For rabid WNBA fans like me—yes, I was the one watching basketball on mute in Perk on Main last weekend—the playoffs are always over too soon. 

Case in point: This year’s WNBA regular season was 40 games long, the longest season yet. For context, the NBA’s 2022 regular season lasted 82 games. With that many matchups, fans of men’s basketball have plenty of time to ramp up to an equally drawn-out postseason. But WNBA fans have no such luxury. We’ve catapulted from tip-off into the All-Star Game into the finals in a span of just over four months.

Compare that to the NBA’s full season, which stretches from October to June with a two-month postseason, and the picture becomes clear: Blink, and you’ll miss the WNBA playoffs.

So don’t blink.

Instead, keep your eyes wide open. Step away from the NFL for an hour on Sunday to watch an afternoon matchup, or turn on a game after a weeknight class. Give the WNBA the same attention you’d give March Madness or the NBA. You used to be able to use a lack of TV coverage as an excuse to miss WNBA games, but ESPN is now broadcasting the entirety of the WNBA playoffs, (which began on Sept. 13 and will continue through at least Oct. 15). There are no more excuses.

If you’re still wondering why you should bother, here’s a breakdown of the four teams competing in the semifinals and why each one of them is worth a watch.

The Las Vegas Aces

The Aces—looking to win back-to-back championships—are impressive no matter how you slice it. They won 34 of 40 games during the regular season, surpassing the WNBA record for most wins in a single season, and began the season with a franchise-record undefeated streak. Their dominant season has prompted some news sites to wonder if we’re entering the era of the WNBA “superteam.”

Meanwhile, Aces star A’ja Wilson—the 2022 league MVP—just became the first player in WNBA history with three straight 30-point playoff games. This achievement is hardly a surprise. Wilson scored 53 points in a single game this season, tying the WNBA’s all-time single-game scoring record. Yes, you read that right: 53 points. To be honest, the rest of this article could be scrapped and replaced with simply “A’JA WILSON” in giant block letters across the top of the page.

Even setting Wilson aside, the Aces are stacked across the board: “Point Gawd” Chelsea Gray—she of the beautiful behind-the-back dimes—and late bloomer Kelsey Plum, who excelled at the University of Washington but took a few years to settle into the all-around star she now is. Three-point shooter Jackie Young. The recently named Sixth Player of the Year, Alysha Clark. Even longtime veteran Candace Parker. 

“Wait, Candace Parker is on the Aces?” you ask. 

Yes. Yes, she is. And for those of you who need men’s basketball for reference—that’s like Chris Paul going to the Warriors. Unnecessary, frankly. But also? Really, really cool.

As if all of this weren’t enough, the Aces are coached by Becky Hammon, a former player and Hall of Fame inductee, who last year became the first rookie coach to win a WNBA championship. Wilson has argued that the Aces aren’t a superteam; Hammon’s basketball IQ just makes them look like one. Whether you believe her or not, you have to give credit where credit is due. So far, the Aces are cruising through the postseason. They laid two decisive defeats on the Chicago Sky, beating them 87–59 and then 90–72 in a best-of-three first-round series. And they didn’t stop there. They’re up 2–0 over the Dallas Wings in the semifinals, with a chance for a clean sweep this Friday night.

One last note on Las Vegas? Their brand of basketball—simple, beautiful, and always looking for the extra pass—leaves even Steph Curry speechless. Here’s a must-see gif of his reaction to a particularly gorgeous play.

The Dallas Wings

The Dallas Wings came into the semifinals fresh off a first-round sweep of the Atlanta Dream. In game two, the Wings steamrolled the Dream 101–74, posting the largest playoff win in franchise history.

In that game, seven players recorded double-digit scoring—a league postseason record. Those numbers didn’t faze star guard Arike Ogunbowale, who knows Dallas’s bench can get it done. As she put it, “When we sub, there is no drop-off.”

That’s impressive, considering Ogunbowale herself is averaging 21.2 points per game on the season. Meanwhile, her fellow starter Satou Sabally has had a stunning season of her own. She averaged 18.6 points and 8.1 rebounds, recorded a 40-point game during the regular season, and won the WNBA’s Most Improved Player Award.

WNBA veterans like Natasha Howard, Crystal Dangerfield, and Odyssey Sims are pitching in, too.

Still, even with a notable lineup and a great first-round series, the Wings have struggled against the Aces in the semifinals. In game one, Dallas was unable to keep up with Las Vegas’s pace in transition; in game two, the Wings never led. Now, moving into game three, Dallas’s chances look even grimmer. No WNBA team has ever climbed out of a 2–0 playoff series hole.

But I’m not counting the Wings out yet. Ogunbowale is nothing if not clutch, and the team as a whole has something to prove. This year is the first time the Wings have won a playoff series since relocating to Dallas in 2016. 

Now the question is: Can rookie coach Latricia Trammell help her team make history against Becky Hammon and the top-ranked Aces? Tune in this Friday, Sept. 29 at 9:30 p.m. Eastern to find out.

The Connecticut Sun

Here’s your friendly reminder that Connecticut does, in fact, have a professional basketball team! They’re called the Sun, and they’re looking to make back-to-back appearances in the WNBA finals.

If you watch no other WNBA games this year, do your Connecticut-dwelling self a favor and turn on ESPN this Friday, September 29, at 7:30 p.m. Eastern. That’s when the Sun will face off against the New York Liberty in the third game of their semifinals matchup.

The Sun are the only team of the four competing in the semifinals who did not sweep their first-round series. The Minnesota Lynx forced Connecticut to a third game. However, the Sun took that last game handily, beating the Lynx 90–75. (Three Sun players—Alyssa Thomas, DeWanna Bonner, and Tyasha Harris—combined for 71 of those 90 points, leaving the rest of Connecticut’s roster in the single digits.)

Since then, the Sun have put up a fight in their two semifinals games against the Liberty. They routed New York 78–63 in game one, holding Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu to just 12 points. Natisha Hiedeman and Tiffany Hayes both dropped 12 for Connecticut, with Rebecca Allen pouring in 18.

The Sun proceeded to lose game two—but they did make it close. After Allen hit foul trouble early, Hayes stepped up with a killer performance. She had 30 points on the night, a game high.

As they head into game three with the series tied 1–1, the Sun will have to keep up a solid distribution of points across the board. It would be great to see DiJonai Carrington get involved; she’s played only a minor role in the Sun’s playoff journey so far. 

Still, let’s be honest: Even if the bench can’t step up, Alyssa Thomas and DeWanna Bonner are who you want carrying the Sun. In fact, Thomas—who notably switched shooting hands partway through her WNBA career—could probably win a championship all by herself. This season, she became the first player to ever record a 20-20-10 stat line, with 20 points, 20 rebounds, and 10 assists in a regular season game against the Lynx. And she is the league all-time triple-double leader, racking up six triple-doubles this season alone—two of which came in back-to-back games against the Lynx.

Also? She’s completely unapologetic about it. 

“I’m doing something that’s never been done in the league before,” she said of her season performance. “And I’m making it look easy. By no means are triple-doubles easy.”

It’s not just offense, either. Thomas’s versatility on the other end of the court is the force behind the Sun’s defense, which is tied for first in the league for forced turnover rate. And although Thomas was snubbed from the All-Star Game this year, she finished second in the vote for WNBA MVP, only seven points behind the Liberty’s Breanna Stewart.

Still, Connecticut will need every ounce of energy Thomas can provide in order to beat New York. 

The New York Liberty

Another so-called “superteam,” the Liberty are helmed by stars Sabrina Ionescu and Breanna Stewart. They swept their first-round series against the Mystics, but “2–0” doesn’t tell the full story. A staggering defensive performance from the Mystics’ Natasha Cloud held Ionescu to 11 points on four of 11 shooting. (For context, in the first game, Ionescu scored 29.) And the last few minutes of the game were riddled with missed free throws and unforced turnovers from both Stewart and Ionescu. But the Liberty held on with a couple of clutch plays and prevented the Mystics from forcing game three.

Apart from those late-game blips—and New York’s loss to the Sun in game one of the semifinals, in which both Liberty stars went cold—getting to see Ionescu and Stewart on the same team has been a pretty profound experience. This year, Stewart in particular has been explosive, chasing Seattle’s Jewell Loyd for the single-season scoring record. Although she ultimately fell short, she had four forty-point games this season, a WNBA single-season record. Oh, yeah—and she was just named league MVP.

Don’t forget Courtney Vandersloot and Jonquel Jones, either: additional cornerstones of the Liberty’s remade starting roster. Jones, a former Sun standout, was the 2021 league MVP, and is averaging 8.4 rebounds this season. She and Stewart make a formidable team in the post.

There are plenty of WNBA fans rooting for an Aces/Liberty finals matchup. Now, with a game four definitively set, it’s time to see if the Liberty can hold out for two more games against Alyssa Thomas and the Sun.

Ionescu is confident that they can.

“As far as I’m concerned, we’ve been playing the best basketball that’s been played here in New York City for a very long time,” she said. “And whether people recognize it or not, they will in the next couple of weeks. So I’m excited to see what they have to say then.”

Ionescu’s comments can apply to the rest of the league as well: The WNBA deserves your attention. Whether you recognize this fact or not, you will in the next couple of weeks.

Do me a favor and start by turning on a game.

Audrey Nelson can be reached at aanelson@wesleyan.edu.