WNBA Playoffs Are Here: Everything You Need To Know

The road to a WNBA championship officially began Sunday, September 27, with eight teams still standing after a regular season that rarely gave anybody much time to get comfortable. The Minnesota Lynx finished with the league’s best record for the second straight season, the Golden State Valkyries climbed all the way to the No. 2 seed in just their second year of existence, and the defending champion Las Vegas Aces once again caught fire at exactly the right time, closing the regular season on a seven-game winning streak.

But if the opening day of the postseason taught us anything, regular season seeds only mean so much once the playoffs begin. No. 8 New York immediately flipped the bracket on its head by beating top-seeded Minnesota, while Las Vegas, Golden State and Atlanta all defended home court with convincing Game 1 victories. That means every first-round series now heads to the lower seed’s home floors with one team trying to close things out and the other trying to keep its season alive.

There is also no shortage of star power involved. A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart opened the postseason with monster performances, while players including Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers, Angel Reese and Rhyne Howard are all trying to push their teams deeper into October. With the first round being so short, there is little room for a slow start — something several teams already learned the hard way.

How Do The WNBA Playoffs Work?

The top eight teams qualify for the postseason regardless of conference and are seeded by their regular-season records. The first round is best-of-three and uses a 1-1-1 format, meaning the higher seed hosts Games 1 and 3 while the lower seed hosts Game 2. From there, the semifinals become best-of-five with a 2-2-1 format, while the WNBA Finals are now best-of-seven with a 2-2-1-1-1 setup.

The 1-1-1 first-round format makes Game 2 especially interesting this year. Every team that lost Sunday (except the Lynx) now gets an elimination game at home, while the Game 1 winners have their opportunity to finish the series without having to return for a deciding Game 3.