WNBA semis winners and losers: Valkyries' defense downs Aces, Jordin Canada lifts Dream past Liberty in Game 1

The semifinals of the 2026 WNBA playoffs got underway on Sunday when the Atlanta Dream used a dominant third quarter to surge past the New York Liberty for a 92-82 win. They lost star guard Allisha Gray to a hand injury in the process, however, and her status for the rest of the series is unclear. 

Out in the Bay Area, the Golden State Valkyries defended their home court with a 71-60 victory over the reigning champion Las Vegas Aces. There was another injury in that contest when Jewell Loyd left with a leg injury in the third quarter. Her status for the rest of that series is also unclear. 

All teams will enjoy two days off before the action continues with a Game 2 doubleheader on Wednesday. Before we look ahead to those matchups, let's take a look back at some winners and losers from Sunday. 

Winner: Jordin Canada

Canada has long been one of the most reliable point guards in the league, but has generally flown under the radar on a national level. That will change if she keeps playing like she did on Sunday, which continued a stellar showing to begin the playoffs. 

Gray only played 11 minutes due to a hand injury and Rhyne Howard shot 5 of 20. You would have assumed a comfortable Liberty win under those circumstances, but Canada picked up the scoring slack while still providing her usual level of feisty perimeter defense. 

Canada finished with 25 points -- tied for the third-highest scoring game of her entire career, regular season or playoffs -- on 9 of 14 from the field to go along with four assists and five steals. A 29.2% 3-point shooter during the regular season, Canada shot 4 of 6 from behind the arc, which tied a season-high and helped the Dream stay just about even in that department against a much better shooting Liberty team. 

On the defensive end, Canada played a major role in forcing 21 Liberty turnovers, which the Dream turned into a whopping 32 points. In the game-changing third quarter, which the Dream won, 32-15, Canada had three different steals that she turned into layups on the other end. 

Loser: Liberty's ball security

No team was better at forcing turnovers in the regular season than the Dream, who led the league with a 19.5% opponent turnover rate. The Liberty, meanwhile, had an 18.2% turnover rate in the regular season, which was tied for the third-worst mark. 

Perhaps it wasn't surprising, then, that turnovers decided the game. 

The Liberty turned the ball over 21 times, which led directly to 32 Dream points. That was tied for the most turnovers the Liberty have had in a game this season, while the Dream's 32 points off turnovers were tied for their fourth-most in that category this season. The turnovers helped the Dream outscore the Liberty 18-0 in fastbreak points in a 10-point victory. 

Ionescu led the way with five turnovers, while every single Liberty starter had at least two turnovers, as did reserves Han Xu and Marine Johannès. 

The third quarter was particularly rough for the Liberty, who had nine giveaways in the frame. Seven of them led directly to Dream baskets and 15 points for Atlanta, which fittingly won the third quarter by 15, 32-17. Here's the quarter-by-quarter breakdown to see just how damaging the third was for the Liberty. 

For what it's worth, I went through the play-by-play and the tape multiple times and could only find 29 points off turnovers, not the 32 that is in the box score, but the point remains. It's very hard to win when you gift the other team so many extra possessions and uncontested fastbreak opportunities. 

Winner: Valkyries' defense

The Valkyries shot 37.7% from the field with 13 turnovers in Game 1 and won by double digits. That should be impossible, but the Valkyries' defense can make miracles happen. 

On the Aces' first possession, they got the ball to A'ja Wilson at the elbow. She faced up, drove to her right and put up a floater that was swallowed up by Kiah Stokes, who was completely ignoring Brianna Turner and came over to help. 

The rest of the night was just as difficult for the Aces, who scored 60 points on 33.9% shooting -- both season-lows. Since the WNBA changed the playoff format in 2016 to take the top-eight teams regardless of conference, this was just the 10th time that a team held an opponent to 60 or fewer points on 35% or worse shooting. 

Thanks in part to the Aces' lack of depth, which was exacerbated by Jewell Loyd's mid-game departure, the Valkyries were able to completely key in on the Big Three of A'ja Wilson, Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray. That trio combined for just 51 points on 17 of 50 from the field. 

You might look at that stat line and think there was some shooting variance, but not really. Just look at this sampling of their contests against Wilson, Young and Gray. The Valkyries' defense was unbelievable and made everything difficult. 

Loser: Allisha Gray

Gray has been in the league since 2017, but had never been to the semifinals prior to this season, despite seven previous playoff appearances. Unfortunately, her first semifinal game was cut short due to an injury to her shooting hand. Dream coach Karl Smesko did not have an update during his postgame press conference, and Gray's status for the remainder of the series is unclear. 

In the middle of the first quarter, Gray was defending Sabrina Ionescu when she deflected a pass that appeared to possibly dislocate one of her fingers on her left hand, though the Dream did not give an official diagnosis. 

After heading to the locker room, Gray returned to action early in the third quarter with her fingers taped. She took a 3-pointer that was nowhere close on her first possession and soon after removed the tape, but remained in the game. Late in the second, she made another nice defensive play on Ionescu, but reaggravated the injury and left the game for good. 

Gray averaged a team-high 19 points in the regular season en route to her fourth consecutive All-Star appearance. If she cannot go the rest of the series, that would be a major blow for the Dream. As great as Canada and Bonner were offensively in Game 1, they cannot bank on getting 48 points on 19 of 32 shooting from them every night. 

Winner: Gabby Williams

Williams was the hero of the Valkyries' incredible 16-point comeback in Game 3 of their first-round series with the Wings, and picked up where she left off in Game 1 against the Aces. 

She drained back-to-back 3-pointers early in the first quarter and never looked back. Her 25 points were a game-high, and she added 11 rebounds and five assists to record just the 11th 25-point, 10-rebound, five-assist playoff game in WNBA history. 

Loser: Aces' depth

There have been questions about the Aces' depth since the preseason, and they've been mounting by the month. 

Former lottery pick Chennedy Carter, who got off to a tremendous start in her first season with the Aces, was waived in July, and starting power forward NaLyssa Smith went down with a season-ending knee injury in August. Key reserve Dana Evans has been limited to 14 games this season, and hasn't appeared in the playoffs due to a knee injury, while starting small forward Stephanie Talbot was ruled out of Game 3 of the Aces' first-round series with a left leg injury and hasn't played since. 

The issues continued in the third quarter of Game 1 against the Valkyries when veteran guard Jewell Loyd, who had replaced Talbot in the starting lineup, suffered a left leg injury of her own and did not return. Her status for the remainder of the series is unclear. 

A'ja Wilson, Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray have carried the Aces this far, but at a certain point there's only so much they can do. If neither Talbot nor Loyd can return in this series, it's hard to see how the Aces can come back and win it, especially against this Valkyries defense. 

Down two starters and five rotation players from the beginning of the season, here are the options Becky Hammon now has behind her Big Three:

• Brianna Turner
• Cheyenne Parker-Tyus
• Mai Yamamoto
• Kierstan Bell
• Kalani Brown
• Justine Pissott

That group in the playoffs has a combined 35 points, and 22 of them are from Parker-Tyus. 

Winner: DeWanna Bonner

The 39-year-old Bonner really struggled for the majority of the season when she was with the Mercury, averaging 10.6 points on just 39.4% shooting, including 26.2% from 3-point range. But since she arrived in Atlanta after being released by the Mercury to chase a championship, she has been much more effective. 

That trend continued in Game 1, when she stepped up in a major way with Gray sidelined. Bonner poured in 23 points off the bench on 10 of 18 from the field, and added nine rebounds, two assists and two steals. 

In three playoff games, Bonner is averaging 14.3 points, five rebounds and 1.3 steals on 53.3% shooting, including 42.9% from 3-point range. If Gray remains sidelined, the Dream will really need Bonner to keep the clock turned back.