Were the Fever-Dream, Aces-Storm Game 3s the best first-round finishes ever?

The stakes are never higher than in an elimination game. Thursday gave us two of them in the 2025 WNBA playoffs, and they more than delivered.

In the first Game 3 of the night, we got the biggest upset of the playoffs with the No. 6-seed Indiana Fever beating the No. 3-seed Atlanta Dream 87-85 on the road. The other matchup was equally as epic with the No. 2-seed Las Vegas Aces besting the No. 7-seed Seattle Storm 74-73.

Let’s take a closer look at how the Fever and Aces were able to pull out these tight wins.

Resistance comes in many forms.

With Indiana losing Caitlin Clark, Sophie Cunningham, Sydney Colson and Aari McDonald for the rest of the year, it was assumed by everyone that their hopes of doing anything productive this year were over.

And yet, here the Fever are, winning Game 3 and entering the second round of the playoffs for the first time in a decade.

Indiana didn’t play a perfect game, but they played a gutsy one. Kelsey Mitchell threw on her superhero cape and carried the Fever during the early parts of the game. She ended the night with 24 points and was a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line.

The rest of the starters for Indiana stepped up in big and small ways. Howard scored 12 points and had six rebounds. Aliyah Boston had another double-double with 14 points and 12 boards. Odyssey Sims scored 16 points and dished a team-high eight assists, and Lexie Hull contributed 10 points.

Despite everyone being on top of their game, Atlanta was ahead late in this contest.

With 2:32 left to play, the Dream were up 85-80. What followed was the kind of heroics players dream of executing. Mitchell drove inside to make it a one-possession game. Atlanta had a shot clock violation on their offensive possession, but Boston missed a basket on the other end, failing to cut the deficit down.

The Dream had another turnover, and this time, the Fever took advantage. Hull scored inside to make it an 85-84 game. A Rhyne Howard 3-pointer barely grazed the rim, and Boston got the defensive rebound. After Mitchell bobbled the ball near the top of the key, she passed to Sims, who found an open Boston in the paint, and the comeback was complete with Indiana ahead for the first time since the second quarter with 7.4 seconds left.

Needing one more stop to walk away victorious, the Fever were able to force another turnover thanks to Hull stealing the ball off a Howard pass.

Sims was ultimately fouled and split a pair of free throws to extend the Fever’s lead to two points, and after a desperation 3-pointer by Brionna Jones missed, the series was over, and the Fever had done the unthinkable, beating the No. 3 seed on the road.

Las Vegas was the heavy favorite against Seattle, but the Storm stayed with the Aces until the bitter end.

In the second half, Seattle kept oscillating between cutting the deficit and giving it right back to Las Vegas, but in the fourth quarter, they finally went ahead thanks to a Skyla Diggins 3-pointer with 1:15 left to play.

A’ja Wilson did what she had done all game long and stepped up to put the Aces back up 72-71. Basketball is a team sport, and Las Vegas had plenty of heroes beyond Wilson on Thursday, but make no mistake: everything starts and ends with her. Wilson scored a gaudy 38 points in this game—over half of Las Vegas’ points.

Both teams then exchanged misses before Erica Wheeler put the Storm back up by one with 19.3 seconds left to play.

After the Aces got the ball back, Wilson attempted a go-ahead midrange jumper and missed, but Jackie Young was the savior, grabbing the rebound and putting the ball into the hoop.

Seattle still had one more chance to win this game. Wheeler had a good look and took a jumper, but missed, and time expired as Gabby Williams tried to get a shot off while the lights literally went out in the stadium, signifying a Las Vegas win and the end of Seattle’s year.

All season long, there have been conversations about the parity in the league. These first-round matchups have proven that the gap between the top teams and the lower seeds is very slim. The Fever pulled off the win, and the Aces were pushed to the brink by the No. 7 seed Storm.

We still have the No. 4 Mercury taking on the No. 5 Liberty on Friday, so it’s possible we get another upset during this opening round.

Whether that happens or not, it seems these playoffs are not ones where you can just assume the higher seed wins. It’ll be about matchups, adjustments that occur during the series and which players raise their game to another level that will determine who will win it all.

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