Caitlin Clark will make her first appearance in the WNBA playoffs in the arena where she started her professional career.
The Indiana Fever will play in Connecticut on Sunday as the league’s postseason gets underway with four best-of-three series. The two-time defending champion Las Vegas Aces will host Seattle, top-seed New York will play Atlanta and Minnesota faces Phoenix.
Clark, who had a record-breaking rookie season, will try to lead Indiana to its first playoff win since 2015 when current Sun coach Stephanie White was in charge of the Fever.
This is the third consecutive postseason the league will use a best-of-three format with the better seeded team hosting the first two games. A decisive third game would be played at the home of the lower-seeded team.
Las Vegas aims to become the first team to win three consecutive titles since Houston won the first four WNBA championships.
Here’s a look at the four series that begin Sunday.
No. 1 New York vs No. 8 Atlanta
The Liberty had the best record in the league and fell just two wins short of the franchise’s first championship last year, losing to Las Vegas in four games. The Dream are in the playoffs for the second consecutive season, led by Tina Charles.
Season Series: New York won three of the four games with the lone loss coming in the season finale, when the Liberty had nothing to play for and the Dream were fighting to get into the playoffs.
BetMGM odds to win championship: New York +125, Atlanta +50,000.
Major Storylines: The Liberty’s chemistry has improved this season, the second with the core group of Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, Jonquel Jones and Courtney Vandersloot playing together. Stewart has shown again she’s one of the best players in the league and is a tough matchup. Atlanta is back in the playoffs for the second consecutive year – the first time that’s happened since 2013-14. Charles is a New York native, who played several seasons for the Liberty.
No. 4 Las Vegas vs. No. 5…
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