Mitchell, and Sides said that is one of the most gratifying parts of this season.

Biggest concern for the higher seed? Stopping Indiana’s offense has to be a concern, even for a good defensive team like the Sun. Mitchell and Clark have been a dynamic force in the backcourt, especially since the Olympic break.

Clark finished the regular season Thursday with 8 points, 8 assists and 5 rebounds in 20 minutes, playing limited time because the game had no impact on the Fever’s seed. Mitchell played just 5 minutes, getting 4 points — she was briefly shaken up and left the game. Sides said afterward Mitchell was fine but she didn’t want to take any chances. For the season, both Mitchell and Clark averaged 19.2 points, with Clark adding a league-best 8.4 assists plus 5.7 rebounds.

What will most impact the series? Indiana really needs to prove it can defend well when it means the most. The Fever have shown growth in that area, and they do have individual players who are strong defenders. But as a team, defense hasn’t been the Fever’s main calling card. Turnovers are the other major factor; the Fever sometimes have had stretches where their offense gets sloppy. And a team with veterans like Connecticut can take advantage of it. — Voepel

Who will win the series:

Pelton: Sun in 3
Philippou: Sun in 2
Voepel: Sun in 3

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How A’ja Wilson made WNBA history

Chiney Ogwumike takes us on a journey through A’ja Wilson’s record-breaking season in the WNBA with the Las Vegas Aces.

(4) Las Vegas Aces vs. (5) Seattle Storm

Regular season series: Las Vegas won 3-1

How Las Vegas got here: After cruising to the No. 1 seed last year with a 34-6 record, the back-to-back champs faced more adversity during the 2024 regular season. The Aces matched their 2023 losses during a 6-6 start without injured All-Star Chelsea Gray, and after four Las Vegas players helped the U.S. women to gold in Paris, the team came out of the Olympic break 2-4. Since then, the Aces have looked more like themselves, going 9-1 over their past 10 games with the only loss in that stretch to the Liberty with presumptive MVP A’ja Wilson sidelined by an ankle injury.

How Seattle got here: A year ago, the Storm were preparing for the lottery. Having added All-Stars Skylar Diggins-Smith and Nneka Ogwumike in free agency, Seattle more than doubled last season’s 11 wins. Despite Diggins-Smith’s strong play after the Olympic break, however, the Storm went 7-6 and played the final week of the season without key starters Jewell Loyd (knee) and Ezi Magbegor (concussion). Seattle hopes both will be back to start the playoffs.

How they match up: It’s a rematch of the 2020 WNBA Finals and a 2022 semifinals series, but the Storm now have different All-Stars around holdovers Loyd, Magbegor and Gabby Williams. Seattle won the first meeting between the teams in Las Vegas, but the Aces won the next three thanks in part to their shooting edge. Las Vegas outscored the Storm 66-27 from beyond the arc in the three wins.

Biggest concern for the higher seed? Seattle is an atypically difficult first-round matchup for the Aces, who swept below-.500 teams in the first round in each of the past two years as the No. 1 seed. At 24-15 heading into Thursday’s regular-season finale, the Storm have the best record for any team without home-court advantage since 2002. In a year where five teams separated themselves from the rest of the league, Las Vegas might have to beat three of them to win a third consecutive title.

What will most impact the series? It’s simplistic, but Seattle’s health. Without Loyd and Magbegor, the Storm’s spacing and depth were issues when these teams played Tuesday in Seattle. The Aces were able to stifle the Storm with a zone, holding them to 11 points in the fourth quarter. If Loyd and Magbegor aren’t 100%, it will be difficult for Seattle to pull the upset, so it’s notable that Storm coach Noelle Quinn said Thursday night that “there’s no question” Loyd will play in Sunday’s Game 1. — Kevin Pelton

Who will win the series:

Pelton: Aces in 2
Philippou: Aces in 2
Voepel: Aces in 2

WNBA playoff schedule 2024: Scores, news and highlights

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ESPN

Sep 19, 2024, 09:45 PM ET

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Can A’ja Wilson and the Las Vegas Aces three-peat? How long will rookie Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever — back in the WNBA playoffs for the first time since 2016 — stick around this postseason? Is this finally the top-seeded New York Liberty’s year to win it all?

The 2024 WNBA playoffs are here, and it took the final day of the regular season to finalize the first-round matchups. The Atlanta Dream locked in the eighth and final playoff spot Thursday, while the Connecticut Sun edged the Aces for the No. 3 seed. That means Las Vegas still has home-court advantage, but is a No. 4 seed as it looks to become just the second franchise to win three consecutive titles (the now-defunct Houston Comets won four straight from 1997-2000).

The first round opens Sunday with the first-ever quadruple-header. Every game of the WNBA playoffs will air on ESPN Networks. Here’s a look at the schedule:

FIRST ROUND

(1) New York Liberty vs. (8) Atlanta Dream

Game 1: Atlanta at New York, Sunday, Sept. 22 (1 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Game 2: Atlanta at New York, Tuesday, Sept. 24 (7:30 p.m., ESPN)
Game 3*: New York at Atlanta, Thursday, Sept. 26 (TBD, ESPN2)

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(2) Minnesota Lynx vs. (7) Phoenix Mercury

Game 1: Phoenix at Minnesota, Sunday, Sept. 22 (5 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Game 2: Phoenix at Minnesota, Wednesday, Sept. 25 (9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Game 3* Minnesota at Phoenix, Friday, Sept. 27 (TBD, ESPN2)

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(3) Connecticut Sun vs. (6) Indiana Fever

Game 1: Indiana at Connecticut, Sunday, Sept. 22 (3 p.m. ET, ABC)
Game 2: Indiana at Connecticut, Wednesday, Sept. 25 (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Game 3*: Connecticut at Indiana, Friday, Sept. 27 (TBD, ESPN2)

Andscape: Sun’s Carrington is always authentic
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Clark: No. 1 in WNBA rookie rankings | Rookie tracker

(4) Las Vegas Aces vs. (5) Seattle Storm

Game 1: Seattle at Las Vegas, Sunday, Sept. 22 (10 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Game 2: Seattle at Las Vegas, Tuesday, Sept. 24 (9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Game 3*: Las Vegas at Seattle, Thursday, Sept. 26 (TBD, ESPN2)

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