2026 WNBA playoffs: Your guide to Sunday's Game 1s — SkimNews
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- Minnesota Lynx enter as the No. 1 seed but lost four of their last six regular-season games, with star Napheesa Collier averaging just 13.0 points in those losses after returning from ankle surgery on July 22.
- Las Vegas Aces carry a seven-game win streak into their No. 3 vs. No. 6 matchup with the Indiana Fever and can tie the WNBA record with a fourth championship — though their streak includes no victories against playoff teams.
- Washington Mystics boast the league's hottest recent form at 16-4 since July 20, anchored by the No. 2 defensive rating (103.3), making them a dangerous No. 5 seed against the No. 4 Atlanta Dream.
- Indiana Fever vs. Las Vegas Aces features two of the three highest-scoring duos in WNBA history per Elias — Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell combining for 47.0 ppg versus A'ja Wilson and Jackie Young at 45.1 ppg.
- Olivia Miles is expected to play in the Lynx's Game 1 despite a left calf injury that kept her out of the final two regular-season games, and ESPN's Alexa Philippou flagged her first postseason as a key storyline.
- Angel Reese, Sonia Citron, and Kiki Iriafen — all members of the winning U.S. World Cup team — will make their WNBA playoff debuts in the Dream-Mystics series.
- The Lynx-Liberty matchup is a first-round rematch of the 2024 Finals, which went to overtime in Game 5, with stars Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones, Sabrina Ionescu and Collier all still in the fold.
Why it matters: The Lynx's late-season stumble — four losses in six games with Collier averaging just 13.0 points — marks a rare opening for a top seed to fall early, while the Aces-Fever matchup guarantees one star-studded roster exits in round one. With only one top-2-seed upset in WNBA Finals history under this format, seeding still heavily favors Minnesota or Las Vegas reaching the title round.
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