3 things to watch in Aces’ 1st-round WNBA playoffs series vs. Storm

On Saturday at Michelob Ultra Arena, the anticipation for Game 1 of the Aces’ best-of-three first-round WNBA playoff series set to tip off Sunday against the Seattle Storm was palpable.

The stage was nearly set. The No. 2-seeded Aces had just left the court following a closed practice, and every seat in the building was covered by a white shirt emblazoned with the slogan “Raise the stakes.”

Members of the setup crew scrambled to place final touches, including one who teetered alone atop a giant ladder to secure an above-the-rim video camera, and leave before Storm coach Noelle Quinn and her players trickled into view.

“It’s not just one thing,” Quinn said when asked what would be key as the No.7 seed opening the postseason against the Aces. “The top of the scout is A’ja (Wilson), obviously.”

Wilson, the reigning WNBA MVP, had already offered a resounding endorsement of what would make the upcoming games worth watching after another dominant performance against the Los Angeles Sparks on Friday — a historic 16th straight win to close the regular season.

“I think this is probably going to be one of the best playoffs we probably will see in the ‘W’ because everyone is just playing really well at the right time,” Quinn added. “But we’ve got to buckle in.”

Veteran Storm guard Skylar Diggins feels the same.

“I think it’s exciting because of what’s at stake,” she said. “This is the first of its kind, as far as this format of playoffs, and so I think it could lend to a lot of things people may have never seen before. But (the Aces) are the hottest team in the league. They’re hot right now. With us, we feel like, with the best version of ourselves, we can beat anybody.”

Here are three things to watch in the series:

1. Familiar matchup

The Storm and Aces have met in the playoffs in three of the past five years.

Last year, the Storm led by Nneka Ogwumike, Diggins and guard Jewell Loyd, were eliminated by the Aces in the first round. They lost Game 1 78-67 and fell 86-73 in Game 2 in Las Vegas.

The Aces landed the upper hand again this season by going undefeated in August, while the Storm had a nearly opposite trajectory in the same month and lost six straight games to nearly fall out of playoff contention.

In 2020, Breanna Stewart, Loyd and Sue Bird swept the Aces in three games to win the WNBA title. The Aces eliminated Seattle in the 2022 semifinals en route to securing the first of back-to-back WNBA championships.

“There’s a bit of — not nostalgia — but a familiarity,” Quinn said. “The vibe and the feel of our teams feels a little bit different for me, having a lot of new pieces, but (I have) familiarity in the opponent, knowing what they do in the playoffs, how they play, what the atmosphere feels like, smells like and sounds like.”

2. Jewell Loyd vs. former team

After spending the first 10 years of her career with the Storm, Loyd’s transition to the Aces wasn’t seamless. She complained of bullying in Seattle and then requested a trade this offseason when an internal investigation found no wrongdoing. A three-team transaction sent Kelsey Plum to the Sparks, and Loyd was lauded as the piece that could propel the Aces back to playoff contention.

Loyd struggled to find a rhythm of consistent production in 25 games as a starter, but has flourished since Aces coach Becky Hammon granted Loyd’s request to move to the bench.

She most recently recorded 21 points on 7-of-16 shooting from the 3-point line on Thursday against the Sparks to round out a season with the fourth-most 3s made off the bench in WNBA history.

Loyd has said that the heightened emotion of going against her former team was a nonfactor once she returned to Seattle for the first time in an Aces jersey.

Diggins, Ogwumike and Quinn avoided questions to that effect.

“I only played with (Loyd) for one year. … But from what I could tell, it’s always kind of a welcome back when she played in Seattle,” Ogwumike answered when asked if there would be extra feelings with playing against her former teammate.

“I don’t have any commentary to add,” Diggins said in response to a similar question.

They all had thoughts about Loyd as a scoring threat, spreading the defense thin in combination with Wilson and the Aces’ other shooters.

“They have small ball lineups with a lot of guards,” Quinn said, listing Jackie Young, Chelsea Gray and Dana Evans as points of emphasis. “(Loyd) having playoff experience and being capable from 3, that allows them to play comfortably.”

3. 1-1-1 structure

As the Aces split the four-game regular-season series with the Storm this year, both teams won on the road.

This is the first year that the WNBA will play a 1-1-1 setup for the best-of-three first round, which guarantees the lower-seeded team a home game in the series. It’s a change from the higher seed hosting Games 1 and 2 and its opponent hosting Game 3 if necessary.

Game 2 will take place on Tuesday at Climate Pledge Arena at 6:30 p.m. for the first playoff game in Seattle since 2022.

The development is a polarizing one for both coaches.

“I love it,” Quinn said. “Last year, we were unable to get a home game. And we worked extremely hard to be in a playoff spot.”

“I hate it,” Hammon said. “It’s brutal travel. I understand the lower seeds don’t like the format. Well, do better then. If you do better in the regular season, you should have that advantage. I think either push (the first-round) to five, or keep it (how it was).”

Contact Callie Fin at cfin@reviewjournal.com. Follow @CallieJLaw on X.