The opening night of the 2023 WNBA playoffs was one of the most uncompetitive nights of postseason basketball you're ever going to see. The Connecticut Sun got things started with a dominant 90-60 win over the Minnesota Lynx, before the defending champion Las Vegas Aces cruised to a 87-59 win over the Chicago Sky.
Both teams now have commanding 1-0 leads in the short best-of-three first-round series. With the new 2-1 format that gives the higher seed the first two games at home, they will each have a chance to close things out on Sunday afternoon, when these matchups will resume.
The Sun poured in a franchise playoff record 16 3-pointers in their victory, and forced the Lynx into 18 turnovers, which they converted into 30 points. DeWanna Bonner led the way with 17 points, 15 rebounds and six assists, while Alyssa Thomas added 15 points, 10 rebounds and five steals to become the second player in league history with that stat line in the playoffs.
Out in Las Vegas, it was all Aces right from the opening tip. They never trailed, and led by as much as 32 en route to the second-biggest win in franchise playoff history. Chelsea Gray, the reigning Finals MVP, made it clear that "Playoff Chelsea" is back, as she finished with 20 points, four rebounds, seven assists, two steals and two blocks. Five Aces players scored in double figures in the win.
Here are some key takeaways from Wednesday's action:
'Playoff Chelsa' is back
There were plenty of reasons why the Aces won their first title in franchise history last season, but perhaps the biggest was that Chelsea Gray became flat-out unstoppable. The veteran point guard won Finals MVP after a stunning postseason run in which she averaged 21.7 points, seven assists and 3.8 rebounds on 61.1/54.4/83.3 shooting splits.
While she wasn't quite that efficient on Wednesday, she was just as effective, and the Aces were certainly happy to have "Playoff Chelsea" back in action. She put up a game-high 20 points on 7-of-15 from the field and added four rebounds, seven assists, two steals, and two blocks.
The Aces are tough to beat in any circumstance, but it's nearly impossible when Gray starts operating like this. They are obviously going to face tougher tests than the Sky during this playoff journey, but it was still encouraging to see Gray elevate her game in the postseason yet again.
Sun set a franchise playoff record from deep
The Sun did not shoot a ton of 3-pointers during the regular season, but they shot them well when they got open looks. While they were ninth in the league at 20 attempts per game, they were fourth in percentage at 36.0. In Game 1 against the Lynx, however, they were both prolific and accurate en route to a historic night from behind the arc.
With the game's very first shot, Tiffany Hayes banked in a triple, which foreshadowed how the rest of the evening would go. The first three shots the Sun made from the field were all 3-pointers, and they never looked back, knocking down a franchise playoff record 16 shots from behind the arc on 30 attempts. That mark is tied for the second-most 3s ever made in a playoff game, along with the 2007 Phoenix Mercury and 2019 Washington Mystics. Only the 2022 Aces (23) have ever had more.
Rebecca Allen led the way with five triples -- as many as the Lynx hit as a team -- while Hayes added four. The Sun were able to get into the paint at will all night long, and used tremendous ball movement to find open shooters while the Lynx were stuck in rotation. It's hard to imagine the Sun shooting like this again, but this was a good reminder that they're actually a strong 3-point shooting team when they take them.
Sun's defense causes havoc
The Sun were one of the best defensive teams in the league this season, largely because they forced a huge number of turnovers (their opponent turnover percentage was 19.8%). Meanwhile, the Lynx were one of the sloppiest teams in the league, entering the playoffs with a 17.7 turnover percentage.
The turnover battle was one of the keys entering this series. If the Lynx wanted any chance of pulling off an upset, they needed to take care of the ball.
In Game 1, they did not. The Sun's pressure, and particularly their hard traps out on the perimeter, overwhelmed the inexperienced Lynx squad that was missing point guard Lindsay Allen due to a hand injury. The Lynx turned it over a whopping 19 times, which the Sun turned into 30 points, which just so happened to be the margin of the game.
