2024 WNBA Playoffs: Top Performers So Far

The first round of the 2024 WNBA playoffs went according to script, as each of the league’s top four seeds swept its opponent to advance to the semifinals.

The top-seeded New York Liberty, in search of their first title in franchise history, host the two-time defending champion Las Vegas Aces in Game 1 of their series on Sunday at 3:30 PM ET.

The second-seeded Minnesota Lynx, winners of four WNBA crowns in seven years between 2010-2017, won a playoff series for the first time since 2020. They will host the Connecticut Sun, who advanced to the semifinals for the sixth consecutive season, on Sunday at 8:30 PM ET.

Each of the four semifinalists have featured standout individual performances this postseason. Below, we detail the top playoff performers so far from each remaining squad.

New York Liberty: Sabrina Ionescu, G

The Liberty have lost in the WNBA Finals five times and have yet to hoist the league championship trophy. Ionescu, the sixth-year guard, is doing everything she can to end this drought. 

Ionescu averaged 26.5 points, seven assists, and two steals to lead the Liberty past the Atlanta Dream. She was one of four Liberty players, along with Breanna Stewart (16.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg), Jonquel Jones (14.5 ppg, 10 rpg) and Leonie Fiebich (15 ppg), to average in double figures in the first-round series.

After scoring 17 in the series opener, Ionescu took her game to another level, tying the Liberty franchise playoff record with 36 points to close out Atlanta on Tuesday night. 

Minnesota Lynx: Napheesa Collier, F

Tying for fourth in the league in regular season scoring at 20.4 points per game was not enough for Collier, who finished as runner-up to A’ja WIlson in the league’s MVP voting.

After scoring a career-high 38 points in Minnesota’s series-opening win over the Phoenix Mercury, the sixth-year forward tied the WNBA playoff record for points in a game with 42 as Minnesota completed the two-game sweep.

In the process, Collier became the first WNBA player to score 38 points or more in back-to-back playoff games, and her two-game total of 80 points is the most over any two-game stretch in the playoffs in league history as well.

Connecticut Sun: Alyssa Thomas, F

The Sun had the closest race for top performer. That makes sense, as Connecticut spreads the wealth probably better than any team in the WNBA.

Six players averaged in double figures during the regular season, including guard Marina Mabrey, who came over from the Chicago Sky midseason and sparked the team. She led the Sun with 22.5 points a game and added 4.5 assists per contest in the team’s two-game sweep of the Indiana Fever.

But the nod here has to go to Alyssa Thomas, the 11th-year forward who finished top-five in MVP voting for the third year in a row.

A stat-sheet stuffer, Thomas averaged 15.5 points and led the Sun with 13 assists and 7.5 rebounds a game against the Fever. She had a triple-double in the series opener before posting 19 points and 13 assists to close out the series. 

Like the Liberty, the Sun are without a WNBA title, having finished as runners-up four times. Thomas was on two of those teams, in 2019 and 2022. She will also be a major reason why they could end this season’s run with the franchise’s first championship.   

Las Vegas Aces: A’ja Wilson, C

When you are now a three-time league MVP, and the leader of the two-time defending champs, it's naturally expected that you will perform well in the postseason. That doesn’t make it any less impressive.

Wilson, who led the league in scoring and finished second in rebounding in the regular season, led Las Vegas in points (22.5), rebounds (10.5) and blocks (3.5) as the Aces swept the Seattle Storm.

Wilson led the Aces with 21 points and added eight rebounds in the series opener. Kelsey Plum led the team in the clincher with 29 points, but Wilson contributed 24 points of her own, to go with a game-high 13 rebounds. 

The Aces have now won seven straight playoff series, but they are the lower seed in the semifinals against the Liberty in a rematch of last year’s WNBA Finals. With Wilson at the helm, there is no reason to think Las Vegas can’t pull off the slight upset and make it eight in a row.

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