Expect at least one upset in the first round of the WNBA playoffs

Originally Published: September 14, 2009

Predicting the playoff winners

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By Mechelle Voepel
Special to ESPN.com
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Who's going to win the WNBA title this season? Will Los Angeles' Lisa Leslie end her career with a third title? Might another player who is retiring, San Antonio's Vickie Johnson, win her first?

Can the Atlanta Dream pull a "Shock" and go from worst to first, the way Detroit did in 2003? Speaking of Motown, can the defending champs overcome the loss of longtime head coach Bill Laimbeer (he's in the NBA now) and the opening-day, season-ending injury to Plenette Pierson to win a fourth title?

Is Seattle going to get Lauren Jackson back, and could that be enough to end the Storm's streak of losing four years in a row in the first round? Can "Team ACC" -- the Washington Mystics -- make that franchise's second appearance in the conference finals, let alone first in the league finals?

Might Indiana, which won the East title despite the worry that its franchise may be in jeopardy, win its first WNBA championship?

And what of the team that finished with the best record this season, 23-11 Phoenix? Can it capitalize on its home-court advantage throughout the playoffs and win a second WNBA championship?

Parity has made itself evident start to finish this season. So which team is the strongest? And will the strongest actually survive through the playoffs? Here are some guesses about how it might go:

WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS

Matchup	Outlook	Pick
(1) Phoenix vs. (4) San Antonio	These teams met in the West finals in 2007, won by Phoenix, which went on to take the WNBA title. The teams have split their 2009 regular-season series, each winning the two games on its home court. Expect the same in the postseason: The Silver Stars take the opener, but Phoenix closes out the series at home.	Phoenix, 2-1
(2) Seattle vs. (3) Los Angeles	Like Phoenix and San Antonio, the Storm and the Sparks split their regular-season series, with both winning their home games. Seattle center Lauren Jackson played in all of those games, but it's uncertain if she'll be able to compete in the playoffs due to her back injury. Without LJ, it just doesn't compute that the Storm can overcome L.A., which now has Candace Parker playing at full strength. But even with LJ … it could be pretty tough.	L.A, 2-0

EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS

Matchup	Outlook	Pick
(1) Indiana vs. (4) Washington	The Fever swept the Mystics during the regular season, but Indiana doesn't exactly come into the playoffs on a roll. The Fever finished 3-7 over the last 10 games. But Washington wasn't much better over the same stretch, going 4-6. The Mystics will play at the Comcast Center -- which was the home court of Crystal Langhorne and Marissa Coleman when they were at Maryland -- in the series' opener. The power of "Fear the Turtle" might give the Mystics a boost, but look for the Fever to prevail in the series.	Indiana, 2-1
(2) Atlanta vs. (3) Detroit	In their inaugural season last year, the Atlanta Dream were 4-30. Coach/GM Marynell Meadors retooled the team in the offseason and went with Angel McCoughtry as the No. 1 draft pick. The Dream finished 18-16 and now take on a franchise with a lot of postseason experience in three-time champ Detroit. Will the Shock have Katie Smith, who has been out with back pain? Will Atlanta have Chamique Holdsclaw, who has been out after knee surgery? Will former University of Georgia players Deanna Nolan and Kara Braxton ruin the first playoff experience for Georgia's WNBA team?	Detroit, 2-1