Before the first-ever WNBA Rivals Week tips off on Saturday, we’ll break down one must-see nationally-televised matchup over the next seven days.
Sky at Fever | Saturday, Aug. 9 | 8 ET, CBS
Rivals Week begins in Indiana with the Fever hosting the Sky in a matchup that would usually feature the college-to-pro rivalry between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. However, with those two All-Stars currently out due to injury, let’s focus on the matchup in the middle between Indiana’s Aliyah Boston (No. 1 pick in 2023) and Chicago’s Kamilla Cardoso (No. 3 pick in 2024) – who are both ranked in the top five in double-doubles this season.
Indiana is 3-0 against Chicago this season and has won four straight games overall in the rivalry. After dropping two straight to end their West Coast road trip, can the Fever get back on track at home? Or can Chicago – which is 3-2 in its last five games with Ariel Aktins in the lineup – pull off the road win?
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Dream at Mercury | Sunday, Aug. 10 | 6 ET, NBA TV
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The Dream and Mercury enter their final regular-season matchup tied in the standings at 19-11, with Atlanta holding the head-to-head tiebreaker for third place in the W. The Dream enter Sunday having won six of their last seven games – with two of those wins coming against the Mercury – with All-Star Allisha Gray leading the way (20.0 ppg, 50% FG, 51.3% 3P). 
Meanwhile, Phoenix’s Alyssa Thomas just became the first player in WNBA history to record three straight triple-doubles and can extend that record streak on Sunday against one of the three teams she has yet to post a triple-double against (ATL, GSV, WAS).
This game marks the potential second game for former Mercury star Brittney Griner back in Phoenix. Griner is listed as day-to-day after missing Thursday’s game due to a neck injury. She had 17 points and eight rebounds in her first visiting game in the Valley on July 23.
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Liberty at Sparks | Tuesday, Aug. 12 | 10 ET, NBA TV
In a moment where the WNBA is growing at an exciting pace – set to reach 16 teams by 2030 – we can’t forget where it all started. On June 21, 1997 in Los Angeles, the first-ever WNBA game tipped off between the Liberty and Sparks. Now, 28 years later, these two OG franchises meet in the league’s first-ever Rivals Week.
How close has this matchup been historically? The Liberty hold a 34-33 lead in regular season games. But, if we include the postseason, the advantage flips to the Sparks – who swept NY in the 2002 WNBA Finals – for a 35-34 edge in all head-to-head matchups.
The 2025 edition of this rivalry features the league’s top two scoring guards – LA’s Kelsey Plum (20.4 ppg, 3rd in WNBA) and NY’s Sabrina Ionescu (20.0 ppg, 4th in WNBA) – meeting for the final time this regular season after splitting their first two games. Over their careers, Plum and Ionescu are 7-7 against each other in regular season meetings and 4-4 in playoff meetings. Who will get the edge on Tuesday?
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Liberty at Aces | Wednesday, Aug. 13 | 9:30 ET, ESPN
Many of the top rivalries in sports are forged in the playoffs – when players and teams face each other with the stakes at their highest. For these two teams – the winners of the past three WNBA titles – their paths have crossed on the way to the mountaintop.
They met in the 2023 WNBA Finals, when the Aces defeated the Liberty in four games to become the first WNBA team in over two decades to win back-to-back titles. They met again in the 2024 Semifinals, when the Liberty got their revenge by defeating the Aces in four games to return to the Finals for the sixth time in franchise history, while also ending Las Vegas’ bid for a three-peat. After ousting the Aces, the Liberty defeated the Lynx in five games to win their first WNBA title.
While Breanna Stewart will miss this Rivals Week meeting (bone bruise in knee), the past two WNBA Finals MVPs – A’ja Wilson and Jonquel Jones – will take center stage.
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Storm at Dream | Friday, Aug. 15 | 10 ET, ION
The WNBA’s first regular-season in Canada comes in the middle of Rivals Week and features two teams that have a historic connection as well as a current back-and-forth.
Back in 2010, a Storm team led by Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson swept the upstart Dream in the WNBA Finals after Atlanta reached the championship series in only its third year of existence.
Fast forward to today, and these two teams have traded wins for 10 straight games – dating back to July 2022 – including each of the past four games decided by seven points or less. This will be the fourth and final meeting of the regular season between these teams, who are separated by just three games in the standings, as both eye a return to the playoffs.
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Liberty at Lynx | Saturday, Aug. 16 | 2 ET, CBS
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Rivals Week wouldn’t be complete without a rematch of last year’s WNBA Finals between Minnesota and New York – who enter this week ranked 1st and 2nd in the league standings, respectively. 
After New York defeated Minnesota in a classic five-game Finals last October, the Lynx won the first rematch on July 30 at home. Powered by Napheesa Collier’s 30 points and Kayla McBride’s 24 points and five 3s, the Lynx overcame Sabrina Ionescu’s game-high 31 points in a 100-93 win.
NY was without Breanna Stewart in that game and will be once again as she recovers from a bone bruise in her knee. Minnesota will be without Collier, who suffered an ankle injury last week. The Lynx are 3-1 this season without the league’s leading scorer, while the Liberty are 2-3 without Stewart.
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Wings at Aces | Sunday, Aug. 17 | 3:30 ET, ABC
We close out the first Rivals Week with the first pick in the most recent WNBA Draft – Dallas’ Paige Bueckers, who is just beginning to establish rivals in her debut WNBA season. This matchup with Las Vegas sees Bueckers have to face three other former No. 1 picks – Jewell Loyd (2015), A’ja Wilson (2018) and Jackie Young (2019) – for the fourth and final time this season.
While the Wings are still looking for their first win over the Aces this season, the two games that Bueckers played came down to clutch time, with Vegas prevailing by four points each time. Bueckers is averaging team highs of 18.0 points and 6.5 assists against the Aces this season, while Wilson has paced Vegas at 25.5 points, 10 rebounds and 4.5 assists.
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Longtime WNBA reporter Brian Martin writes articles on WNBA.com throughout the season. The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the WNBA or its clubs.

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Ariel Atkins

<div class="ewa-rteLine">WNBA Champion (2019)</div>
<div class="ewa-rteLine">WNBA All-Star (2021, 2022)</div>
<div class="ewa-rteLine">Olympic Gold Medalist (2020)</div>
<div class="ewa-rteLine">WNBA All-Defensive First Team (2022)</div>
<div class="ewa-rteLine">WNBA All-Defensive Second Team (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021)</div>
<div class="ewa-rteLine">WNBA All-Rookie Team (2018)</div>