WNBA Playoffs: Stewart Sets Record, Lynx Fall Short

On Sunday, the WNBA semifinals began with the New York Liberty, Las Vegas Aces, Minnesota Lynx, and Connecticut Sun.

Breanna Stewart Shines Against A’ja Wilson

A’ja Wilson recently became the first unanimous league MVP since 1997. But in the Liberty’s 87-77 win, Breanna Stewart stole the show. She scored 34 points on 12-of-19 shooting and added five assists and four rebounds. According to Ben Pickman from The Athletic, she broke Lisa Leslie’s record for most double-digit scoring performances in WNBA playoff history. Wilson had a solid game too with 21 points on 9-of-16 shooting.

Last season’s loss in the WNBA Finals seems to have motivated Stewart. In a postgame news conference, she mentioned that she has “grown” since then and is ready for the rest of the series.

Sabrina Ionescu Thrives With Spike Lee Present

Spike Lee’s presence at Liberty games seems to boost Sabrina Ionescu’s performance. He attended his second straight Liberty playoff game wearing her jersey as reported by Doug Feinberg from AP News. Ionescu scored 21 points and made three of her six three-point attempts.

Lee also attended their opening-round clincher against Atlanta Dream where Ionescu had a postseason-high of 36 points. After Sunday’s win over the Aces, Ionescu shared that Lee was one of the first people to call her when she was drafted No.1 overall in 2020.

There goes SAB-3️⃣-NA 🔥

Spike Lee is loving the energy to start Game 1

LVA-NYL on ABC | #WNBAPlayoffs presented by @Google

— WNBA (@WNBA)

Fans love seeing celebrities support their favorite players; it makes everything more exciting!

Is Game 2 Crucial for the Aces?

History suggests losing Game 1 could be problematic for Vegas. Michael Voepel from ESPN notes teams winning Game 1 in a best-of-five series prevail 77% of the time (27-8). The Aces struggled with turnovers and poor three-point shooting in Game 1.

Still, Becky Hammon remains confident citing past experiences where they bounced back after losing Game 1 against Seattle Storm before winning three consecutive games.

“We’ve had our backs against the wall before,” Hammon said during a postgame news conference.

Marina Mabrey Lives Up To Her Nickname

Marina “Money” Mabrey continues her impressive form into postseason play after finishing seventh in regular-season three-pointers made (98). In Sun’s narrow victory over Lynx (73-70), she scored 20 points including six out of eleven from beyond-the-arc shots!

Mabrey’s shooting forces defenses to focus on her creating opportunities for others like Alyssa Thomas or DeWanna Bonner who combined along with DiJonai Carrington for forty points against Minnesota

Napheesa Collier Keeps Lynx Hopes Alive

Despite losing Napheesa Collier showed why she deserved being named Defensive Player Of The Year by leading Lynx both offensively & defensively! She scored nineteen points while going perfect at free throw line plus grabbing crucial rebounds & steals!

Lynx need better than twenty-five percent accuracy at threes if they want any chance bouncing back Tuesday!