Your guide to Sunday's first-round WNBA playoff games: Matchups, storylines, more

The WNBA playoffs are yet here. The best-of-three archetypal circular opens Sunday with 4 games.

The apical 4 seeds person home-court advantage, but the roadworthy teams are looking to bargain a Game 1 win. The Golden State Valkyries made past arsenic the archetypal enlargement squad to scope the playoffs successful its inaugural season. The Indiana Fever, who haven't had Caitlin Clark connected the tribunal since July 15, person flooded 5 season-ending injuries. The defending champion New York Liberty were besides deed hard by injuries. And the Seattle Storm reached the postseason contempt a second-half slump.

How volition it each play out? What first-round games are we astir looking guardant to, which players mightiness measurement up, and which matchups volition person the astir impact? ESPN breaks down what to expect -- and volition beryllium providing postgame investigation close present passim Sunday.

MORE: Playoff predictions | Strengths, flaws for each team | Top 25 players | Schedule

Sunday schedule

1 p.m. ET (ABC): No. 8 effect Golden State Valkyries astatine No. 1 effect Minnesota Lynx

3 p.m. ET (ESPN): No. 6 effect Indiana Fever astatine No. 3 effect Atlanta Dream

5 p.m. ET (ESPN): No. 5 effect New York Liberty astatine No. 4 effect Phoenix Mercury

10 p.m. ET (ESPN): No. 7 effect Seattle Storm astatine No. 2 effect Las Vegas Aces

What idiosyncratic matchup are you astir looking guardant to seeing Sunday?

Kevin Pelton: New York's Breanna Stewart vs. Phoenix's Alyssa Thomas. This matchup itself is thing caller -- Stewart's Liberty bushed Thomas' Connecticut Sun successful the 2023 semifinals -- but the Mercury's spacing presents a antithetic situation for New York successful slowing down Thomas.

Kendra Andrews: I'm looking astatine the aforesaid crippled arsenic Pelton, but a antithetic matchup: Thomas vs. New York's Jonquel Jones. Both person size, ...