WNBA Playoff Bracket 2024: Full Picture After Caitlin Clark, Fever Lose, Liberty Win

The 2024 WNBA Playoffs got underway on Sunday, highlighted by star rookie Caitlin Clark leading the Indiana Fever against the Connecticut Sun in the franchise's first postseason game since 2016.

Before that, the top-seeded New York Liberty opened the day against the No. 8 Atlanta Dream.

Let's take a look at how things played out on the opening day of the playoffs.

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First Round

Sunday, September 22 (Game 1)

No. 1 New York Liberty def. No. 8 Atlanta Dream, 83-69 (NYL leads series 1-0)

No. 3 Connecticut Sun def. No. 6 Indiana Fever, 93-69 (CON leads series 1-0)

No. 2 Minnesota Lynx def. No. 7 Phoenix Mercury, 102-95 (MIN leads series 1-0)

No. 4 Las Vegas Aces def. No. 5 Seattle Storm, 78-67 (LVA leads series 1-0)

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Tuesday, September 24 (Game 2)

No. 8 Atlanta Dream at No. 1 New York Liberty, ESPN, 7:30 p.m. ET

No. 5 Seattle Storm at No. 4 Las Vegas Aces, ESPN, 9:30 p.m. ET

Wednesday, September 25 (Game 2)

No. 6 Indiana Fever at No. 3 Connecticut Sun, ESPN, 7:30 p.m. ET

No. 7 Phoenix Mercury at No. 2 Minnesota Lynx, ESPN, 9:30 p.m. ET

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Unfortunately, Clark's playoff career began the same way her rookie season started: with a 20-plus-point loss to the Sun. The unanimous WNBA Rookie of the Year struggled to get anything going, finishing with just 11 points on 4-of-17 shooting and 2-of-13 from three-point range. She added eight assists and three steals.

Kelsey Mitchell did her best to keep Indiana afloat with a team-high 21 points, and Aliyah Boston added 17 points and 11 rebounds. Marina Mabrey led Connecticut with 27 points off the bench, while DeWanna Bonner had 22 points and Alyssa Thomas notched a triple-double with 12 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists.

Meanwhile, the Liberty showed why they are the No. 1 seed with a wire-to-wire win over the Dream to start the day. New York's star-studded starting lineup accounted for 77 of the team's 83 points with four players scoring in double figures, led by Leonie Fiebich's career-high 21 points.

Fiebich shot 7-of-8 from the field and connected on all four of her three-pointers. Breanna Stewart stuffed the stat sheet with 20 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, two steals and three blocks. Sabrina Ionescu added 17 points and five assists while Betnijah Laney-Hamilton chipped in 10 points and five dimes.

The Liberty will try to close things out when they host the Dream for Game 2 on Tuesday, while Clark and the Fever will get an extra day of rest before facing the Sun again on Wednesday.