The 2026 WNBA playoffs tipped off on Sunday with 4 video games.
The Las Vegas Aces, New York Liberty, Atlanta Dream and Golden State Valkyries have been all Recreation 1 winners to get the higher hand of their first-round collection.
Listed below are some key takeaways from Sunday’s motion.
A’ja Wilson leaves little doubt she remains to be WNBA’s finest
Not that there needs to be any debate about that at this level.
Wilson is a four-time league MVP, a three-time defensive participant of the yr and one of the dominant scorers within the league. She does all of it. She takes over video games. And when she performs as she did on Sunday, she helps make the Aces among the finest groups within the league and a critical championship contender. Once more. They’ve received three of the previous 4 championships with Wilson main the best way, they usually appeared the half once more on Sunday.
She was unbelievable within the Aces’ 102-85 win over the Indiana Fever, ending with 38 factors, 16 rebounds, two assists, two steals, and 4 blocks, whereas additionally ending as a game-best plus-29 when she was on the ground.
She did all of that whereas capturing 15-of-19 from the ground, together with 2-for-2 from 3-point vary.
Beautiful efficiency.
Breanna Stewart spent Recreation 1 doing Breanna Stewart issues
And what precisely are Breanna Stewart issues? Nicely, just a little little bit of the whole lot, and controlling the sport for the Liberty in a 91-75 win over the Minnesota Lynx.
She was masterful in her 38 minutes, tallying a game-high 34 factors with 12 rebounds, six assists, two steals and two blocks.
The Liberty might need been the final staff to make the WNBA playoff discipline, and the Lynx might need completed with one of the best file within the league, however anytime you will have a participant like this in your roster, you’re all the time going to have an opportunity. Particularly in a brief collection the place it’s not going to take a lot to tug off an upset.
If Stewart goes to provide the Liberty that type of play, they’ll be an issue regardless of who they play.
Rhyne Howard leads balanced effort from Dream
The Dream took a 1-0 collection lead over the Washington Mystics in a 92-77 win that featured a really balanced assault from Atlanta.
Rhyne Howard, Angel Reese, Allisha Grey and Jordin Canada all completed with double-digit scoring days, whereas Howard and Grey each topped the 20-point mark.
Howard had one thing of an historic efficiency with 25 factors and 5 steals, making it just the fifth such playoff performance in WNBA historical past.
She completed the sport 7-for-18 from the sphere whereas additionally making all 10 of her free throws.
It was additionally a robust playoff debut for Reese, ending with 13 factors and a team-high 12 rebounds, together with 9 on the defensive glass.
Golden State Valkyries get first-ever playoff win
The Valkyries wasted no time in making the WNBA playoffs of their inaugural season in 2025, however it didn’t produce a postseason win.
That modified on Sunday with a convincing 104-80 win over the Dallas Wings.
The turning level on this recreation got here within the second quarter when Golden State posted a season-high 37 factors within the quarter, outscoring the Wings by a 26-point margin within the body.
Dallas by no means actually made it a lot of a recreation after that.
Gabby Williams and Cecilia Zandalasini every topped the 20-point mark within the win, whereas Tiffany Hayes got here off the bench with 21 factors, capturing 7-of-10 from the ground, together with 3-of-5 from 3-point vary.
The massive difficulty for Dallas within the first half was that there was merely no scoring depth after Paige Bueckers. Dallas went into the break with Bueckers recording 17 factors and the remainder of her teammates recording simply 14 factors.
