First round

The Aces entered the playoffs as the No. 1 seed. They faced a depleted No. 8 Phoenix Mercury team in the first round.

Phoenix endured a difficult season. All-star center Brittney Griner was detained in Russia and never played a game. ALL-WNBA first team guard Skylar Digginssmith left the team a week before the season ended. Five-time Olympic gold medalist Diana Taurasi was sidelined by an injury, and prized offseason signing Tina Charles — the 2021 WNBA scoring leader — left the team in midseason to sign with the Seattle Storm.

The Mercury simply didn’t have the firepower to compete. Despite a poor Game 1 from Wilson, the Aces won Game 79-63 behind Plum’s 22 points, then cruised to a 117-80 Game 2 win to sweep the best-of-three series.