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2024 WNBA Playoff Bracket: Full Picture After Caitlin Clark, Fever Lose, Liberty Win | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats & Rumors
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2024 WNBA Playoff Bracket: Full Picture After Caitlin Clark, Fever Lose, Liberty Win | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats & Rumors

Bleacher Report

The 2024 WNBA playoffs got underway on Sunday, highlighted by star forward Caitlin Clark leading the Indiana Fever against the Connecticut Sun in the franchise’s first postseason game since 2016.

Before that, top-seeded New York Liberty opened the day against eighth-seeded Atlanta Dream.

Let’s take a look at what happened on the opening day of the playoffs.

Sunday September 22 (match 1)

No. 1 New York Liberty defeats No. 8 Atlanta Dream, 83-69 (NYL leads series 1-0)

No. 3 Connecticut Sun defeats No. 6 Indiana Fever, 93-69 (CON leads series 1-0)

No. 2 Minnesota Lynx defeats No. 7 Phoenix Mercury, 102-95 (MIN leads series 1-0)

No. 4 Las Vegas Aces defeat No. 5 Seattle Storm 78-67 (LVA leads series 1-0)

Tuesday September 24 (match 2)

No. 8 Atlanta Dream at No. 1 New York Liberty, ESPN, 7:30 p.m. ET

No. 5 Seattle Storm at No. 4 Las Vegas Aces, ESPN, 9:30 p.m. ET

Wednesday September 25 (match 2)

No. 6 Indiana Fever at No. 3 Connecticut Sun, ESPN, 7:30 p.m. ET

No. 7 Phoenix Mercury at No. 2 Minnesota Lynx, ESPN, 9:30 p.m. ET

Unfortunately, Clark’s playoff career started the same way her rookie season did: with a 20+ point loss to the Sun. The unanimous WNBA Rookie of the Year struggled to get going, finishing with just 11 points on 4 of 17 shooting and 2 of 13 three-pointers. She added eight assists and three steals.

Indiana fever @IndianaFever

Caitlin Clark shakes off her defender and scores an electric stepback three ⚡️ photo.twitter.com/0agQWaRZlS

Kelsey Mitchell did her best to keep Indiana afloat with a team-high 21 points, and Aliyah Boston added 17 points and 11 rebounds. Marina Mabrey led Connecticut with 27 points off the bench, while DeWanna Bonner had 22 points and Alyssa Thomas had a triple-double with 12 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists.

Meanwhile, the Liberty showed why they are No. 1 with a start-to-finish win over the Dream. New York’s all-star cast accounted for 77 of the team’s 83 points, with four players scoring in double figures, led by Leonie Fiebich’s career-high 21 points.

Fiebich shot 7 of 8 from the field and made all four of her three-pointers. Breanna Stewart filled up the stat sheet with 20 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, two steals and three blocks. Sabrina Ionescu added 17 points and five assists, while Betnijah Laney-Hamilton contributed 10 points and five dimes.

Liberty will look to close out the game when they host the Dream on Tuesday for Game 2, while Clark and the Fever get an extra day of rest before taking on the Sun again on Wednesday.