![]() Pelton: Adjusting for opposition, I'd go with Seattle's group of Loyd, Bird and Breanna Stewart. Kahleah Copper's Chicago Sky went 4-0 against the Connecticut Sun in the regular season. I think that would be true of any of the semifinalists' top three, but having an elite center-forward, a dynamic wing and a spectacular point guard is a great formula for the Sky. The great Leon Barmore, legendary coach of Louisiana Tech, once said that if you gave him three really good players, he could win a lot of games regardless of how good the other two were. But that leaves out Jackie Young, so maybe we give the Aces the moniker of "Best Quartet" and list Chicago's Candace Parker, Kahleah Copper and Courtney Vandersloot as a more specific Big Three. Voepel: My initial thought is the Aces, but it's perhaps a different trio than we would have chosen earlier in the season: Chelsea Gray, who has elevated to tie for the team lead in scoring in the playoffs, Kelsey Plum and Wilson, who is doing her typical MVP candidate stuff. Which trio has been the best 'Big Three' in the playoffs so far? For the Aces to make their second Finals appearance in three seasons, no doubt Wilson's fingerprints need to be all over the court, both offensively and defensively. ![]() The 2020 MVP (and a front-runner for the award this year) had a disappointing start to the playoffs, going 2-for-11 from the field in Game 1 against the Mercury before rebounding with a more characteristic 7-for-9 outing in the next game. Philippou: Loyd is the clear X factor, but I'll throw in A'ja Wilson, too. The price and payoff of Kelsey Plum's lifelong obsession with winning. ![]() Washington by scoring 12 of her team's points in a row down the stretch. #BIRD EXPERT CLIPART SERIES#With this series likely to be decided in late-game situations, the Storm will need the Loyd we saw pull out Game 1 vs. Her two games against the Aces in the season's final week - one point at home a career-high 38 in Las Vegas - reflect the extremes of Loyd's possible performance. 1 draft picks in the Aces-Storm semifinals, which player will have the single-biggest impact on the outcome of the series? Voepel, Alexa Philippou and Kevin Pelton answer the biggest questions that'll determine the semifinals and predict which teams will reach the WNBA Finals. The Sky swept the Sun in the regular season (4-0) with a 4.5-point average margin of victory, while the Aces had a 3-1 edge this summer in meetings versus the Storm, with an average margin of victory across all four games coming in at 9.5.ĮSPN's M.A. ![]() The Sun - the W franchise with the most playoff wins (33) but no title - hope to advance to their second Finals in four seasons before their championship window diminishes. Behind Candace Parker, who has indicated this could be her final season in the league, the defending champion Sky are looking to become the first WNBA team to repeat since 2001-02. 2 seed Chicago Sky and the third-seeded Connecticut Sun are hoping to carry that momentum into the semifinals, where they'll meet for the second straight year and in the postseason for the third consecutive summer. ![]() But Sue Bird and Tina Charles have plenty to fight for, too, as Bird readies for retirement with four (and if things go her way, five) WNBA titles to her name, while Charles switched teams midseason in search of her coveted first.įresh off winning decisive Game 3s in the first round, the No. The Aces are hungry to win the franchise's first championship, which would make Becky Hammon the first first-year coach to win a WNBA title since Van Chancellor in 1997, the league's inaugural season. 4 seed Seattle Storm face off in a battle featuring seven former No. The top four seeds advanced to the semifinals of the 2022 WNBA playoffs with relative ease, but the matchups and storylines that await in the next round are hardly short of intrigue. ![]()
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