After the Indiana Fever and Minnesota Lynx won their semifinals in Game 1, we discovered three things

And then there were four.

The four teams still in the running for the 2025 WNBA title played on Sunday, and the games were just as fun as they were important.

First, the No. 6-seed Indiana Fever shocked the world again by beating the No. 2-seed Las Vegas Aces 89-73 on the road. The Aces have been one of the best teams in the league, and their biggest player, A'ja Wilson, was named the WNBA's Most Valuable Player for a record fourth time earlier in the day.

Even though the Fever were happy and had never lost to Indiana at home, they were able to seize control of the series by winning on the road courtesy of another amazing game from Kelsey Mitchell.

The Indiana guard scored 34 points and hit 4 of 6 three-pointers. She made almost all of Indiana's long-range shots. Lexie Hull was the only other Fever player to make a jumper from beyond the arc; she made one.

The Minnesota Lynx, who are the No. 1 seed in these playoffs, have let their opponents remain in games for way too long. That terrible habit showed itself in the first round and again on Sunday. They took care of business in Game 1 of the semifinals, exactly like they did in the previous round. They beat the No. 4-seed Phoenix Mercury 82-69.

The Lynx were in charge in the last period, scoring 23 points to the Mercury's 10 to win. In Game 1, the Minnesota backcourt showed up to play. Courtney Williams scored 23 points, and Kayla McBride scored 21 to help the team win. The Lynx are the only club left in the playoffs that hasn't lost yet.

After another Fever upset and a Lynx triumph, there are a lot of storylines and important things to remember. Here are three that will keep affecting these series:

1. Kelsey Mitchell is going to happen

How does a team lose Caitlin Clark, Sophie Cunningham, and Aari McDonald and yet beat a higher seed in the first round, then take homecourt from another top seed in the semifinals? By putting Mitchell in as their starting guard.

The Fever will go as far as Mitchell takes them, which so far implies they will go farther than they have in more than ten years. In Game 3 against the Dream, Mitchell was very aggressive, scoring 23 points to help Atlanta lose. Her performance in Game 1 was even better. She was pushing the Aces' perimeter defenders around, hitting shots from long range and going to the paint, getting to her spots with minimal trouble.

Las Vegas will have to figure out how to make things hard for Mitchell because she's playing the best basketball of her life right now. If she keeps this up, her team will be in the WNBA Finals.

Some people might think that Aliyah Boston is the best player on the Fever right now, but Mitchell is the right answer. This is mostly because Mitchell doesn't need help getting the ball like Boston does. She is on the edge and doesn't need her teammates to look for her to obtain the ball or a shot. As Wilson's main defender, Boston also has a lot on her plate. So, this might not be the series where she can be as useful as an offensive option.

For now, Indiana has to stick with Mitchell, the person who got them here. So far, her being in charge has made for some amazing waltzes.

2. To beat the Lynx, you have to be almost perfect.

The score was 59–59 going into the fourth quarter of the Lynx-Mercury game. Then, Minnesota said, "That's enough."

Bridget Carleton made a jumper, McBride hit a three-pointer, and Williams made a shot to give Minnesota a four-point lead. Then, in the middle of the quarter, the Lynx embarked on a 12-0 run that put an end to any chances of a Mercury upset.

In the last ten minutes, Minnesota's defense was too much. Phoenix shot a terrible 17 percent from the field, was outrebounded, and turned the ball over three times in the fourth quarter.

The Lynx aren't a perfect squad, but they've been better than all the other teams in the league since the start of this season. You have to play your best basketball for the full 40 minutes to beat them. If not, you'll be thinking about a possession here and a play there, but the truth is that you were nowhere close to beating them.

3. Don't get crazy

The Lynx seemed like they couldn't be beaten, and the Fever seemed like they could have a happy ending. But this is a best-of-five series, not a best-of-one.

The basketball Gods like to laugh and show you the reality when you believe you know everything. Teams will change, players won't be able to do exactly what they did in these games, and we will probably have two long, challenging semifinal series.

Instead of saying that the team that took a piece off the chessboard won, let's watch and change things up as Game 2 goes on. Three of the four teams that lost Game 1 won Game 2 in the first round. Let's see whether the Mercury and Aces can bring that kind of intensity on Tuesday.