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After a thrilling regular season and down-to-the-wire fight for the final two postseason berths, the 2022 WNBA playoffs tip off Wednesday when the No. 7 seed New York Liberty visit the No. 2 seed and defending champion Chicago Sky (8 p.m. ET, ESPN2) and the No. 8 seed Phoenix Mercury take on the No. 1 Las Vegas Aces (10 p.m. ET, ESPN). The first round continues Thursday with the No. 6 seed Dallas Wings facing off against the No. 3 Connecticut Sun (8 p.m. ET, ESPNU/NBA TV) and the No. 4 Seattle Storm hosting the No. 5 Washington Mystics (10 p.m. ET, ESPN2).
This season’s playoffs feature a new format, removing single-elimination games and byes for top teams in favor of best-of-three first-round series and best-of-five battles for the semifinals and WNBA Finals.
Even as the Aces established themselves as the best team in the regular season — thanks to their late push to secure the No. 1 overall seed on the final day of games and by winning the Commissioner’s Cup Championship in July — the title race seems as wide open as ever. The Sky only got better after winning it all last season and have all the tools to become the first WNBA franchise to repeat in two decades. The Storm and Mystics both know what it takes to be champions, while the Sun have been knocking on the door of hanging a banner for the past three years. Then there’s the lower seeds, like the Liberty and Wings, who have copious young talent to ensure they won’t be going down without a fight.
ESPN’s M.A. Voepel, Kevin Pelton and Alexa Philippou answer the most pertinent questions heading into the first round of games and make their predictions for which team will ultimately cut down the nets in September.
Mystics-Storm is unanimously regarded by our staff as the most competitive first-round matchup. What’s the top storyline you’re watching in the series?
Philippou: With a healthy Elena Delle Donne, the Storm-Mystics could be a semifinals or even Finals series — in fact, it was the Finals matchup in 2018….
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Source : espn
