« Their resilience is beyond what one can imagine. » Vanessa Nygaard has good reason to think so. Imprisonment of Brittney Grinerwound of Diana Taurasiwithdrawal of Skylar Diggins-Smith… Despite a combination of unfavorable events, the Phoenix Mercury coach managed to lead his team into the playoffs. A tenth consecutive qualification.
« Every day, we were faced with different things, different challenges. Fate has been on us for most of the year. To be there on the last day of the season and to be in the playoffs is a great reward. But now a new season starts », develop the coach whose formation, finalist in title, finished with one of the worst balance sheets in its history (15 victories – 21 defeats).
The Mercury won enough matches to snatch 8th place and face the Las Vegas Aces (26-10), coached by Becky Hammon, in the first round of the playoffs. The formation of Arizona had obtained the last spot even before its last game of the regular season, lost, against Chicago. With Minnesota’s loss to Connecticut, the Lynx were already eliminated, and then New York defeated Atlanta, thus eliminating the Dreams.
With one victory more than the Mercury, the New York Liberty of Marine Johannes (10 points on average this season and 18 points at 6/8 from a distance in the final meeting) obtained 7th place and will play the defending champion, the Chicago Sky, which offered a franchise record with 26 success this year (against 10 defeats).
In the other two series, the Connecticut Sun will host the Dallas Wings, while the Seattle Storm will play the Washington Mystics. Note that this season, for the first time since 2015, this first round will be determined by the best of three matches, no longer on a knockout match as was the case. The final, on the other hand, is always played as the best of five matches.
Finally, it is reported that the Indiana Fever team finished far behind all the other teams in the league with only 5 wins and 31 losses. This is an equal record of mediocrity. The end of this regular season thus puts an end to his ordeal since the formation of Indiana remained on 18 consecutive defeats…
Premier tour des playoffs WNBA
Las Vegas Aces (1) – Phoenix Mercury (8)
Chicago Sky (2) – New York Liberty (7)
Connecticut Sun (3) – Dallas Wings (6)
Seattle Storm (4) – Washington Mystics (5)