In some weird cosmic way, this year’s WNBA Finals will still pit East against West even though the league did away with the concept on an official basis.
The semifinals are set to begin on Sunday with the Seattle Storm facing the Phoenix Mercury and the Atlanta Dream doing battle against the Washington Mystics.
The Storm and the Dream already advanced to the semifinals by virtue of earning the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in the playoffs, respectively, by posting the top two records in the regular season.
Their two opponents were to be determined by the results of the first two playoff rounds.
The Mercury got to the semifinals by winning its first two games. They began the playoffs as the five seed and started by facing the eight-seeded Dallas Wings, who made the playoffs by virtue of a 107-102 victory over the Las Vegas Aces.
Dallas managed to overcome all of the late-season commotion of their losing streak and the firing of head coach Fred Williams with Liz Cambage’s 43-point outing against the Aces. DeWanna Bonner’s 29 points and 11 rebounds along with 26 from Diana Taurasi plus 17 from Brittany Griner proved to be too much for the Wings and head coach Taj McWilliams-Franklin in what could be Cambage’s final game in the WNBA.
Between Skylar Diggins-Smith’s 23 and Cambage’s 22, they combined for 46 of the Wings’ 83 points. Cambage also hauled in 12 rebounds and dished out six assists.
The Mercury followed that up with a 96-86 victory on the road at the Connecticut Sun – one of the two teams that earned a single-bye into the quarterfinals as they were the fourth seed. The Sun gave the Mercury everything that they could handle and then some, but as is typically the case in basketball, veteran talent beats youngsters.
The Mercury’s big three was responsible for 77 of their 96 points – 27 each for Griner and Taurasi and 23 via Bonner, who also pulled in 18 rebounds. The Sun also had issues going into the paint against Griner, who blocked six shots.
The game against Dallas took place at Arizona State University instead of at Talking Stick Resort Arena.
For Curt Miller’s Sun, Courtney Williams was tied for the lead among all scorers with 27 of her own. Alyssa Thomas chimed in with 17 points. Jasmine Thomas finished with 14 points and Jonquel Jones, who was named the WNBA’s Sixth Woman of the Year a season removed from winning the Most Improved Player Award, finished with 13 points.
Williams made four out of her five three-point attempts. She also had eight rebounds to compliment Jones’ seven boards and seven assists.
As for the Mystics, they sat idle for the first round as they also earned a single-bye into the quarterfinals. Their opponent would either be the Los Angeles Sparks or the Minnesota Lynx.
That is correct – the two teams that matched up in the last pair of WNBA Finals were facing each other this season in the first round of the playoffs. This chapter of the Sparks-Lynx rivalry went the way of Los Angeles as they defeated Minnesota by a final score of 75-68.
Chelsea Gray has been a thorn in the side of the Lynx with her ability to hit game-winning, buzzer-beating shots. This was the case again even without nailing a game-winner. She scored 26 pints and made nine of her 17 three-point attempts. Nneka Ogwumike added 19 and Riquna Williams scored 17.
Sylvia Fowles scored 18 points along with 12 rebounds and Maya Moore added 14. Lindsay Whalen scored nine points and sent out five assists in what turned out to be her final game in the WNBA.
This presented a cross-country trip for the Sparks to Washington, D.C. and George Washington University, where the Mystics will be playing for the playoffs by virtue of renovations at Capital One Arena. One wonders if that trip had an adverse effect on Los Angeles as the Mystics blew out the Sparks with the final result being 96-64.
Only one Spark finished in double digits for points – Candace Parker who had 16. Next was Odyssey Sims with nine and Alana Beard and Ogwumike with eight each.
As for the victorious Mystics, they were the beneficiaries of six players finishing with double-digits in points. Elena Delle Donne led all scorers with 19, LaToya Sanders and Ariel Atkins added 14 apiece and Natasha Cloud finished with 13. Kristi Toliver had 11 and Tianna Hawkins pitched in with 10.
Delle Donne also grabbed 12 rebounds and Toliver sent out nine assists. Sanders blocked three shots.
By: Akiem Bailum (@AkiemBailum on Twitter, Instagram)
