This guide to the 2025 WNBA playoffs consists of eight teams and eight questions

Sunday marks the start of the 2025 WNBA playoffs. I’m asking the following questions about each team, arranged by first-round matchup. In case you’re not a big reader, we also talked about some of these questions on the latest episode of Nothing But Respect.

(1) Minnesota Lynx: So how do you defeat the Lynx? They might have responded to that question Thursday night by wanting to win a meaningless game rather than by losing. With the top seed assured, Minnesota’s starters continued to play a significant amount of minutes in the final regular season game against the Golden State Valkyries, a victory that dropped the Valks to the No. shifted Seattle to the eighth seed. Seven. The Lynx might have wanted to avoid Skylar Diggins taunting them with Electric Slide once more. They might have wanted Napheesa Collier, the MVP candidate, to boost her stats a bit more. They may have, however, also been attempting to avoid a matchup that they disliked.

Last year, the Lynx’s relative lack of frontcourt size was their biggest weakness going into the Finals. Collier is so good at playing up that most nights you don’t notice how tall she really is (6-foot-1). It is somewhat more obvious on nights when she is playing against teams with strong frontcourt rotations, such as Atlanta or Seattle, who both put up a strong fight against the Lynx during the regular season. Alanna Smith, a 6-foot-3 candidate for Defensive Player of the Year, appears to be fighting for her life when she has to defend Brittney Griner. Smith has won 45 percent of her jump ball attempts this season, while Griner has won 91 percent, to give a rough idea of the height difference at center there. The Lynx will start the postseason against a Valkyries team that has its own size issues, which is good news because they won’t face Atlanta or Seattle until the Finals.

(8) Golden State Valkyries: Is WNBA basketball a “weak link” sport? This season of the Valkyries has brought back memories of discussions I overheard during the 2024 WNBA Finals and 2025 NBA Finals regarding basketball’s new “weak link” era, where winning is less important than losing. Golden State’s nightly uncertainty was the driving force behind their historically successful expansion season. Even after All-Star Kayla Thornton sustained a season-ending injury, they didn’t really bat an eye. At least one team-high scoring night was experienced by eleven different Valkyries players in 44 games, and Veronica Burton, the player with the most team-high scoring games, only had 25% of them. Natalie Nakase, the rookie head coach, changed lineups and game plans so frequently that it now seems like a Valkyries victory can take many different forms. The playoffs are much simpler for a coach when he or she can trust every player on the roster.

The Lynx had eight different players score the team-high total this season, and their greatest strength may be their complete competence at every position. However, their first-round opponent makes this series a poor test case for the weak link theory. Nonetheless, I’m keeping an eye on it as the WNBA enters a phase of explosive growth and its top players become fragmented.

(2) Las Vegas Aces: When the Aces last suffered a defeat, it was a 111-58 loss to Minnesota, the biggest margin of defeat in WNBA history. Will the Aces ever lose a basketball game again? Over a month has passed since this incident. The Aces will enter the playoffs on a 16-game winning streak after clearly letting all of their losses out in one night. Even though A’ja Wilson is still the epitome of consistency, things seemed to work out for her when the team acquired NaLyssa Smith at the trade deadline and started her in place of Kiah Stokes, who struggled offensively. Jewell Loyd, a struggling offseason acquisition, was also benched midseason by head coach Becky Hammon at Loyd’s request.

During this run, the Aces’ defensive performance has undoubtedly improved compared to the first half of this season or even the second half of the previous campaign. That could be the outcome of Hammon’s recent motivational strategy, in which she told ESPN’s Kendra Andrews that she had begun to request that players write their own scouting reports. The Aces frequently switch up their lineup, which has highlighted point guard Chelsea Gray’s endearing ability to guard the four. However, it may also create some mismatches that opponents could exploit in the playoffs. Observe how they appear while guarding the pick and roll and how they communicate defensively.

(7) Seattle Storm: What impact will fatigue have on teams this postseason? The Storm are the league’s worst rebounding team, despite having a roster that leans heavily in the frontcourt and appears to be extremely athletic. Other than forcing turnovers on a fifth of opponents’ possessions, they can end possessions in other ways thanks to annoying players like Brittney Sykes, Gabby Williams, and Erica Wheeler. Frequently, however, it appears that they lack the other team’s level of zip. Age may have an impact on the energy levels because Seattle’s roster is dominated by veterans. The starters wind up playing a lot of minutes if there isn’t a good bench.

After the WNBA’s longest-ever regular season, it will be interesting to see how this inconsistent Seattle team and the other playoff teams fare. I don’t love their chances against the scorching Aces. The first-round playoff format, which is new this year as well, will necessitate additional travel because it guarantees both teams one home game. While it’s not too difficult to travel from Vegas to Seattle, it’s definitely worth seeing during the Lynx-Valkyries and Mercury-Liberty series, as well as the remainder of the playoffs. The WNBA Finals are a best-of-seven format for the first time. I can’t even begin to imagine players with even more lifeless legs after somehow surviving the horrific scene from Game 5 of the Finals last year.

(3) Atlanta Dream: Can a WNBA championship be won when your best player isn’t a big? The Finals last year got me thinking about all the amazing things the league’s top bigs are doing these days, like occupying a ton of space on defense and serving as passing hubs in the paint. In reality, none of that is being done by Atlanta’s big men. Not that traditional big things aren’t valuable, though. They certainly have been for the Dream. Perhaps the team’s impressive offensive development has overshadowed the Dream’s second-best defense in the league.

Atlanta applies oppressive pressure to win defensive possessions. Brittney Griner, Brionna Jones, and Naz Hillmon make sure the opposing team only gets bad shots on the boards after the athletic Rhyne Howard and Allisha Gray force opponents into bad shots. The only reason I’m a little doubtful of their chances of winning the championship is that their roster doesn’t exactly resemble recent Finals teams: there isn’t a game-winning power forward like Stewart, Wilson, Thomas, or Collier. Take a look at the WNBA’s youngest players and upcoming draft classes to see that the league is experiencing a new golden age of dynamic guards. I will be keeping an eye on the Dream to see what the Guard Era might look like if that is where we are going.

(6) Indiana Fever: How will this team fare in the postseason? The season has been a disappointment for a team that started the season with genuine hopes of winning a championship. As the season progressed, more and more of Caitlin Clark’s teammates joined her on the bench in street clothes after she missed the majority of it due to injuries. Declaring that the Fever’s young players should only expect to gain experience during the postseason raises memories of 2024.

There have undoubtedly been some bright spots visible through the injury clouds: Kelsey Mitchell led all WNBA guards in scoring. She should be on a team that is All-WNBA. This season, Aliyah Boston has been on point; watch how she plays against the top rebounding team in the WNBA. Indiana most likely desired this matchup in the first round. By attempting to play in transition more, the Fever might be able to challenge Atlanta after avoiding the Aces and the champion favorite Lynx in the first round. Despite their injury problems, the Fever ended the season with a top-three offense, and the Dream are one of the league’s slowest teams, ranking 12th in pace.

(4) Phoenix Mercury: Is WNBA basketball a “weak link” sport? Alyssa Thomas is the player who best demonstrates that stars matter and that a single woman can win a postseason series on her own. She can make anyone look good or paint a touch. Being surrounded by talented three-point shooters and skilled cutters has undoubtedly made her look fantastic, and Phoenix’s much clearer path to the rim has also increased her own scoring totals. The team’s relative experience may be helpful in this case: Thomas may be the greatest playoff riser to never win a championship, DeWanna Bonner and Sami Whitcomb have rings, and Kahleah Copper was the MVP of the Finals. They will have some of their endearing rookie teammates who are rando making their postseason debuts.

Phoenix may have a difficult time advancing past the first round because they aren’t exactly up against a five-seed with true talent. The Liberty usually do well to limit points off the fast break, but Thomas is most effective when she can lead the offense in transition. In addition to the Mercury’s frontcourt already being undersized, everyone is at a size disadvantage against New York. Despite being an entertaining defensive player and a talented dancer, Natasha Mack probably shouldn’t be the starting center for a postseason team.

(5) New York Liberty: Can they get away with it? The Liberty had a few issues when healthy, such as being an oddly bad rebounding team, but their season was a complete mess due to injuries to several important players. Sabrina Ionescu, Jonquel Jones, and Breanna Stewart all started and ended the game in good health in just 12 out of 44 games. They won all twelve. It is not surprising that despite a scorching start to the season, the team never really seemed to settle into a routine this year. When the playoffs start, I have no idea what version we’ll be seeing.

I still value pedigree, especially when it comes to playoff basketball, so it’s tempting to think that New York could suddenly turn things around. The 2021 Sky, a similarly gifted No., could serve as an inspiration to the Liberty. The six-seeded team had a rough regular season due to mishaps and injuries. Although lower-ranked seeds typically do not perform well in the WNBA playoffs, the Sky are an exception to this rule. Additionally, if a single player’s absence is sufficient to derail a whole team, that may speak to the caliber of the group. On occasion, you are simply who the record indicates you are. Head coach Sandy Brondello tried out a few playoff combinations in the final two games of the season, which were actually New York’s first injury-free games since the season’s opening two games. With Stewart, Jones, and Emma Meesseman, who was signed in the middle of the season, a three-big jumbo lineup might be possible. It would be difficult to stop them if they were clicking.