WNBA semifinals: Why Liberty, Lynx, Sun, Aces can win title -- or fall short - ESPN

Four sweeps. Little drama. Every series in the first round of the 2024 WNBA playoffs was over in two games.

But as the semifinals extend to a best-of-five format, all four remaining teams are legitimate title contenders.

The New York Liberty and Connecticut Sun are going for their first championships in franchise history. The Las Vegas Aces are hoping to be just the second team to win three in a row. And the Minnesota Lynx are trying to become the first franchise to win five.

The Liberty had the best regular-season record in the league, but this race for a ring doesn't appear to have a clear-cut favorite. The semifinal matchups are as intriguing as they are close. New York vs. Las Vegas, a rematch of the 2023 WNBA Finals, features the two highest-scoring teams in the league, while Connecticut and Minnesota ranked 1-2 in points allowed.

The past five MVPs are still playing, as are four of the top five vote-getters this year: unanimous winner A'ja Wilson, Napheesa Collier, Breanna Stewart and Alyssa Thomas.

Each series begins Sunday. Here is what each team needs to do to win the championship, and the flaw that could derail their title hopes.

Why the Liberty can win the title: If Breanna Stewart is the best player on the court for the majority of New York's games, there will be a parade down the Canyon of Heroes on Broadway. The two-time league MVP also has plenty of help. There's another former MVP in Jonquel Jones. Another Olympic gold medalist in Sabrina Ionescu. One of the WNBA's all-time great point guards in Courtney Vandersloot. Top-seeded New York is probably the deepest team in the league. Betnijah Laney-Hamilton can get 20 points on any given night. Leonie Fiebich just scored 21 points in her playoff debut.

But