The day off on Saturday didn’t do anything to fix WNBA home teams’ struggles on Sunday, as the visitors went 3-1 and improved their record to 21-7 (.750) this season. It’s still very early (less than 10% of the way into the season), but home teams would have to go 178-124 (.611) to finish the season with a winning percentage that matches last season’s 160-126 (.559) regular-season record. If I had to venture a guess, my money would be on something along those lines happening, but if nothing else it’s a pretty quirky way to start the season.
Las Vegas Aces 85, Atlanta Dream 84
The reigning champs snuck out of Atlanta with a thrilling win after Chelsea Gray’s jumper in the paint put them back ahead with under five seconds to play. That shot and Gray’s subsequent steal of a Dream inbounds pass sealed a potential Finals preview — and I’ll note, with a wink, that I called it that BEFORE the game — in which the Dream had come all the way back from a 19-point deficit (17 in the fourth quarter) to take a lead in the final 30 seconds. Gray was the Aces’ leading scorer with 21 points on 8-for-13 from the field while A’ja Wilson and Chennedy Carter each added 20. NaLyssa Smith also scored 13 points on 6-for-7 from the field, but the rest of the Aces combined for 11 points on 4-for-28 (14.3%) from the field, headlined by Jackie Young’s 0-for-12 effort — the most attempts by a WNBA player in a scoreless game. That the Aces found a way to win anyway is yet another testament to their ever-impressive culture.
Gray, Allisha in this instance, was Atlanta and the game’s top scorer with 25 points, keeping her average right on that number through the season’s first three games. The Dream frontcourt continued to struggle, however, as Angel Reese and Naz Hillmon combined to go 3-for-17 (17.6%) from the field. Given the absences of Rhyne Howard and Brionna Jones, it’s hard to feel too bad about Atlanta’s effort. The 2026 Dream are quickly developing a reputation as a team that you can’t put away after coming back from double-digit deficits against both the Lynx and Aces. While it’s fair to counter that it’s not ideal to be facing large deficits all the time, it’s hard to overstate the importance of a team knowing that it’s never out of a game.
Chicago Sky 86, Minnesota Lynx 79
The already-depleted Sky left Minnesota even more shorthanded than they arrived, losing Rickea Jackson to a first-half knee injury that will require an MRI, but came away with their third win in four games nonetheless. Jackson’s injury leaves Chicago with a pretty solid five-player unit whose availability is up in the air, as Skylar Diggins missed the game with an eye injury suffered on Friday while DiJonai Carrington, Azurá Stevens and Courtney Vandersloot haven’t played yet this season. Still, Chicago is finding ways to win games, getting 20 points and 8 rebounds from rookie Gabriela Jaquez on this occasion while Kamilla Cardoso added 11 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks. Chicago also had essentially twice as many free-throw attempts as Minnesota on its home floor, going 20-for-25 while the Lynx went 8-for-12. Minnesota’s own injury issues — forwards Napheesa Collier, Dorka Juhász and Emma Cechova are all sidelined, the latter for the season — seem to be catching up with it, as the Lynx bench was outscored by a 28-10 margin and only two reserves played more than 6 minutes.
Toronto Tempo 106, Los Angeles Sparks 96
The Tempo got out of Los Angeles with a split, jumping in front of the Sparks early and keeping them at arm’s length the rest of the way to improve to 1-1 on the road and 2-2 overall. Brittney Sykes led the way with a career-high 38 points on 10-for-21 from the field and 15-for-15 at the line, the fifth time a player has gone 15-for-15 or better in WNBA history and first time in 11 years. The only other players to do so are Elena Delle Donne (16-for-16 in a 2014 game and 19-for-19 in a 2015 game), Angel McCoughtry (17-for-17 in 2012) and Penny Taylor (18-for-18 in game 5 of the 2007 WNBA Finals), courtesy of Her Hoop Stats as per usual. Slim wasn’t the only Toronto player who thrived at the line, with the Tempo finishing 39-for-42 (93%) as a team, the 12th time a team has made at least 39 free throws (the record is 42) and first time a team has gone to the line that many times since 2022. Los Angeles finished its season-opening four-game homestand with a 1-3 record, now it heads on a 10-day road trip that includes stops in Phoenix, Las Vegas and Washington before wrapping up in Connecticut.
Indiana Fever 89, Seattle Storm 78
The Fever led 32-19 after a quarter and never really looked back, bringing their record even at 2-2 and notching the only home win of the day despite Aliyah Boston missing a game for the first time in her WNBA career. Caitlin Clark had 21 points, 7 rebounds and 10 assists, which I guess is now her second straight double-double after her numbers from Friday night’s game were changed from 8 assists to 10 (at the Fever’s specific request, according to today’s broadcast, although slight stat corrections aren’t all that abnormal). Seattle was also missing its star center, with Dominique Malonga in concussion protocol, and hit just 35% from the field and 23% from deep in her absence. The Storm’s only win this season was a hard-fought one against the Connecticut Sun, and I’ll just leave it at that.