Folks, we have entered #RealHoop territory.

After getting chalk in the first round, we're left with the four best teams in the WNBA. Not only that, but those teams are also spearheaded by arguably the four best players in the league: A'ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, Napheesa Collier and Alyssa Thomas. That they all play the same position adds even more mystique and narrative potential, depending on how each series plays out.

We are incredibly blessed to get these matchups, y'all. A Finals rematch on one side of the bracket, a battle of the league's best defenses on the other. Any combination of winners should yield an intriguing Finals matchup and easy-to-invest-in storyline to boot.

With the pleasantries out of the way, let's dig into some bold predictions for each series.

Aces-Liberty Will Go 5 Games

It would be more than fair to consider the New York Liberty the favorites in this series. They were the league's best team this season (32-8, +11.7 net rating), and one of two teams, alongside the Minnesota Lynx, to rank in the top four in offensive and defensive rating.

The Liberty swept the Aces 3-0 during their regular-season series despite underwhelming shooting from Breanna Stewart (more on that shortly) and Sabrina Ionescu (24.0 percent from three on 8.3 attempts).

The addition of 6'4" forward Leonie Fiebich—and her recent (re)insertion into the starting lineup—gives the Liberty even more size and length to throw at the Aces' star backcourt. And to the size point: The Liberty led the W in rebound rate (grabbing 52.5% of available misses) and ramped that up (56.6%) against the Aces in their matchups.

And yet...whew, is it tough to bet against the Aces.

They're playing their best basketball at the right time. Following a surprising loss to the Dallas Wings on August 27, the Aces went 9-1 to close the regular season while ranking first in defensive rating (94.3) and net rating (+13.2). While they "only" ranked third in offensive rating during that stretch, let's just say it's incredibly difficult to game-plan against A'ja Wilson, Kelsey Plum, a heating-up Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young at the same time.

The Liberty have home-court advantage and the sour taste of last year's Finals to fuel them; the Aces have the best player in the world in Wilson—coming off the greatest regular season in WNBA history—and even more history to chase. I'd probably lean toward the Liberty based on their collective size and home-court advantage, but all I'm truly convinced of is this series being a five-game classic.

Breanna Stewart Will Lead the Liberty in Scoring

On its face, this prediction doesn't seem that bold. Stewart has been one of the league's top scorers since she debuted nearly a decade ago, and she's led her team in scoring in every season she's played in. However, Stewart hasn't been her usual dominant self against the Aces since joining the Liberty in 2023.

She averaged 18.0 points on 35.6 percent shooting from the field during four regular-season meetings with Vegas last year. Those struggles were amplified in the Finals, where she averaged 16.3 points on 36.2 percent shooting from the floor across four games. Stewart was better during their three-game set this year (17.7 points on 48.7 percent shooting), but that's still typically below her level.

The Aces have generally done a great job of bothering Stewart—switching actions involving her to flatten them out, pushing out her post catches with physicality and showing bodies in the paint to limit her driving windows or discourage drives altogether. Wily veteran Alysha Clark deserves a special shoutout for her work against the two-time MVP.

As tough as the Aces have made life for Stewart, she has historically been a tough shot-maker. That and the three-point shooting—she's 10-of-50 (20%) from three over the past two seasons against the Aces—could turn on its head.

If you're looking for something specific to watch for, keep an eye on Stewart receiving off-ball screens from Sabrina Ionescu or Courtney Vandersloot. There's a pick-your-poison element to that setup; either trust your screen navigation or switch a smaller player onto Stewart. Neither answer yielded much success for the Aces this season: Per Second Spectrum, the Liberty generated a scorching 1.2 points per possession in those situations during their matchups.

A'ja Wilson Will Join the 40-Point Club

Wilson, this year's unanimous MVP, is more than just a great scorer. She's a tremendous defender, a great rebounder, and a growing, underrated passer.

But good lord did Wilson get a lot of buckets this year.

She set the single-season scoring record, in terms of total points (1,021) and per-game average (26.9). More specific to this prediction, she had a pair of 40-point games...within a week of each other!

Dropping 40 against this Liberty team is a tall order. Wilson's last 30-point game against the Liberty came in 2021—before the Stewart-led iteration of the team existed. Zooming out, there have only been six 40-point games in WNBA playoff history, with Napheesa Collier joining that club on Wednesday.

The Aces may need one of those performances from Wilson in this series, considering the looks the Liberty can toss at the Aces backcourt. The Liberty will do their best to flood the paint and take away the rim; there may not be a player in the league more equipped than Wilson to pepper in enough midrange baskets to render that gambit powerless.

Neither the Lynx nor Sun Will Crack 80 Points in a Game

You'd have to go back to the 2008 Finals between the Detroit Shock and San Antonio Silver Stars to find a best-of-five series that didn't feature a team eclipsing 80 points. The league has drastically changed in the 16 years since, but this Lynx-Sun matchup may restore that feeling.

In their three regular-season matchups this season, the Lynx and Sun only eclipsed 80 points once. That came on May 23, an 83-82 overtime win for the Sun that was tied at 72 at the end of regulation. The scores of the other two games: 78-73 for the Sun, 78-76 for the Lynx.

As mentioned, the Sun and Lynx ranked first and second in defensive rating, respectively, this year. What makes this matchup fun—and makes the prediction seem achievable—is that their defensive styles directly poke at what the other wants to do offensively.

The Sun are a physical, rangy group that can disrupt the timing off-ball movement, blow up ball screens with their aggression—only the Storm blitzed ball screens at a higher rate than the Sun, per Second Spectrum—and flatten out actions with timely switches. That seems problematic for a Lynx offense that wants to spread you out and either drive-and-kick, or use Napheesa Collier as a vehicle to hunt mismatches.

To that end, keep an eye on DeWanna Bonner in this one. She was deployed on Courtney Williams in their most recent matchup. Having that kind of length on Williams is tough to deal with; the secondary benefit of that move is being able to comfortably switch the Williams-Collier pick-and-roll without giving up much size.

While they don't dial up the on-ball pressure like the Sun do, no team loads their help as aggressively as the Lynx. They're a heavy "nail" team, meaning they want a defender parked at or near the free-throw line to stunt at drives—or prevent them altogether.

During the regular season, the Lynx had a help defender present on over 80 percent of the drives they faced, per Second Spectrum; that led the WNBA by over 5 percentage points. Aside from Bonner and newcomer Marina Mabrey, the Sun's rotation is littered with players the Lynx will likely feel comfortable sagging off. That could impact the effectiveness of the Sun's post offense in particular.

Alyssa Thomas Will Record a 20-Point Triple Double

It's flown under the radar—stop me if you've heard this before—but Alyssa Thomas has ramped up her aggression as of late.

Thomas took an intentional step back in the scoring department, going from 15.5 points (on 12.8 shot attempts) last year to 10.6 (8.2) this year. It was an understandable concession of control with All-Star center Bri Jones being reintroduced into the fold and DiJonai Carrington, this year's Most Improved Player, assuming more on-ball usage.

Over the last four games, Thomas has looked more like last year's version: 15.5 points on 12.5 shot attempts, with many of those being of the shoulder-into-your-chest variety. She's also averaging 7.0 rebounds and 10.8 assists over this stretch.

There have only been ten 20-point triple-doubles in WNBA history; Thomas has two of those. One of those happened to come against the Lynx last season—a 21-point masterpiece that doubled (ha!) as the only 20-20-10 game in league history. And to bring it full circle, the Sun won that game 79-69.

Napheesa Collier Will Record a 10-Stocks Game

For those who aren't familiar with "stocks," it's simply a measure of steals plus blocks—hence the name mashup.

Collier, this year's deserving-yet-prematurely announced Defensive Player of the Year, built her case around her weak-side activity. Trying to throw skip passes in Collier's vicinity was a fool's errand. With the way the Lynx defend post-ups—shading post players in a way to force tough entry passes—Collier was empowered to fly around and intercept those passes or meet post players on the catch for blocks.

Collier was a disruptive force even when those possessions didn't end in steals or blocks, but it's worth noting that she could rack them up in a hurry. Just ask the Sparks, who watched Collier rack up 10 "stocks"—eight steals and two blocks—as the Lynx claimed an 81-76 victory.

There have only been three 10-stock games in WNBA postseason history: Lisa Leslie (seven blocks, three steals) in 2002, Brittney Griner (11 blocks) in 2015 and Candace Parker (six blocks, four steals) in 2022 against, you guessed it, the Thomas-led Connecticut Sun.

It would be impressive and poetic if Collier's able to pull this off.

Stats via WNBA.com, Second Spectrum and Across The Timeline.