The defending champion Las Vegas Aces and A’ja Wilson will look to three-peat while sensation rookie Caitlin Clark makes her postseason debut when the WNBA playoffs begin today.

Those are just two of the storylines to follow when the league’s postseason starts.

This is the third straight postseason the league will use a best-of-three format in the first round with the higher seeded team hosting the first two games. A decisive third game would be played at the home of the lower seed.

Many players and coaches weren’t thrilled with the format especially now that the league provided teams charter flights all season long. The WNBA chartered flights for all playoff games starting in 2023.

“Now that we have charters that should have changed automatically,” New York forward Breanna Stewart said. “To create the home-court advantage. So there’s just some, like, little nuances that need to be looked at and be dissected a little bit. Obviously if we can extend playoffs, it makes it feel a little bit less rushed.”

New York, which hosts Atlanta in the first round, played the Dream in the final regular-season game on Thursday. So both teams were already in the city for this weekend’s opening game.

Here are a few things to look for:

• Rookie debut: Caitlin Clark will try to become the first rookie since her idol, Maya Moore, to lead a team to the WNBA championship. The Fever open in Connecticut as the No. 6 seed. Clark had a stellar first year, breaking the league’s assist record as well as setting the rookie points mark. Clark along with the rest of the rookie class helped lead the WNBA to incredible ratings and attendance this season.

• Calling it a career? Diana Taurasi hasn’t announced whether this is her final year in the WNBA, but the Phoenix Mercury honored her at their final home regular-season game. Taurasi is the career playoff leader in points and would love a chance at one more championship. The Mercury have a tough road, facing No. 2 seed Minnesota.

• Three-peat: The Aces became the first team since the Los Angeles Sparks in 2001-02 to win consecutive WNBA titles and now are trying to become only the second team ever to win three consecutive championships. Led by Wilson, the fourth-seeded Aces are peaking at the right time, with nine wins in their last 10 games heading into the playoffs. The Aces started off slowly this season while Chelsea Gray was out recovering from a foot injury suffered in the WNBA Finals last year. First up is Seattle in the 4-5 matchup.

NBA

Phoenix suns radio legend dead at 91 >> Al McCoy, who was the radio voice of the Phoenix Suns for more than a half-century, has died. He was 91.

McCoy was the longest-tenured team broadcaster in NBA history, calling Suns games for 51 years. He called his first game on his Sept. 27, 1972 and his last on May 11, 2023. His tenure included Phoenix’s NBA Finals appearances in 1976, 1993 and 2021.

“This is a sad day for the Suns and the Suns family,” former Suns star Charles Barkley said in a statement. “Al McCoy represented everything that is great about Phoenix, the Phoenix Suns and people who love basketball. I was blessed and honored to work with Al and I’m gonna miss him.”

Soccer

Bay fC suffers heartbreaking loss to pride >> Two screaming passes went across the penalty area in the late moments of Friday night’s clash between Bay FC and the undefeated Orlando Pride, but Bay FC couldn’t finish either chance.

A minute later, the hometown club surrendered a heartbreaking goal to Orlando’s Barbra Banda to complete a devastating 1-0 loss at PayPal Park.

“This one hurts,” said head coach Albertin Montoya. “The team played well and we deserved better.”

Bay FC was every bit as good as the first-place Pride most of the night, outshooting them 13-12, and had several chances to win it in the final few minutes.

“The best teams finish those chances,” Montoya said. “But we’re creating chances and creating a lot of really good chances. It’s frustrating but it’s also encouraging because we’ve come a long way. We’re getting better.”

NFL

Texans’ Mixon out >> The Houston Texans will be without running back Joe Mixon today against the Minnesota Vikings because of an ankle injury.

Mixon was injured early in the third quarter of Houston’s win over Chicago last Sunday night. He returned for two plays after the injury but did not practice all week and was listed as doubtful on Friday.

Mixon, the former Bengal, had a great game in his debut with the Texans in Week 1, running for 159 yards and a touchdown to win AFC Offensive Player of the Week honors.

Houston are also missing backup running back Dameon Pierce (hamstring), leaving third-stringer Cam Akers as the starter. Akers played for the Vikings last year before sustaining a season-ending Achilles tendon injury in November.