The Liberty won’t let you forget who stood atop the WNBA in 2024.
After becoming the first WNBA No. 8 seed to dethrone a No. 1 seed in Round 1, the New York Liberty are reminding everyone how much playoff experience matters and just how recent their championship success was.
With Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu and Jonquel Jones still leading the charge, losing at the hands of the Liberty has surely caused the Minnesota Lynx some deja vu. The last time these two met in the playoffs was the 2024 Finals, where the Liberty also wound up on top.
The Lynx have had a tough week; imagine the dynamics of celebrating Olivia Miles' Rookie of the Year win and Cheryl Reeve's Coach of the Year nod in the days between two devastating first-round playoff losses.
All this is just what happened on one side of the bracket. After an exciting first round, let’s take a look at the biggest question facing each team in the semifinals.
No. 8 New York Liberty vs. No. 4 Atlanta Dream
Can Breanna Stewart stay the difference maker?
The Liberty’s two-time MVP and eight-time all-star is responsible for getting the team this far, but does she have the momentum and power to push an inconsistent New York group even further?
Jones will sometimes lose her pace, Ionescu doesn’t always have her shot, but Stewart has perfected the art of consistency. She’s shown up in big moments throughout her career, and although she may not always be the flashiest, you can always expect a level of compete when she’s on the court.
In the Lynx series, Stewart totalled a team-leading 55 points — including 34 in Game 1 alone — and 17 total rebounds. She jammed Miles on defence and disrupted her Unrivaled business partner Napheesa Collier on both ends of the court.
The Liberty’s new head coach Chris DeMarco has no WNBA experience prior to this year, so as this group advances through the playoffs, Stewart’s leadership on and off the court will only get more valuable. Heading into Sunday, the Dream’s primary goal needs to be running her down and keeping her out of the action.
Can Angel Reese, Rhyne Howard and Allisha Gray continue as a perfect trio?
Angel Reese, Rhyne Howard and Allisha Gray sharing the load and most of the responsibility has been seamless and automatic for the Dream.
All three all-stars proved to be the pieces to finally get the Dream a playoff win in a closeout game.
They're also all scoring machines — their offensive attack and relentless point-getting make Atlanta tough to take on. But more importantly, they’ve all developed their own ways of creating and have integrated perfectly, allowing one to step up when the others need it most.
Just look at the foul trouble Reese and Howard got into in Game 2 against the Mystics. While two stars were forced to pull back their aggression and lessen their minutes, in came the shooting skills of Gray from all areas of the court. She finished with a team-leading 22 points on top of three assists and four steals.
Of course, as much as these three forces accomplish together, each brings a specialized skill set as well. As the newly minted Defensive Player of the Year, Reese will need to dominate in the paint as she rises against the large Liberty presence of Jones and Stewart. In the second game against the Mystics, Reese had just seven rebounds, five below her season average of 12.1. That decrease in production won’t fly against a big Liberty group in the semis.
No. 3 Las Vegas Aces vs. No. 2 Golden State Valkyries
Can the Valkyries defence halt the Aces?
Golden State takes great care of their paint. All season long, opponents had trouble scoring near the net and were forced to settle for chances on the perimeter. But as the Wings’ Arike Ogunbowale proved in the second game of the playoffs, sometimes you don’t need to get close to score. Her WNBA-record 45 points were punctuated by five threes that the Valkyries didn’t have an answer for.
Now look at the Aces. Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young consistently put up points in the double digits. Young is shooting well from distance with a 42.9 three-point percentage while Gray’s mid-range is as lethal as ever.
Stack those skills on top of A’ja Wilson’s dominance in the paint, which remains unrelenting even against the most reliable of defences, and the Valkyries will have a lot to deal with.
Golden State needs to improve its one-on-one defence, or this series may start to resemble their season series — an Aces sweep.
Does experience trump everything in the WNBA playoffs?
The Las Vegas Aces are a dynasty — last season's championship determined that.
Over the last four years, this group — which has stayed mostly intact — has been rewarded with a nice little side dish to winning: playoff experience. Every win is a step closer to another ring, but every playoff game is also another useful rep in a high-pressure environment. Every post-season game is a taste of an elevated atmosphere, and by now the Aces have almost tried the whole menu.
A lack of playoff experience is often decisive in close matchups. In the Lynx’s recent loss, we learned Miles needs more experience on the big stage before she is primed to make a solid run. The Mystics’ first-round sweep this year was also reflective of their young core and lack of experience.
Against a team that doesn’t just lack playoff experience — the Valkyries were bounced in the first round last year — but also lacks general league experience as a recent expansion franchise, these extra reps could make all the difference for the Aces.
Four Valkyries players are former WNBA champions (Kiah Stokes, Kayla Thornton, Iliana Rupert, Cecilia Zandalasini) with a total of six rings. The Aces, though, have six former champions, for a total of 18 rings.
If winning now comes down to who’s done it most, the Aces are in a far better spot.
