New York punched the No. 1 seed in the mouth, A’ja Wilson reminded everybody exactly who she is, Atlanta turned Washington’s turnovers into a track meet, and Golden State made its playoff debut look way too easy.
The WNBA Playoffs have officially arrived.
And apparently nobody told these teams we were supposed to ease into this thing.
Four Game 1s.
Four very different stories.
We got an 8-seed beating the No. 1 team, A’ja Wilson doing A’ja Wilson things, Washington treating the basketball like it was optional property, and Golden State introducing itself to postseason basketball by casually dropping 104 points.
So much for feeling each other out.
Let's get into it.
Liberty 91, Lynx 75: Excuse Me, New York?
Let's start with the biggest eyebrow-raiser of the day.
The No. 8 New York Liberty walked into Minnesota and beat the No. 1 Lynx 91–75.
Not stole it.
Not survived it.
Beat them by 16.
Minnesota entered the postseason at 33–11, carrying the No. 1 seed for the second consecutive year.
New York apparently looked at all of that and said:
That's cute.
Breanna Stewart was the headline, exploding for 34 points, 12 rebounds and six assists as New York took a 1–0 series lead.
That's not a good playoff game.
That's a “please remember who I am” playoff game.
And here's the wild part: New York wasn't perfect.
The Liberty committed 21 turnovers, which Minnesota turned into 18 points.
Usually you don't walk into the home of the No. 1 seed, hand them the basketball 21 times and leave smiling.
New York did.
Minnesota's problem was that several of its major weapons simply didn't produce enough. Kayla McBride struggled, while Courtney Williams also had a quiet night.
Now the Lynx have to head to Brooklyn needing a win to keep their season alive.
The No. 1 seed.
Facing elimination.
After one game.
Playoff basketball is disrespectful like that.
Sanchez Sideline Take
New York didn't come into the postseason looking like an 8-seed Sunday.
They looked dangerous.
But before Liberty fans start planning the parade route, Stewart herself made the point afterward: winning Game 1 doesn't mean you get comfortable. Minnesota was the league's best regular-season team for a reason.
Still...
New York just kicked the door open.
Now Minnesota has to figure out how to close it.
Aces 102, Fever 85: A’ja Wilson Had Somewhere to Be
There are playoff performances.
And then there is whatever A’ja Wilson decided to do to Indiana.
38 points.
16 rebounds.
4 blocks.
2 steals.
Las Vegas beat Indiana 102–85, and Wilson tied her playoff career highs in both points and rebounds.
Ma'am.
The Fever came to Vegas for a playoff game.
A’ja apparently came for a demolition project.
And she wasn't alone.
Jackie Young finished with 21 points and 10 assists, while Chelsea Gray added 14 points and eight assists. Las Vegas shot 59 percent from the field and 47 percent from three.
Indiana actually had five players score in double figures.
Aliyah Boston led the Fever with 18 points, while Caitlin Clark recorded 15 points and 10 assists.
Sounds respectable.
Then you look back at the scoreboard.
102–85.
Never mind.
Clark was asked afterward to grade Indiana's defense.
Her answer?
“An F.”
No curve. No extra credit. No makeup assignment.
And considering Las Vegas got 28 points off Indiana turnovers, it's difficult to argue with the professor.
Sanchez Sideline Take
The Fever's biggest problem wasn't simply that Wilson scored 38.
It's that Las Vegas got whatever it wanted far too often.
Wilson dominating is one thing.
Wilson dominating while Young is handing out 10 assists and Gray is controlling the game?
Now you have problems.
Indiana doesn't have to stop A’ja completely in Game 2.
Good luck with that.
But somebody might want to make her work a little harder.
Dream 92, Mystics 77: Washington, Please Hold Onto the Basketball
Washington actually did something really well against Atlanta.
The Mystics outrebounded the Dream 50–31.
Fifty to thirty-one!
Normally, that's the kind of stat you circle and say:
Yep. That's how they won.
Except Washington didn't win.
They lost by 15.
Why?
Twenty-two turnovers.
Atlanta had seven.
Twenty-two.
At some point that's no longer a turnover problem.
That's a donation program.
The Dream didn't need Washington to keep handing them extra possessions, but Atlanta certainly wasn't going to refuse the gifts.
And that's what makes this loss particularly frustrating for the Mystics. Washington entered the postseason having won six of its final seven regular-season games and had won the season series against Atlanta.
This was supposed to be one of the tighter opening-round matchups.
Instead, Atlanta left Game 1 with a 92–77 victory.
Sanchez Sideline Take
You cannot outrebound somebody by 19 and then give the basketball away 22 times.
Those two statistics are basically fighting each other.
Washington did enough dirty work to stay competitive.
Then Washington repeatedly gave Atlanta the ball.
There's the game.
No advanced analytics necessary.
Valkyries 104, Wings 80: Welcome to the Playoffs, Golden State
First playoff game in franchise history.
You'd expect some nerves.
Maybe a slow start.
Maybe everybody needs a few minutes to settle down.
Or...
You could just score 104 points.
Golden State chose Door No. 2.
The No. 2 Valkyries beat Dallas 104–80, taking a 1–0 lead in their first-ever postseason series. The Valkyries entered these playoffs after surging late enough to secure the second seed.
Twenty-four points.
That's the margin.
Golden State didn't tiptoe into playoff basketball.
They kicked the door open, moved the furniture around and started asking where everybody keeps the snacks.
For Dallas, it's now about responding quickly because that's the problem with a best-of-three first round:
There is almost no room for a bad night.
Lose Game 1 and suddenly Game 2 isn't just another basketball game.
It's your season.
Sanchez Sideline Take
Golden State's first postseason game ending with 104 points feels almost unfair.
Expansion teams are supposed to spend years collecting lottery picks and giving their fan bases speeches about patience.
The Valkyries apparently skipped that chapter.
Four Games. Four Messages.
After one day of playoff basketball, here's what we know:
New York: Seeding doesn't scare us.
Las Vegas: The championship still runs through here until somebody proves otherwise.
Atlanta: Give us 22 turnovers and we're sending you the invoice afterward.
Golden State: Expansion team? That's adorable.
And everybody who lost?
Welcome to the ugly part of a best-of-three series.
There isn't much time for motivational speeches, film-room therapy or “we'll get them next time.”
Next time might be the last time.
Game 1 gave us an upset, two 100-point performances and four teams immediately putting their opponents against the wall.
If this was the appetizer, somebody better check on the kitchen.
The WNBA Playoffs are officially cooking.
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