2016 WNBA Playoffs
 | |
| Dates | September 21 - October 20 |
|---|---|
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Los Angeles Sparks (Finals champion) |
| Higher seed finalist | Minnesota Lynx (Coach: Cheryl Reeve) |
| Lower seed finalist | Los Angeles Sparks (Coach: Brian Agler) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Attendance | 8,719 per game |
→ | |
| Standings | |
|---|---|
| Eastern Conference | Western Conference |
| 3rd New York Liberty | 1st Minnesota Lynx |
| 4th Chicago Sky | 2nd Los Angeles Sparks |
| 5th Indiana Fever | 7th Seattle Storm |
| 6th Atlanta Dream | 8th Phoenix Mercury |
The 2016 WNBA's 2016 season.
Format
The WNBA changed its playoff format in 2016.[1] Following the WNBA regular season, eight teams in the entire league qualified for the playoffs and were seeded one to eight.
Regular season records determined the seedings of the teams. The team with the best record received seed one, the team with the next best record received seed two, and so on. The top two seeds get double byes, while the next two seeds get first-round byes.
These seedings were used to create a bracket that determines the match-ups throughout the playoffs. The first round of the playoffs consisted of two match-ups based on the seedings (5-8 and 6-7). The two winners advanced to the second round with a match-up between the number 3 seed and the lower of the advancing seeds and another match-up between the number 4 seed and the other first round winner. The winners of the first two rounds advanced to the semifinals, where the lower ranked seed of the winners faced the number 1 seed, while the other remaining team faced the number 2 seed.
The first two rounds are single elimination games played on the higher ranking seed's home court. The semifinals and WNBA Finals are best-of-five series played in a 2-2-1 format, meaning the team with home-court advantage (better record) hosts games 1, 2, and 5 while their opponent hosts games 3 and 4.
Tiebreak procedures
- Better winning percentage among all head-to-head games involving tied teams.
- Better winning percentage against teams within conference (for Finals only: better record against teams in # the opposite conference).
- Better winning percentage against all teams with a .500 or better record at the end of the season.
- Better point differential in games involving tied teams.
- Coin toss (or draw of lots, if at least 3 teams are still tied after the first 4 tiebreakers fail).
Playoff qualifying
| Seed | Team | Record | Clinched | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Playoff berth | Bye to Semis | Top Record | |||
| 1 | Minnesota Lynx | 28–6 | July 25 | September 6 | September 12 |
| 2 | Los Angeles Sparks | 26–8 | July 25 | September 6 | — |
| 3 | New York Liberty |
21–13 | September 7 | — | — |
| 4 | Chicago Sky | 18–16 | September 10 | — | — |
| 5 | Indiana Fever | 17–17[a] | September 10 | — | — |
| 6 | Atlanta Dream | 17–17[a] | September 10 | — | — |
| 7 | Seattle Storm | 16–18[b] | September 11 | — | — |
| 8 | Phoenix Mercury | 16–18[b] | September 14 | — | — |
- Notes
Playoffs and Finals
Bracket
| First round: Single elimination (Sept. 21) | Second round: Single elimination (Sept. 24 and 25) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 28 – Oct. 6) | New York Liberty | 94 | 8 | Phoenix Mercury | 95 | 86 | 67 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Indiana Fever | 78 | 8 | Phoenix Mercury | 101 | 1 | Minnesota Lynx | 76 | 79 | 75 | 85 | 76 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Phoenix Mercury | 89 | 2 | Los Angeles Sparks | 78 | 60 | 92 | 79 | 77 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Los Angeles Sparks | 95 | 99 | 66 | 95 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Chicago Sky | 108 | 4 | Chicago Sky | 75 | 84 | 70 | 75 | Third place | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Atlanta Dream | 94 | 6 | Atlanta Dream | 98 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Seattle Storm | 85 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Note: Teams re-seeded after second round and semi-finals.
First round
- All times are in UTC−4)
(5) Indiana Fever vs. (8) Phoenix Mercury
September 21
6:00 PM |
| Phoenix Mercury 89, Indiana Fever 78 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 18-18, 17-20, 24-19, 30-21 | ||
| 4 | Pts: Coleman & Catchings 13 Rebs: Catchings 10 Asts: January 9 | |
| Phoenix wins series 1-0 | ||
Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana Attendance: 6,282 Referees: Tom Nunez, Byron Jarrett, Maj Forsberg |
| Indiana won 2–1 in the regular-season series |
|---|
(6) Atlanta Dream vs. (7) Seattle Storm
September 21
8:00 PM |
| Seattle Storm 85, Atlanta Dream 94 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 18–19, 27–18, 21–29, 19-28 | ||
| 7 | Pts: McCoughtry 37 Rebs: Williams 16 Asts: McCoughtry & Clarendon 7 | |
| Atlanta wins series 1-0 | ||
| Seattle won 2–1 in the regular-season series |
|---|
Second round
- All times are in UTC−4)
(3) New York Liberty vs. (8) Phoenix Mercury
September 24
7:00 PM |
| Phoenix Mercury 101, New York Liberty 94 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 25-25, 27–16, 16–26, 33-27 | ||
| 5 | Pts: Wright 21 Rebs: Charles 9 Asts: Wright & Charles 5 | |
| Phoenix wins series 1-0 | ||
Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
Attendance: 10,227 Referees: Michael Price, Jeff Smith, Tom Mauer, Cheryl Flores |
| New York won 2–1 in the regular-season series |
|---|
(4) Chicago Sky vs. (6) Atlanta Dream
September 25
12:00 PM |
| Atlanta Dream 98, Chicago Sky 108 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 25-37, 25–19, 20–31, 28-21 | ||
| 9 | Pts: Vandersloot 21 Rebs: Breland 16 Asts: Vandersloot 13 | |
| Chicago wins series 1-0 | ||
| Atlanta won 2–1 in the regular-season series |
|---|
Semifinals
- All times are in UTC−4)
(1) Minnesota Lynx vs. (8) Phoenix Mercury
September 28
8:00 PM |
| Phoenix Mercury 95, Minnesota Lynx 113 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 23–24, 15-31, 34-36, 23–22 | ||
| 5 | Pts: Moore 31 Rebs: Fowles 10 Asts: Augustus & Whalen 7 | |
Xcel Energy Center, Saint Paul, Minnesota
Attendance: 9,013 Referees: Roy Gulbeyan, Eric Brewton, Tiffany Bird |
September 30
8:00 PM |
| Phoenix Mercury 86, Minnesota Lynx 96 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 24–35, 23-20, 18–22, 21–19 | ||
| 5 | Pts: Moore 26 Rebs: Brunson 11 Asts: Moore 5 | |
Xcel Energy Center, Saint Paul, Minnesota
Attendance: 11,923 Referees: Byron Jarrett Jeff Smith, Maj Forsberg |
October 2
5:00 PM |
| Minnesota Lynx 82, Phoenix Mercury 67 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 18–23, 21–15, 26–15, 17–14 | ||
| 5 | Pts: Taurasi & Bonner 12 Rebs: Griner & Harrison 7 Asts: Xargay 5 | |
| Minnesota wins series 3-0 | ||
Talking Stick Resort Arena, Phoenix, AZ Attendance: 9,631 Referees: Sue Blauch, Kurt Walker, Michael Price |
| Minnesota won 3–0 in the regular-season series |
|---|
(2) Los Angeles Sparks vs. (4) Chicago Sky
September 28
9:00 PM |
| Chicago Sky 75, Los Angeles Sparks 95 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 20–22, 15-30, 26-23, 14-20 | ||
| 5 | Pts: Parker 30 Rebs: Ogwumike 10 Asts: Ogwumike 6 | |
September 30
9:00 PM |
| Chicago Sky 84, Los Angeles Sparks 99 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 27–28, 15-29, 17-21, 25–21 | ||
| 5 | Pts: Parker 8 | |
October 2
3:00 PM |
| Los Angeles Sparks 66, Chicago Sky 70 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 23–14, 16–16, 8–19, 19–21 | ||
| 6 | Pts: 5 | |
October 4
8:00 PM |
| Los Angeles Sparks 95, Chicago Sky 75 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 23–11, 32–20, 14–28, 26–16 | ||
| 7 | Pts: Boyette 10 6Asts: Young | |
| Los Angeles wins series 3-1 | ||
| Los Angeles won 3–0 in the regular-season series |
|---|
Finals
- All times are in UTC−4)
(1) Minnesota Lynx vs. (2) Los Angeles Sparks
October 9
3:00 PM |
| Los Angeles Sparks 78, Minnesota Lynx 76 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 21–18, 13–18, 22–24, 22–16 | ||
| 4 | Pts: three tied 18 Rebs: Fowles 13 Asts: Whalen 6 | |
October 11
8:00 PM |
| Los Angeles Sparks 60, Minnesota Lynx 79 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 14–18, 11–21, 21–15, 14–25 | ||
| : three tied 3 | Pts: Moore 21 Rebs: Fowles 15 Asts: Fowles 4 | |
October 14
9:00 PM |
| Minnesota Lynx 75, Los Angeles Sparks 92 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 17–32, 23–16, 18–22, 17–22 | ||
| 5 | Pts: Parker 24 Rebs: Parker, Ogwumike 9 Asts: Beard 7 | |
October 16
8:30 PM |
| Minnesota Lynx 85, Los Angeles Sparks 79 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 22–20, 24–20, 19–19, 20–20 | ||
| 5 | Pts: Gray 20 Rebs: Ogwumike 8 Asts: Beard 4 | |
October 20
8:00 PM |
| Los Angeles Sparks 77, Minnesota Lynx 76 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 17–18, 11–16, 26–21, 23–21 | ||
| 6 | Pts: Moore 23 Rebs: Brunson, Fowles 9 Asts: Moore 11 | |
| Los Angeles wins series 3–2 | ||
| Minnesota won 2–1 in the regular-season series |
|---|
References
- ^ "WNBA Approves Significant Changes to Regular-Season and Playoff Formats". WNBA. Retrieved October 1, 2016.