The WNBA playoffs are set to begin Sunday.
Napheesa Collier and the Lynx enter the postseason as the league's No. 1 seed after an impressive 34–10 season. They have a date with the Valkyries, the WNBA's newest team, after they became the first expansion franchise in league history to crack the playoffs.
The two-time WNBA champion Aces lead the pack on the other side of the playoff bracket as they ended the season on a whopping 16-game winning streak, which is good for a franchise record and tied for the second longest win streak in league history.
Although the Lynx and Aces are at the top, of course it's not just those two teams vying for a championship. There's the Dream coming off an impressive season and the big three of the Mercury. Oh yeah, the defending champion Liberty are there lurking too.
With plenty of interesting matchup possibilities ahead in the WNBA Finals, it's time to dissect a few.
Before we get into it, let's set some ground rules. Any team may only be used twice in this exercise, mainly so we don't have one top team from one side of the bracket against a plethora of others from the opposite side. Cool? Cool. Let's get into it.
Here are four potential WNBA Finals matchups we'd love to see ranked from ascending to our No. 1 pick:
4. Phoenix Mercury vs. Atlanta Dream
A potential final between the Mercury and Dream would require some chaos in the earlier rounds to come to fruition. The Mercury would have to take down the defending-champion Liberty in the first round and likely the top-seeded Lynx in the semifinals. While the Dream are certainly favored to get past the shorthanded Fever in the first round, they'd need to upset A'ja Wilson and the Aces in round two. An unlikely outcome, sure, but it's not outside of the realm of possibility.
If Phoenix and Atlanta both make it out of their respective sides od the bracket, fans would be in for a star-studded WNBA Finals matchup. The Mercury's trio of MVP candidate Alyssa Thomas and the scoring power of Satou Sabally and Kahleah Copper against Dream stars Allisha Gray and Rhyne Howard. Not to mention, this matchup would pit Brittney Griner against her former team.
3. Minnesota Lynx vs. Atlanta Dream
The Dream are still searching for their first title in franchise history. They have reached the WNBA Finals three times since joining the league in 2008, most recently in '13. After a strong offseason, Atlanta became a top-tier team under first-year coach Karl Smesko, doubling their win total from a year ago (although the schedule did increase by four games). Howard, Gray & Co. would likely need to get past the Aces to reach the finals. On the other side of the bracket, the WNBA-best Lynx are the clear favorite to play for a title.
Interestingly enough, the Dream won their season series with the Lynx 2–1 and Atlanta's one loss to Minnesota came in overtime. The Aces, a favorite to see the Lynx in the finals, were only able to defeat Minnesota once in four tries this season. Maybe the Dream have a better shot against the WNBA's best team than people think.
2. New York Liberty vs. Las Vegas Aces
If the Liberty are able to get past the Mercury and then the Lynx in a potential second-round matchup, they could set up a rematch of the '23 WNBA Finals with the Aces. Las Vegas emerged victorious on their way to back-to-back championships before the Liberty were able to claim their first title in franchise history last year with a win over the Lynx. A matchup of last year's WNBA Finals isn't possible with the way the bracket lies. Since that's the case, why not a finals series between the previous two champions?
New York dropped seven of their last 14 games of the season, while Las Vegas ended their season on a historic 16-game winning streak. The league's leading scorer and one of the MVP frontrunners in Wilson trying to lift the Aces back to the WNBA mountaintop against last year's champions featuring Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu and Jonquel Jones would be must-see TV.
1. Minnesota Lynx vs. Las Vegas Aces
The top two seeds meeting in the WNBA Finals certainly isn't a groundbreaking top outcome here, but it's definitely one fans can get behind. Wilson led the WNBA in scoring this year as she averaged 23.4 points per game. Collier was just behind with 22.9 points per game with only one other player across the league averaging 20 or more points per contest (Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell, 20.2). We'll see who wins the league's MVP award, but it's almost certain we'll see their names atop the voting results.
Collier became just the second player in WNBA history to record a 50-40-90 season (50% shooting from the field, 40% shooting from three and 90% shooting from the free-throw line), while Wilson led the league in scoring and blocks per game. She was one of just two players across the league to average more than 10 rebounds per game this year, alongside Angel Reese who averaged 12.6 boards over her 30 games. Of course, winning a championship takes more than just one player and both Wilson and Collier have rosters around them capable of winning it all. But a finals matchup highlighted by the league's premier players would make for an epic end to the season.
More WNBA Playoffs on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Ranking the Four WNBA Finals Matchups We Most Want to See With Playoffs Set.
