The Guru’s WNBA Playoffs Round Up: Indiana Stuns Atlanta and Moves to the Semifinals Facing Las Vegas Which Dodged a Second Upset by Seattle at the Finish

 By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

One winner was able to gloat and the other to take a deep exhale Thursday night, both at the finish in a pair of deciding Game 3 contests in the first round of the WNBA playoffs that saw 6-seed Indiana on the road stun 3-seed Atlanta with a 7-0 finish to beat the Dream 87-85 before a disappointed crowd of 3,800 at Gateway Center in suburban College Park to move on to one of Sunday’s semifinals at 2-seed Las Vegas, which went in front on a putback by Jackie Young of A’ja Wilson’s missed shot with 12. 4 seconds left and then survived on a missed shot by Seattle’s Erica Wheeler from the foul line to beat the 7-seed Storm 74-73 before a home crowd of 10,409 in the Aces’ Michelob ULTRA Arena.

“We kind of stole one there,” Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon said of the finish and Wilson’s 38 points. “Obviously, trying to get A’ja the ball. Trying to get certain people off A’ja, although tonight it didn’t matter who guarded her. She was just on a heater.

“So just get the ball to her and get out of the way and let her be her. Obviously, Jack’s putback was, she was just crashing the boards, and she was right on time with that one,” Hammon said.

“I told them, tonight we can enjoy this one, but tomorrow we have to get back to business and we gotta be better.”

Sunday’s other game has top seed Minnesota hosting the winner of Friday night’s 9 p.m. contest on ESPN2 between defending champion and 5-seed New York being hosted by 4-seed Phoenix, which ripped the Liberty 86-60 on the road Wednesday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn to tie their series and force Game 3 back in Arizona.

The same night Wednesday the Lynx avoided a Game 3 by edging expansion Golden State 75-74 in a game moved by the Valkyries to San Jose due to a scheduling conflict with the Chase Center in San Francisco.

Thursday’s win by the Fever, their first playoff series triumph since a decade ago in 2015, defied prognostications by many, including ESPN’s combination of broadcast and writing talent which unanimously picked Atlanta to take a 2-0 sweep.

The reason was well-founded with the Fever inching into the playoffs the last week of the regular season on the record 44-game schedule and sixth seed among four teams contesting for three spots only a few games apart.

For the entire season Indiana had reigning rookie of the year Caitlin Clark only available for 13 games and none after July 14 due to a second groin pull.

Clark was injury-free her entire stellar collegiate career at Iowa and her WNBA rookie season.

The Fever in August had four other players suffer season-ending injuries, two in the same game, and had to scurry finding credible talent to take hardship deals.

“This group is just really special,” said Indiana coach Stephanie White. “I mean, we say it pretty much ad nauseam, but it's the resilience, the flexibility, the welcoming, inclusive nature of this team, their selflessness to pull for the we over the me, the ability to let each teammate be who they are and shine at their best and to lift them up.

“Couple that with the resilience, the toughness, the grit, the fight, the scrappiness, and you always give yourself a chance.”

While Atlanta had a strong season finishing in a second-place tie with Las Vegas but bumped to the third seed off the Aces winning their series, Indiana gained the playoffs a game ahead of the last day and then was bumped up to six off the closing results of Seattle and Golden State.

Atlanta won the opener easily 80-68 but the Fever in their building avoided a closeout two days later with a 77-60 victory.

On Thursday, Atlanta led 56-49 at the half and was still up with a narrower 73-69 advantage heading into the final quarter.

Indiana wouldn’t go away, and Aliyah Boston scored easily alone under the basket when Brionna Jones hit the ground going for a loose ball to put the Fever up 86-85 with 7.4 left in regulation, their first lead since 33-30 in the second period.

Former Stanford star Lexi Hull stole an inbounds pass, and Odyssey Sims went to the line but was just 1-2 giving the Dream one more opportunity with 1.2 left.

Jones tried a 3-pointer that was off the mark as time expired.

Kelsey Mitchell scored 24 points for Indiana, while Boston had a double-double 14 points and 12 boards, with six assists; Sims had 16 points and eight assists, and Natasha Howard scored 12 points, and Hull scored 10 points.

“I said before the game started it was going to be a gut-check type of game,” said Mitchell. “We could have easily given up. We played them here in Atlanta. A lot of factors, the fans, and we didn't.”

Howard added, “I can't put it in words. I'm just speechless right now, just how we fought through this whole game.”

Said Hull, recapping the adversity-filled run to still be playing, “We worked so hard, and I'm just so proud of our group for staying with it. I mean, it's just insane that we're playing in the semifinals. We believed it, but there's so many people out there that didn't. And so, we've got another series.”

Temple graduate Shey Peddy, one of the roster replacements for the Fever, scored three off the bench but they came at crucial times during the rally.

Atlanta’s Allisha Gray had her first playoff double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds, Jordin Canada also double-doubled with 18 points and 10 assists, and Rhyne Howard scored 16 points while Jones collected 12.

“I think we just got stagnant,” Canada said of the reversal in the second half. “We weren't moving the ball like we were in the first half. We were taking a lot of bad shots, and we were also rushing as well and then we had some timely turnovers that they capitalized on.”

Las Vegas Avoids Second Upset by Seattle on Young’s Putback

Reigning MVP A’ja Wilson tied her personal playoff best with 38 points but Jackie Young’s putback off a second miss by Wilson in the last minute regained the lead for the Aces with 12.4 seconds left.

Wilson’s earlier miss enabled Seattle’s Erica Wheeler to race to the other end and score to go up 73-72 with 18 seconds left.

Following the Young shot, Seattle, which shocked Las Vegas with a 16-4 finish at home to tie the series on Tuesday, had a chance for an encore shocker but Wheeler’s good look from the foul line bounced off the back of the rim.

The Aces had won 16 straight to close the season and added a 17th straight combined by taking the playoff opener.

This will be Las Vegas’ seventh straight semifinals appearances, from which they went on to take consecutive titles in Hammon’s first two seasons on the sidelines in 2022 and 2023 before losing last season’s semifinal series to New York, which went on to beat Minnesota in the finals for the Liberty’s first WNBA title.

Wilson was 14-26 from the field and 10-11 from the line in gaining her sixth 30+ playoff game, which is tied for second in the WNBA.

Young finished with 14 points, while Chelsea Gray scored 12 with eight assists.

Seattle’s Wheeler and Nneka Ogwumike each scored 16 points, Ogwumike’s gaining virtually all in the second half by collecting 14 of them. Skylar Diggins picked up 13 for the Storm.

The Storm had gone in front for the first time since leading 24-23 when Diggins scored on a wide-open shot beyond the arc to lead 71-70 with 1:14 but Wilson quickly answered to get it back.

“In order to be in a one possession game with the hottest team in the league, you have to focus on the details of the game, you have to have heart, you have to have next play mentality,” Seattle coach Noelle Quinn said. “I thought the group did that. There were some tough shots made and some gritty defensive possessions. To go from 7 points in the second quarter to 47 in the second half showed the growth of this team.

“I'm super proud pushing this game and pushing Vegas to the brink,” Quinn said.

 “I'm super proud of my team — the growth they showed, the resilience to even get here and be in this moment. The Aces were the hottest team, everybody was talking about how great they were, and they were playing extremely good basketball,” she continued.

“Nobody expected us to be in Game 3 with the Aces at all — except for the Storm and everybody in that locker room.”