Fever, Lynx Face Elimination in 2026 WNBA First Round — SkimNews
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- Indiana Fever and Minnesota Lynx face elimination Tuesday night after losing Game 1 — the Fever 85-102 to the Las Vegas Aces, and the Lynx 75-91 to the New York Liberty on Sunday, both needing wins to force a Game 3.
- Golden State Valkyries and Atlanta Dream hold 1-0 series leads after Sunday wins — the Valkyries beat the Dallas Wings 104-80, and the Dream beat the Washington Mystics 92-77 — and can advance to the semifinals with a Game 2 victory.
- Higher seeds will host a deciding Game 3 later in the week if necessary, after which the second round shifts to a best-of-five format and the Finals become best-of-seven, just the second time in WNBA history.
- The 2026 WNBA season launched after a contentious labor fight that raised the salary cap from $1.5 million in 2025 to $7 million in 2026, and players responded with multiple regular-season records, including Caitlin Clark's first-ever 40-point, 10-assist game, Angel Reese's 26-rebound single-game record, and Kelsey Mitchell passing A'ja Wilson for the single-season points record.
- Game 2 broadcasts include the Aces-Fever matchup on Prime at 6:30 p.m. ET and Lynx-Liberty on USA/fubo at 8:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, with the semifinals tipping off Sunday, Oct. 4.
Why it matters: The 2026 playoffs carry unusually high stakes beyond the bracket: the salary cap quadrupled to $7 million this season after a contentious labor battle, and the league is expanding its Finals to a best-of-seven for just the second time ever — signaling that both player compensation and the league's competitive format have entered new territory in the same year.
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