Editor's note: Only the marquee game carries a Vegas line for now. Picks for the full slate are coming once our model is live. Until then, every game below links to its page on Uristocrat Watch for where to watch, start times and live scores.
The WNBA playoffs start today, and all four first-round series play Game 1 on Sunday. Every series is best-of-three, so a Game 1 loss puts a team one game from going home. That's the main event. Around it you get a full NFL Sunday, including a game in Rio de Janeiro, and the last day of the MLB regular season, with all 30 teams playing game 162.
Marquee: Indiana Fever at Las Vegas Aces, First Round Game 1 (4:00 PM ET, ABC)
This is a rematch of last year's semifinals, one round earlier. WNBA.com's series preview has Indiana as the 6 seed and Las Vegas as the 3, and it notes the two teams were the league's top two scoring offenses. The regular-season series went to Indiana, 2-1. The three top scorers in the league are all on the floor: A'ja Wilson (26.2 points a game), Kelsey Mitchell (24.7) and Caitlin Clark (22.3). Vegas finished on a seven-game win streak. Indiana's health is the question. Ty Harris is out for the playoffs with a broken left leg, and ESPN's injury report lists Aliyah Boston and Clark as day-to-day after the regular-season finale. If Boston is limited, Wilson gets a much easier day on the glass. The Aces are without Dana Evans and NaLyssa Smith.
Vegas line: Aces -3.5 (-115), Fever +3.5 (-105). Total 182.5. Moneyline Aces -175, Fever +145. Source: ESPN WNBA odds, odds by DraftKings.
Also today
- New York Liberty at Minnesota Lynx (2:00 PM ET, ABC). The playoffs open in Minneapolis. Minnesota went 33-11, the best record in the league, and New York comes in at 26-18. The Liberty have the talent to steal one on the road, but the Lynx have been the steadiest team all year.
- Washington Mystics at Atlanta Dream (7:00 PM ET, Prime Video). Atlanta finished 30-14 and Washington 28-16, so the gap is small. This is the closest matchup on paper by record.
- Dallas Wings at Golden State Valkyries (9:00 PM ET, USA Network/CNBC). Golden State went 32-12 in only its second season. Dallas (27-17) has Paige Bueckers, who has been talking up her big-game experience going in.
- Baltimore Ravens vs. Dallas Cowboys (4:25 PM ET, CBS). The NFL's Rio game, at Maracanã Stadium. Both teams are 1-1, so someone leaves Brazil above .500 and someone doesn't.
- Los Angeles Rams at Denver Broncos (8:20 PM ET, NBC). Sunday Night Football. Two 1-1 teams at Mile High to close the NFL day.
- Tampa Bay Rays at Philadelphia Phillies (3:05 PM ET). Game 162. The Rays are 98-63 and can get to 99 wins. Philadelphia is 87-74. Every MLB game today starts between 1:05 and 3:10 PM ET, so the regular season wraps up by dinner.
The throughline today is urgency. A best-of-three means the WNBA's Game 1s count for a lot more than usual, and baseball's last day sorts out who's still playing next week. If you only watch one thing, make it Wilson against a Fever team that beat her twice this year and may be short-handed inside.
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