The Phoenix Mercury have advanced to the WNBA Finals after defeating the first-place Minnesota Lynx 86-81 in Game 4 of their best-of-five semifinals series on Sunday evening.
Earlier in the day, the Indiana Fever forced Game 5 against the Las Vegas Aces with a 90-83 home victory.
Here’s a look at how the playoffs have transpired thus far.
First Round (Best-of-Three)
No. 1 seed Minnesota Lynx 2, No. 8 seed Golden State Valkyries 0
No. 2 seed Las Vegas Aces 2, No. 7 seed Seattle Storm 1
No. 6 seed Indiana Fever 2, No. 3 seed Atlanta Dream 1
No. 4 seed Phoenix Mercury 2, No. 5 seed New York Liberty 1
Semifinals (Best-of-Five)
No. 4 seed Phoenix Mercury 3, No. 1 seed Minnesota Lynx 1
No. 2 seed Las Vegas Aces 2, No. 6 seed Indiana Fever 2
The Lynx were forced to play this game without forward Napheesa Collier, the WNBA MVP runner-up who averaged 22.9 points and 7.3 rebounds per game last season. Collier missed the game with a left ankle injury suffered near the end of her team’s Game 3 loss on a controversial play.
Minnesota also missed Dijonai Carrington, who suffered a season-ending left mid-foot sprain.
Kayla McBride picked up a huge scoring slack in Collier’s absence, scoring 31 points. Courtney Williams also added 20 points.
However, Phoenix was too tough down the stretch, outscoring the Lynx 31-13 in the final 10 minutes to overcome a 68-55 deficit. Alyssa Thomas had a near triple-double with 23 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds, while Satou Sabally posted 21 points and six rebounds.
Phoenix is now in the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2021. The Mercury await the winner of the Aces-Fever series, which will end Tuesday evening in Las Vegas (9:30 p.m. ET tipoff).
Indiana is traversing this season without superstar guard Caitlin Clark, who was held to 13 games this year due to injury. Indiana is also without Aari McDonald, Sophie Cunningham and Chloe Bibby, all of whom are out for the year.
The Fever made the playoffs as the sixth seed and upset the third-seeded Atlanta Dream, who won 30 games.
Now Indiana has pushed four-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson and the Aces to the limit. Kelsey Mitchell scored 25 points, and Aliyah Boston added 24 points and 14 rebounds for the Fever.
Odyssey Sims, who was picked up during the season due to injuries, added 18 points.
Wilson was amazing on both ends as usual, pitching in 31 points, nine rebounds, four steals and three blocks. Jackie Young excelled as well with 18 points and nine assists.
Now the series has been pushed to a Game 5, a potential classic. Phoenix awaits in the best-of-seven WNBA Finals, which begin on Friday.
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