Caitlin Clark will make her first appearance in the WNBA playoffs in the arena where she started her professional career.
The Fever will play in Connecticut on Sunday as the league’s postseason gets underway with four best-of-three series. The two-time defending champion Aces will host the Storm, the top-seeded Liberty will play the Dream and the Lynx face the Mercury.
Clark, who had a record-breaking rookie season, will try to lead the Fever to their first playoff win since 2015 when current Sun coach Stephanie White was in charge of the Fever.
This is the third straight postseason the league will use a best-of-three format with the better seeded team hosting the first two games.
A decisive third game would be played at the home of the lower-seeded team.
The Aces aim to become the first team to win three consecutive titles since Houston won the first four WNBA championships.
Here’s a look at the four series that begin Sunday:
Liberty-Dream: The Liberty had the best record in the league and fell just two wins short of the franchise’s first championship last year, losing to the Aces in four games.
The Dream are in the playoffs for the second consecutive season, led by Tina Charles.
Aces-Storm: A’ja Wilson has been the best player in the league this year, raising her already impressive play to another level. She became the first player in league history to score over 1,000 points in a season and has been dominant on both ends of the court.
The Aces started off slowly this season, while Chelsea Gray was out recovering from a foot injury suffered in the WNBA Finals last year.
The Storm added Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins-Smith in the offseason to add to their competitive edge.
Lynx-Mercury: The Lynx have been the surprise team of the season led by star forward Napheesa Collier.
The Lynx took the Commissioner’s Cup title by defeating New York, indicating how good Cheryl Reeve’s team could be. The Lynx are one of the hottest team heading into the playoffs. The Lynx had won 13 of 14 games before losing a meaningless contest to close out the regular season.
The Mercury have been on the other end of the spectrum, heading into the playoffs with seven losses in their last 10 games.
Sun-Fever: All eyes will be on Clark as she makes her postseason debut. The Fever struggled early in the season with a difficult schedule, but have really come on strong after the Olympic break.
They had the first .500 or better season since 2016 — the last time the team made the playoffs finishing at 20-20. Clark, who set the league record for assists and the rookie mark for points, has help from Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell.
The Sun have been to eight straight postseasons — the longest active streak. Led by Alyssa Thomas and DeWanna Bonner, the Sun look to end Clark’s first year.