The best thing about the WNBA playoffs is also the cruelest thing about them: in a best-of-three, every mistake feels loud. One cold shooting night, one brutal quarter, one superstar going nuclear, and suddenly a season’s worth of work is on a knife’s edge.
Sunday, Sept. 27 gave us all of that in one full slate. All eight qualifiers took the floor, and by the time the dust settled, we had an upset at the top, a statement from the league’s most dominant force, and two Game 1 wins that felt like momentum you can actually touch.
Series standings after Game 1
Here’s where every first-round series stands after Sunday’s openers. Each matchup is a best-of-three, so the pressure ramps up fast.
- (1) Minnesota Lynx vs. (8) New York Liberty: Liberty lead 1-0
- Las Vegas Aces vs. Indiana Fever: Aces lead 1-0
- Atlanta Dream vs. Washington Mystics: Dream lead 1-0
- Golden State Valkyries vs. Dallas Wings: Valkyries lead 1-0
And yes, dropping Game 1 matters. But it is not an automatic death sentence. Three of the four first-round series in 2025 went to a winner-take-all Game 3, and in two of those matchups the Game 1 loser still advanced. That context matters now, especially for Minnesota.
Sunday’s Game 1 results
- New York Liberty 91, Minnesota Lynx 75
- Las Vegas Aces 102, Indiana Fever 85
- Atlanta Dream 92, Washington Mystics 77
- Golden State Valkyries 104, Dallas Wings 80
Liberty vs. Lynx: New York steals Game 1
If you only checked the seeds, this one would have sounded routine: the top-seeded Lynx at home against the eighth-seeded Liberty. But playoff basketball does not care about your regular-season comfort.
And if the 2026 regular season was arguably the quietest Breanna Stewart has had since entering the league in 2016, the playoffs wasted no time changing the volume.
Stewart turned Game 1 into her personal reminder tour, powering New York to a 91-75 upset. She finished with 34 points, 12 rebounds, six assists, two steals and two blocks, the kind of stat line that changes how a series feels.
Minnesota did have a pulse early, even climbing to a 44-40 halftime lead after digging out of an early hole. The problem was what came next. New York came out sharper after the break, and the Lynx never really found a clean rhythm again.
For Minnesota, the numbers tell a story that looked familiar to anyone who has watched a young guard run into the playoff headlights. Olivia Miles went 3-of-12 with four turnovers and one assist. Napheesa Collier and Kayla McBride combined for 26 points, but it was not enough to steady the ship once the game tilted.
Now the bracket picture is simple: New York has the early punch, and Minnesota has to answer immediately. The good news for the Lynx is that it is hard to play much worse than they did in the second half. The bad news is Stewart just reminded everyone what “best player in the series” looks like when she decides to grab it.
Aces vs. Fever: A’ja Wilson sets the tone
There are great playoff performances, and then there are the ones that make the matchup feel like it is already bending.
A’ja Wilson was that on Sunday. She dropped 38 points with 16 rebounds in a 102-85 win over the Fever, shooting 15-of-19 from the field and hitting both of her three-point attempts. It was her 26th career postseason double-double.
When Wilson is playing like that, everything around her gets simpler. Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young combined for 35 points and 18 assists, and Las Vegas was plus-27 with each of them on the floor. Only seven Aces scored, but when your top end hits like this, you can live without a ton of bench fireworks.
Indiana’s path in this matchup is always going to involve its guards creating real scoring pressure. That did not happen in Game 1, with Kelsey Mitchell and Caitlin Clark combining to shoot 10-of-33. Aliyah Boston can do plenty, but she also has her hands full with Wilson. The backcourt is where Indiana could have a scoring edge, and it did not show up Sunday.
The bracket implication is clear: the Aces are one win from moving on, and the Fever need a much cleaner offensive night to even make this feel like a long series.
Dream vs. Mystics: Atlanta flips it
Atlanta and Washington played a competitive regular-season series, and the Mystics had reason to feel comfortable. Game 1 took that comfort and tossed it.
The Dream won 92-77 behind a balanced punch. Angel Reese posted a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds, while Rhyne Howard led all scorers with 26 points. Washington got 25 points and six rebounds from Sonia Citron, but the middle of the game decided everything.
Atlanta trailed by five at halftime, then detonated the third quarter with a 29-12 scoring margin. They tacked on the first five points of the fourth to stretch the gap to 17, and from there it was professional, calm, and controlled.
Game 2 will be in Washington on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. ET. The Mystics do not need to reinvent themselves, but they do need an answer for that third-quarter avalanche.
Valkyries vs. Wings: one quarter broke it
Sometimes a series opener is a slow burn. This one was a lightning strike.
Golden State took control with a devastating second quarter, outscoring Dallas 37-11 in that frame on the way to a 104-80 win. Three Valkyries hit the 20-point mark, led by Cecilia Zandalasini’s 22 points. Paige Bueckers paced Dallas with 21 points and six rebounds, but the Wings were chasing the game for most of the night after that one stretch.
The efficiency was loud: Golden State shot 49 percent overall (36-of-74) and 50 percent from three (18-of-36). They finished with 22 assists and only four turnovers. It is hard to draw up a cleaner playoff performance.
Game 2 is Wednesday night at 9 p.m. ET. For Dallas, the mission is not complicated, it is just difficult: you cannot have a quarter like that and expect to survive a best-of-three.
What to watch in Game 2
- Minnesota’s response: Can the Lynx clean up execution and get steadier guard play after a rough outing from Olivia Miles?
- Indiana’s backcourt bounce-back: The Fever need more than 10-for-33 from Mitchell and Clark if they want to extend the series.
- Washington’s third-quarter stability: The Mystics cannot let the game swing that violently again, especially at home.
- Dallas handling Golden State’s pace: The Wings have to find a way to stop runs before they turn into a full-on rout.