In the words of the immortal Frankie Vallie, '“Oh, What a Night”. But instead of late December back in 1963, it was mid-September in the WNBA. The first night of Game Two matchups in the opening round of the Playoffs brought us even more intrigue than we originally thought. Both the Indiana Fever and Seattle Storm managed to keep their seasons alive as the third game, a pivotal elimination matchup, goes back to Atlanta and Las Vegas, respectively.

Over on our YouTube page, we’re live every night of the playoffs. You can find last night’s video here or, if you want to listen to the recap in podcast form, you can listen to it above or on any podcast platform.

Now, let’s get to previewing!

Phoenix Mercury @ New York Liberty

NYL Leads Series 1-0

8:00 PM ET, ESPN

A Quick Overview:

We got some good news on the injury front. While Breanna Stewart disclosed to media this morning that she has a sprained left MCL, she went through shootaround and feels capable of playing tonight. That’s huge news for New York, who rely on her to be a defensive anchor who can handle the likes of Satou Sabally on the wing while providing help on the interior. Before her injury took her off the floor, Stewie put up a solid 18-6-4 line on 7/14 shooting from the field.

Phoenix lost the opportunity to retain homecourt and now have to entire what will likely be a raucous Barclays Center environment hoping to keep their season alive. While general rules of sports momentum would tell you that being on the road in this scenario makes winning extremely difficult, the Mercury don’t have much statistical drop-off when away from PHX Arena. If they want to prove they have championship bonafides, then this is the time to prove it.

Make-or-Break Matchup:

While some Mercury players struggled from the field in Game One, no one had a tougher night than Satou Sabally who finished with 9 points on 2/17 shooting and 1/10 from beyond the arc. Quite simply, you can’t put up that kind of line and expect your team to win. Remarkably, in spite of a really off night, the Mercury were one Alyssa Thomas layup from winning in regulation.

Asking their MVP candidate to carry them in that way again will be hard unless she has some help from the supporting cast and Sabally is the singular player that can make-or-break the game. On the other hand, Phoenix caught a lucky break with a great defensive performance from their bench and an awful shooting night by the Liberty’s rotation players. I don’t think Emma Meesseman and Kennedy Burke will combine for 1/11 shooting again so something will have to give on either end of the floor.

Players To Watch (Phoenix):

Alyssa Thomas is the engine of this Phoenix team and this is going to come down to her. Yes, Sabally needs to shoot better and you need a bit more from rookie Monique Akoa Makani and bench sharpshooter Sami Whitcomb (both combine for 4/18 from the field and 3/8 from deep). But this Mercury squad goes as far as AT does considering she is the system. While her near-triple-double is impressive, I still need to see some more finishing around the rim even in substantial traffic. Some of it can be chalked up to officials not properly being able to assess her because of her physicality (she can play through *a lot* of contact) but some of it comes down to the 33 year old point forward. You don’t necessarily need the range and three levels of scoring to be an MVP candidate. But when you are asking everyone to respect your ability as a top player in the league, you gotta be more efficient inside 10 feet. 7/18 isn’t going to cut it if you want to advance against this team.

Players To Watch (New York):

While Stewie is likely to be attacked defensively due to her injury and potentially limited mobility, the person I am watching closely is Jonquel Jones. The 6’6 former league MVP went 3/7 from the field but grabbed 12 rebounds in the game one victory. She’s impressive and maddening at the same time because you know she has these 25 point, 12 board performances in her. It just comes down to game flow and how much she’s factoring into the offense that day. Natasha Cloud was in a flow state on Sunday (9/12 FG and 3/6 3PT) so she understandably got a ton of touches but I really believe that New York’s equalizer is Jones. A dominant home performance from her, especially considering Phoenix doesn’t have a lot of size to counter with, feel like it could propel the Liberty to a win and sweep of the Mercury in the opening round.

Minnesota Lynx @ Golden State Valkyries

MIN Leads Series 1-0

10:00 PM ET, ESPN

A Quick Overview:

Minnesota rode a second quarter surge to a game one win in Minneapolis and now heads to some unusual territory: the SAP Center in San Jose, a replacement venue to adjust for some scheduling conflicts at the Chase Center. Considering the smashing success of Ballhalla this year, it feels like the move will actually help the Lynx, who may benefit from a semi-neutral venue. But Golden State is expected to come out swinging, echoing the passion of head coach Natalie Nakase who called out the officiating after the first matchup.

While the final foul counts were pretty even, that second quarter saw the Lynx go to the line 11 times which disrupted the Valks defense, sent some players to the bench and allowed Minnesota to claw back into the game after being down seven at the end of the first. Will Nakase get the fair fight she asked for after the loss on Sunday? I guess we’ll find out.

Make-or-Break Matchup:

The Valkyries, even with the foul trouble in mind, had a tough shooting night. As a team they went 30/59 from the field and 9/31 from beyond the arc. They were outrebounded by Minnesota and their top players simply didn’t shoot the ball very well. It’s not necessarily surprising, given that’s what the Lynx have done to teams all season long but they’ll need a bit more from their key contributors while forcing their bench to defend Natisha Hiedeman a bit better. The Lynx’s rotational star went 7/15 from the field and finished with 18 points and a remarkable +32 in plus-minus.

If the Valks are able to contain the Minnesota bench a bit better while improving their percentages, they have a shot to make this series a bit more interesting. The big question, to me, will be if they’re able to stay mentally engaged if they do run into foul trouble again. That kind of thing can take teams out of their game, as Nakase alluded to after game one. If they’re able to stay composed even through potential disruptions to their rhythm, then we may get a team something a bit more consistent.

Players To Watch (Minnesota):

Napheesa Collier is Minnesota’s constant and guarantees you a high floor pretty much any game she’s playing in. Which is why I think Courtney Williams is the player I’m most interested in watching this game. She finished with a good-but-not-great line in game one, scoring 11 points while adding 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals to her box score. But she is a much different player on the road. According to WNBA Stats, her shooting averages drop by 7% from the field and 9% from deep when away from the Target Center. With that said, she’s active in other ways, seeing no drop off in assists and an increase in activity on the boards. If they’re able to get her going while still getting strong production from Hiedeman off the bench, the Lynx will be who they’ve always been: a team of excellent players that just overwhelm you with numbers and talent.

Players To Watch (Golden State):

Veronica Burton gets her chance to cement herself as a potential all-star caliber talent tonight. She had a poor shooting performance in game one, going 3/13 from the field and 3/9 from three and the hope is that she’ll be able to pick up those percentages a bit. Her ball security (7 turnovers in game one) also has to be substantially better. The SAP Center is going to be different than Chase so while it’ll be a home crowd it won’t be a home hoop. Personally, I’m interested in seeing how Golden State shoots in general knowing that playing in San Jose isn’t the same as being in their normal arena. Beyond their point guard, Temi Fagbenle and Janelle Salaun are being asked to do a lot in this matchup against an elite Minnesota frontcourt. While you can only hope to contain Collier, I thought they did a good job limiting Alanna Smith and Bridget Carlton. The challenge is being able to anchor the pain enough that the Lynx’s guards don’t have a field day driving to the hoop.

No Cap Space WBB is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nocapspacewbb.com/subscribe