Guru’s WNBA Playoff Roundup: Upset City as Indiana Topples Atlanta While Seattle Erases 14-Point Deficit to End ‘Vegas 17-Game Win Streak.

 Updating with Stewart saying she plans to play.

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

The WNBA first round of this season’s playoffs quickly went from Blowout Sunday in terms three of the four games to Upset Tuesday in separate varieties involving the first half of Game 2 action making Thursday night Game 3 designations become necessary to break the two 1-1 ties.

In Tuesday’s opener 6-seed Indiana delighted its crowd of 16,682 in Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis by going wire to wire with big and small leads on the way to a 77-60 victory led by Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston.

Then came a stunner by way of a momentous rally from a 14-point deficit as 7-Seattle thrilled its crowd of 12,500 fans in attendance at Climate Pledge Arena by closing with a 16-4 run to overcome 2-seed Las Vegas 86-83 ending the Aces’ combined 17-game win streak.

On Wednesday, defending champion and 5-seed New York may have to proceed without two-time MVP Breanna Stewart, listed as doubtful after suffering a left knee injury Sunday, as the Liberty try to finish a sweeping 2-0 upset of 4-seed Phoenix at 8 p.m. on ESPN at their Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

That the Liberty are a five seed is a result of a roller coaster ride most of the season with injuries to key players, including Stewart, who was out from late July through most of August.

However, at Wednesday morning’s shootaround, Stewart said she plans to play after an MRI revealed an MCL sprain.

“They told me that structurally, everything looks OK, she said. “So my plan is to go.”

At Wednesday’s second game at 10 p.m. on ESPN, 1-seed Minnesota will try to complete a 2-0 sweep ending the Cinderella expansion season of 8-seed Golden State, which has been forced to move a short distance south in the Bay Area to host the Lynx at the SAP Center at San Jose due to a scheduling conflict with the Chase Center in San Francisco created long before the team was born into the WNBA and went on to contain a record-setting sellout all 18,064 seats for each of 22 home games.

The Valkyries, whose Veronica Burton added Most Improved Player honors on Monday from the WNBA national media panel to a similar award from the Associated Press, set added records for wins by an expansion team and qualifying for the playoffs in a debut season.

A similar awards sweep from the AP and on Tuesday the WNBA voters went to Dallas overall No. 1 pick Paige Bueckers out of UConn’s NCAA champions as Rookie of the Year.

Wednesday’s potential wins by New York and Minnesota sets up a best-of-five semifinals rematch of last season’s Finals won 3-2 in series results by the Liberty, taking decisive Game 5 at the end of overtime for their first title in their 28-year history dating to the WNBA inaugural summer in 1997.

Thursday’s half of the best-of-three first round tiebreakers has Indiana at Atlanta at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN2 which will then telecast Seattle at Las Vegas at 9:30 p.m.

A Tale of Two Upsets

Neither game had seemed probable after Sunday’s two wipeouts by the higher seeded home teams.

Indiana entered the postseason minus five players ruled out in August and this month, the latter when reigning Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark ran out of time rehabbing from a right groin pull that had her sidelined since July 15.

In all, Clark, who went through her entire Iowa collegiate career and rookie pro season uninjured, only saw 13 games due to earlier quad and groin pulls.

But on Tuesday, the Fever registered hot as Mitchell and Boston were both nightmares to the visiting Dream, Mitchell scoring 19 points built by four makes from deep, while Boston scored 15.

Neither team has won a playoff series since the middle of the last decade, Atlanta in 2016 and Indiana in 2015.

Natasha Howard provided 12 points and five boards to the winning effort, while Mitchell also dealt four assists and Boston also had five rebounds and three assists.

Atlanta reserve Te-Hina Paopao score 11 and Rhyne Howard scored 10, both victims of an Indiana defense that sliced 25 points off the Dream’s season scoring average.

Allisha Gray was held to nine points and seven boards while playing all the way in foul trouble.

Indiana in front of its sellout crowd hosted its first playoff game since 2016 and won its first postseason game since beating Minnesota 75-69 on Oct. 11, 2015.

The last Fever wire-to-wire playoff win came in 2002.

Indiana bolted to a 30-19 lead midway in the first half before Atlanta moved close at 35-29 at the break and closer at 40-37 at the midpoint of the third quarter.

But then Mitchell and Boston combined on the first of two 7-0 runs to go up 67-44 and then opened the fourth on an 8-0 spurt before rested the rest of the way with the game well secured.

Then Seattle went one better in securing its upset over the heavily favored opposition to win its first playoff game in three seasons since 2022 with Skylar Diggins scoring 26 points and the game-winner with 4.2 left on the clock while Nneka Ogwumike had 24 points and 10 rebounds.

The Aces were up 79-70 before the Storm lived up to their nickname.

Rookie Dominque Malonga from France produced a three-point play putting Seattle up 84-83 with 31 seconds left in regulation.

Ogwumike got an inbounds pass with 27.7 left and let half of the time tick off before passing to Diggins who then built the advantage to three points.

Jewell Loyd went for the tie from distance at the finish but her shot bounced off the right side of the rim.

Malonga added 11 points with 10 rebounds and Erica Wheeler out of Rutgers sccored 11 points.

Las Vegas’ Young scored 25 points and reigning MVP A’ja Wilson had her 22nd playoff double double with 21 points and 13 boards.

Diggins and Ogwumike broke out after held to 12 and 11 points, respectfully, on Sunday.