The Guru WNBA Report: Top Seeds Dominate Opening Day of Playoffs Sweeping Visitors

Note - updates for potential game threes  and back-to-back references removed since no longer exists

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

Living in the Philadelphia area, the one mystery coming out of Sunday’s opening round in which all four WNBA playoff games aired the same day, will be what the ratings will be going head to head against the NFL.

The season, pausing for the Olympics, stretches into October making a distant memory of the mantra in the WNBA earliest days in 1997 of needing to be done by Labor Day before the NFL gets under way.

One on hand except where for three quarters from the Seattle Storm, the five seed versus the four seed made, an upset potential thrive on the last of the quartet offerings, it was more throw back to those days of lop-sided domination by the best of the standings.

In the first two of three cases the inevitable results long set in place on Sunday allowed reasons to leave and switch to the local Eagles who until the minutes kept offering reasons to switch right back to the action on the Disney major platforms of ESPN and ABC.

The Eagles winning allowed a return to watch Phoenix rally from an early 23-point deficit to go ahead in the fourth quarter before Minnesota righted the ship.

In game one, likely the betting action focus was easily rewarded as the top-seed New York Liberty, as did the other upper seeds at their home games, ruled the Atlanta Dream 83-69 as German Olympian Leonie Fiebch had a career afternoon with 21 points shooting a deadly 7-of-8 from the field, Olympian Breanna Stewart double doubled her way to 20 points and 11 rebounds and the Brooklynites went wire to wire.

New York opened 13-4, the Dream fought that nightmare off to to move within four and then the Liberty slugged back 14-0, the last seven from Olympian Sabrina Ionescu, and showed why no worries after losing to Atlanta Thursday night, the final of the regular season which allowed the Atlanta to stay around after slipping past Chicago and Washington, who joined Dallas and Los Angeles in the other chase, the lottery, which as of now offers UConn sensation Paige Bueckers as the top prize. 

L.A. holds the best odds in the pong-pong highlighted event to come after the season joing the expansion draft lottery of the Golden State Valkyries, coming aboard in 2005, ahead of 2006 entries Toronto and Portland.

Bueckers, the Minnesota native and national player of the year as a freshman, missed most of two seasons with injuries before leading the Huskies back to the Final Four in April after a few weeks earlier she announced she would take advantage of the fifth-year COVID-induced NCA legislation to give the Geno Auriemma an encore performance in his 40th anniversary season. 

Auriemma goes into the opener in early November of four wins shy breaking the combined NCAA Division I gender coaching record held by Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer, who surprised with a retirement announcement ahead of the Cardinal’s move into the Atlantic Coast Conference this past summer.

Back in New York, Atlanta’s 3x3 USA bronze-winning Olympian Rhyne Howard finished with 14 points, while NY local Tina Charles had 12 points, following Thursday night’s induction pre-game into the New York City basketball Hall of Fame and then becoming the WNBA career leader in rebounds and double doubles in Atlanta’s win.

The Dream will try to even the best-of-three on Tuesday night and force the series back in Georgia, if necessary, Thursday night.

The playoff format has changed over time and in earliest incarnations the top seeds opened on the road before sanity prevailed.

Next up, the Indiana Fever, back in the playoffs for the first time since 2016 on the play of both AP and WNBA media committee unanimous rookie of the year Caitlin Clark, who turned the WNBA TV and attendance number into millions this season, were eager to show how far they have come after the season opening beat down by the Connecticut Sun in Storrs.

But the Sun, for now, showed nothing’s changed in this one, 93-69 as Olympian Alyssa Thomas added another triple double to her resume, fourth in playoffs and 15th overall, with 12 points, 13 assists, and 10 rebounds.

“We did what we’re supposed to do, I’ve been waiting all season for the playoffs, this is what you’re playing for,” Thomas said. She also triple doubled back in May’s opener in Connecticut. “This is just the beginning for us, we’re ready to go.”

DeWanner Bonner had 22 points for the Sun behind Marina Mabrey, who led the three-seed with 27 points, 20 in the second half. Coming to the Sun in a mid-season deal with Chicago, she set a playoffs scoring record for a reserve player, noted by ESPN.

Clark, the WNBA assists leader, had 11 points and eight dimes for the sixth-seeded Fever, who were led by Kelsey Mitchell, who had 21 points, while former South Carolina star Aliyah Boston, last season’s No. 1 pick and top rookie, had 17 points and 11 rebounds.

“We didn’t play well, didn’t play to the level we’re capable of playing,“ Clark said. “We didn’t shoot the ball like we are capable of. We’re are capable of winning this game.“

Like everywhere else on the road, Clark drew a sizable portion of the crowd in the Fever’s favor.

Indiana has two days to regroup playing Wednesday night in Connecticut and trying to force winner-take-all Friday night in Indianapolis.

If Game 2 is the final, though no guarantee for success, expect Disney to reach for Clark for either in-studio or game broadcast appearances in the semis and finals.

Moving in our roundup to Game Three on Sunday’s schedule, guided by former La Salle star and Olympic gold medal winning coach Cheryl Reeve, the two-seed Minnesota Lynx owned the seven seed Phoenix Mercury, who fought back from a 50-27 deficit, before to home team shook off the rally and prevailed 102-95.

Former UConn star and Olympian Napheesa Collier set a career playoff best with 38 points.

Phoenix star Natasha Cloud, the Broomall native and Saint Joseph’s alum, put the Mercury up 92-91, it’s second late lead, this one with 2:06 left in regulation, before a 9-0 run keyed by former Washington Mystics star Myisha Hines-Allen, an earlier arrival in a deal, and Bridget Carlton’s three pointer.

Collier was 11-19 from the field, including three shots from deep, and 13-14 at the line. Kayla McBride scored 20, Carleton had 12 points, six rebounds, and four assists, and Hines-Allen off the bench, had 10 points, five rebounds, and three assists.

Cloud matched her playoffs best with 16 points, while Britney Griner added to Phoenix’s total with 10 points and six boards.

Colliers’ total was just four shy of New York’s Stewart WNBA playoff best 42 two season’s ago with Seattle in a loss to Las Vegas.

Game two is Wednesday in Minneapolis where Phoenix needs a win to return home Friday. 

Otherwise, Game 2 could be the career final for all-time legend and career- scoring leader Diana Taurasi, who had 21 points in this game.

Ironically the top three career records in the WNBA are held by UConn alums in Charles (rebounds), Taurasi, and the retired Sue Bird (assists), whose career ended last season in Seattle.

If the Phoenix game was a reverse bell-curve, being blown out early, and rallying late, the five-seed Seattle Storm extended two-time defending champion Las Vegas, before the four-seed Aces flexed their defensive muscles holding the visitors to a pair of foul shots in the fourth quarter on the way to a 78-67 victory.

Former South Carolina star A’ja Wilson, who had the first 1,000-point season, scored 21 with five blocks for Las Vegas after earlier in the day announced as the unanimous choice in both AP and WNBA media committe voting.

The Aces, looking more like the team struggling early in the season, was just 2-18 at the outset, Wilson, 1-8, and Seattle jumped to an 18-9 lead at the end of one and still up 42-38 at the half as former Tennessee stars Jordan Horston and Mercedes Russell each made a pair of foul shots.

Wilson’s total after two were four points.

Wilson exploded for 15 off seven shots with a three in the third but former Notre Dame star Skylar Diggins-Smith nailed from beyond the arc to keep the hometown Vegas crowd squirming in their seats with a 65-64 deficit heading into the fourth.

But that was the last hurrah with the champs turning out the lights on the Storm offense.

After going 0-7 through three quarters, former Washington collegiate star and Olympian Kelsey Plum, whose NCAA women’s record was busted by Iowa’s Clark last season, put the Aces up with 7:04 left in regulation. 

The Storm suffered with an 0-7 start in the fourth.

Consecutive layups from Wilson and former UConn star Tiffany Hayes, who came out of retirement this season, made it 70-65 with 4:49 remaining.

Digging-Smith got Seattle within three on two foul shots to break the scoring drought but Vegas returned to shutout mode 8-0 keyed by Chelsea Gray the rest of the way.

Seattle was 0-13 in the final period with six turnovers. 

Hayes, a reserve, had 20 points and five steals, Olympian Gray had 16 points and seven dimes, while Olympian Jackie Young scored 12 with seven boards.

Wilson, who grabbed eight caroms, joins retired Sheryl Swoopes and Lisa Leslie as the only three-time WNBA MVPs.

Diggins-Smith had 16 points and eight assists for the Storm while former UConn star Gabby Williams, who just missed sending the gold medal game against USA for France into overtime in Paris when her foot was inside the three-point line as time expired, had 14. Stanford’s Nneka Ogwumike had 13 points and ten boards, and Horston off the bench scored 10.

The teams are back for Game Two on Tuesday night, with, if necessary, Game 3 on Thursday back in Seattle.

The semifinals and finals are best-of-five and if the top seeds prevail in this round New York would rematch last season’s championship with Vegas in the semifinals while Connecticut would meet Minnesota.