2017 WNBA Playoffs

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2017
WNBA Playoffs
DatesSeptember 6 - October 4
Final positions
ChampionsMinnesota Lynx (Finals champion)
Higher seed finalistMinnesota Lynx (Coach: Cheryl Reeve)
Lower seed finalistLos Angeles Sparks (Coach: Brian Agler)
Standings
Eastern Conference Western Conference
3rd New York Liberty 1st Minnesota Lynx
4th Connecticut Sun 2nd Los Angeles Sparks
6th Washington Mystics 5th Phoenix Mercury
7th Dallas Wings
8th Seattle Storm

The 2017

.

Format

Following the WNBA regular season, eight teams in the entire league qualified for the playoffs and were seeded one to eight.[1] 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

  1. Better winning percentage among all head-to-head games involving tied teams.
  2. Better winning percentage against teams within conference (for Finals only: better record against teams in # the opposite conference).
  3. Better winning percentage against all teams with a .500 or better record at the end of the season.
  4. Better point differential in games involving tied teams.
  5. 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 27–7 Yes Yes Yes
2 Los Angeles Sparks 26–8 Yes Yes No
3 New York Liberty 22–12 Yes No No
4 Connecticut Sun 21–13 Yes No No
5 Phoenix Mercury 18–16 Yes No No
6 Washington Mystics 18–16 Yes No No
7 Dallas Wings 16–18 Yes No No
8 Seattle Storm 15–19 Yes No No

Playoffs and Finals

Bracket

First round:
Single elimination
(Sept. 6)
Second round:
Single elimination
(Sept. 10)
Semifinals:
Best-of-five
(Sept. 12 – Sept. 17)
WNBA Finals:
Best-of-five
(Sept. 24 – Oct. 4)
2Los Angeles Sparks798689
4Connecticut Sun835Phoenix Mercury667287
5Phoenix Mercury795Phoenix Mercury881Minnesota Lynx8470648085
8Seattle Storm692Los Angeles Sparks8568756976
1Minnesota Lynx1019381
3New York Liberty686Washington Mystics818370
6Washington Mystics866Washington Mystics82
7Dallas Wings76

Note: Teams re-seeded after second round and semi-finals.

First round

All times are in
UTC−4
)

(6) Washington Mystics vs. (7) Dallas Wings

September 6
8:00 PM
Dallas Wings 76, Washington Mystics 86
Scoring by quarter: 12-18, 22-16, 16-25, 26-27
: four tied 3 Pts: Delle Donne 25
Rebs: Thomas 17
Asts: Meesseman 5
Washington wins series 1-0
Capital One Arena, Washington, D.C.
Attendance: 6,483
Referees: Tiara Cruse, Tim Greene, Tom Nunez

(5) Phoenix Mercury vs. (8) Seattle Storm

September 6
10:00 PM
Seattle Storm 69, Phoenix Mercury 79
Scoring by quarter: 17–16, 14–16, 15–24, 23-23
5 Pts: Griner 23
Rebs: Griner 11
Asts: three tied 3
Phoenix wins series 1-0
Wells Fargo Arena, Temple, AZ
Attendance: 5,764
Referees: Tiffany Bird, Eric Brewton, Cheryl Flores, Kurt Walker

Second round

All times are in
UTC−4
)

(4) Connecticut Sun vs. (5) Phoenix Mercury

September 10
3:00 PM
Phoenix Mercury 88, Connecticut Sun 83
Scoring by quarter: 18-29, 25–21, 25–18, 20-15
5 Pts: A. Thomas 20
Rebs: Jones 15
Asts: J. Thomas 4
Phoenix wins series 1-0
Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, CT
Attendance: 8,420
Referees: Maj Forsberg, Roy Gulbeyan, Byron Jarrett

(3) New York Liberty vs. (6) Washington Mystics

September 10
5:00 PM
Washington Mystics 82, New York Liberty 68
Scoring by quarter: 10-21, 25–20, 25–10, 22-17
4 Pts: Charles 18
Rebs: Charles & Zellous 6
Asts: Hartley 5
Washington wins series 1-0
Madison Square Garden New York, New York
Attendance: 9,538
Referees: Sue Blauch, Billy Smith, Jeff Wooten

Semifinals

All times are in
UTC−4
)

(1) Minnesota Lynx vs. (6) Washington Mystics

September 12
8:00 PM
Washington Mystics 81, Minnesota Lynx 101
Scoring by quarter: 18–26, 20-27, 18-31, 25–17
6 Pts: Augustus 24
Rebs: Fowles 7
Asts: Moore 4
Williams Arena, Minneapolis, MN
Attendance: 7,834
Referees: JB DeRosa, Maj Forsberg, Billy Smith
September 14
8:00 PM
Washington Mystics 83, Minnesota Lynx 93
Scoring by quarter: 29–19, 18-26, 17–24, 19–24
6 Pts: Fowles 25
Rebs: Brunson 10
Asts: Whalen 7
Williams Arena, Minneapolis, MN
Attendance: 9,033
Referees: Sue Blauch, Roy Gulbeyan, Vladimir Voyard-Tadal
September 17
3:00 PM
Minnesota Lynx 81, Washington Mystics 70
Scoring by quarter: 18–16, 20–23, 21–14, 22–17
5 Pts: Delle Donne 15
Rebs: Delle Donne 8
Asts: Toliver 5
Minnesota wins series 3-0
Capital One Arena, Washington, D.C.
Attendance: 7,950
Referees: Cheryl Flores, Kurt Walker, Jeff Wooten

(2) Los Angeles Sparks vs. (5) Phoenix Mercury

September 12
10:00 PM
Phoenix Mercury 66, Los Angeles Sparks 79
Scoring by quarter: 23–19, 19-23, 6-14, 18-23
4 Pts: Ogwumike 19
Rebs: Ogwumike 9
Asts: Gray 6
September 14
10:00 PM
Phoenix Mercury 72, Los Angeles Sparks 86
Scoring by quarter: 19–22, 16-21, 20-18, 17–25
4 Pts:
Parker
6
Walter Pyramid, Long Beach, CA
Attendance: 4,023
Referees: Maj Forsberg, Byron Jarrett, Thomas Nunez
September 17
5:00 PM
Los Angeles Sparks 89, Phoenix Mercury 87
Scoring by quarter: 21–25, 24–13, 18–24, 26–25
11 Pts: Taurasi 22
Rebs: Griner & Little 8
Asts: Mitchell & Taurasi 5
Los Angeles wins series 3-0

Finals

All times are in
UTC−4
)

(1) Minnesota Lynx vs. (2) Los Angeles Sparks

September 24
3:30pm ET
Los Angeles Sparks 85, Minnesota Lynx 84
Scoring by quarter: 32–11, 11–22, 25–23, 17–28
Pts: Gray 27
Rebs: Parker 12
Asts: Gray
6
Pts: Moore 27
Rebs: Fowles 13
Asts: Whalen 6
Williams Arena, Minneapolis, MN
Attendance: 11,823
Referees: Cheryl Flores, Kurt Walker, Jeff Wooten
September 26
8:00pm ET
Los Angeles Sparks 68, Minnesota Lynx 70
Scoring by quarter: 10–28, 16–17, 24–15, 18–10
6 Pts: Whalen 14
Rebs: Fowles 17
Asts: Brunson, Whalen 3
Williams Arena, Minneapolis, MN
Attendance: 11,434
Referees: Maj Forsberg, Bryon Jarrett, Billy Smith
September 29
9:00pm ET
Minnesota Lynx 64, Los Angeles Sparks 75
Scoring by quarter: 8–17, 18–15, 22–24, 16–19
4 Pts: Ogwumike, Sims 16
Rebs: Ogwumike 10
Asts: Gray 7
October 1
8:30pm ET
Minnesota Lynx 80, Los Angeles Sparks 69
Scoring by quarter: 21–16, 22–15, 18–13, 19–25
8 Pts: Sims 18
Rebs: Ogwumike, Parker 8
Asts: Gray 9
October 4
8:00pm ET
Los Angeles Sparks 76, Minnesota Lynx 85
Scoring by quarter: 19–21, 16–20, 21–19, 20–25
8 Pts: Moore 18
Rebs: Fowles 20
Asts: Whalen 8
Minnesota wins series 3-2
Williams Arena, Minneapolis, MN
Attendance: 14,632
Referees: Sue Blauch, Roy Gulbeyan, Byron Jarrett

References

  1. ^ "WNBA Playoff Picture 2017". WNBA.com. Retrieved 2021-03-06.