The WNBA playoffs are set to begin Sunday with the New York Liberty looking to become the fourth team in league history to repeat as champions and the Minnesota Lynx trying to avenge last season’s heartbreaking loss in a title series that went the distance.
The Indiana Fever are back in the playoffs for the second season in a row after a seven-year drought, but they’ll be missing star guard Caitlin Clark, the 2024 No. 1 draft pick and rookie of the year who has been sidelined for the past two months with a groin injury and won’t play again this year.
The Liberty will have a difficult road as they are the No. 5 seed and open up on the road against the fourth-seeded Phoenix Mercury. After starting the season 9-0, injuries decimated the Liberty and left them in the difficult position of having to win at least one game on the road in each postseason series to win a second straight title.
The Fever finished the season over .500 for the first time since 2015 and did it without Clark playing for much of the schedule. The Fever lost five players to season-ending injuries over the past two months in all and will have to figure a way to advance out of the first round for the first time in a decade. Seeded sixth, they’ll open up against the third-seeded Atlanta Dream after splitting four games during the regular season.
Minnesota, which lost in overtime in a decisive Game 5 to New York in last year’s WNBA Finals, is the No. 1 seed and has looked like the best team for much of the season. The Lynx have made it their mission to win the franchise’s first championship since 2017. The team has been led by Napheesa Collier, who became the second player in WNBA history to record a season shooting better than 50% from the fiield, 40% from behind the 3-point line and 90% from the free-throw line.