WNBA playoffs

WNBA Playoffs logo

The WNBA Playoffs is an elimination tournament between 8 teams in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), ultimately deciding the final two teams who will play in the WNBA Finals.

Current format

Following the WNBA regular season, eight teams in the entire league qualify for the playoffs and are seeded one to eight.

Regular season records determine the seedings of the teams. The team with the best record receives seed one, the team with the next best record receives seed two, and so on. These seedings are used to create a bracket that determines the matchups throughout the playoffs. The 2022 season saw the playoffs return to a standard eight-team bracket for the first time since 2015, though in a slightly different format.

The first round consists of best-of-three series, with one side of the bracket featuring 1–8 and 4–5 pairings and the other featuring 2–7 and 3–6 pairings. Differences between the current first-round format and the one abandoned after 2015 are:

• The 2015 format featured separate brackets for each conference. The 2022 format maintains the league's recent practice of ignoring conference affiliation for playoff qualifying purposes.
• Series in the 2015 format featured a 1–1–1 home-court pattern, with the higher seed hosting game 1 and (if necessary) game 3, and the lower seed hosting game 2. The home-court pattern in the 2022 format is 2–1, with the higher seed hosting the first two games. This in turn means that the higher seed can win the series without having to visit the lower seed, though the lower seed will host the series decider if it wins one of the first two games.

In the current format, the playoff bracket is not reseeded after the first round.

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.

The 2022 format replaced a format used from 2016 to 2021 in which all playoff games before the semifinals were single-elimination and played on the home court of the higher seed. The first round consisted of two matchups based on the seedings (5–8 and 6–7). The two winners advanced to the second round with a matchup between the number 3 seed and the lower of the advancing seeds and another matchup 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.

Tiebreak procedures

1. Better winning percentage among all head-to-head games involving tied teams.
2. Better winning percentage against all teams with a .500 or better record at the end of the season.
3. Better point differential in games involving tied teams.
4. Better point differential in all games.
5. Coin toss (or draw of lots, if at least 3 teams are still tied after the first 4 tiebreakers fail).

Playoff series history

See also: List of WNBA playoff series

2015 season

Main article: 2015 WNBA Playoffs

Further information: 2015 WNBA season and 2015 WNBA Finals

2014 season

Main article: 2014 WNBA Playoffs

Further information: 2014 WNBA season and 2014 WNBA Finals

There were 12 teams in the league. For the playoffs, the four teams with the best record in each conference were seeded one to four. Template:2014 WNBA Playoffs

2013 season

Main article: 2013 WNBA Playoffs

Further information: 2013 WNBA season and 2013 WNBA Finals

There were 12 teams in the league. For the playoffs, the four teams with the best record in each conference were seeded one to four.

2012 season

Main article: 2012 WNBA Playoffs

Further information: 2012 WNBA season and 2012 WNBA Finals

There were 12 teams in the league. For the playoffs, the four teams with the best record in each conference were seeded one to four.

2011 season

Main article: 2011 WNBA Playoffs

Further information: 2011 WNBA season and 2011 WNBA Finals

There were 12 teams in the league. For the playoffs, the four teams with the best record in each conference were seeded one to four.

Conference Semi-Finals Best-of-3

Conference Finals Best-of-3

WNBA Finals Best-of-5

E1

Indiana

2

E4

New York

1

E1

Indiana

1

Eastern Conference

E3

Atlanta

2

E2

Connecticut

0

E3

Atlanta

2

E3

Atlanta

0

W1

Minnesota

3

W1

Minnesota

2

W4

San Antonio

1

W1

Minnesota

2

Western Conference

W3

Phoenix

0

W2

Seattle

1

W3

Phoenix

2

2010 season

Main article: 2010 WNBA Playoffs

Further information: 2010 WNBA season and 2010 WNBA Finals

There are 12 teams in the league. For the playoffs, the four teams with the best record in each conference are seeded one to four. Starting in 2010, the first two rounds changed to a 1-1-1 format, with the higher-seeded team hosting games 1 & 3.

Conference Semi-Finals Best-of-3

Conference Finals Best-of-3

WNBA Finals Best-of-5

E1

Washington

0

E4

Atlanta

2

E4

Atlanta

2

Eastern Conference

E2

New York

0

E2

New York

2

E3

Indiana

1

E4

Atlanta

0

W1

Seattle

3

W1

Seattle

2

W4

Los Angeles

0

W1

Seattle

2

Western Conference

W2

Phoenix

0

W2

Phoenix

2

W3

San Antonio

0

2009 season

Main article: 2009 WNBA Playoffs

Further information: 2009 WNBA season and 2009 WNBA Finals

There are 13 teams in the league. For the playoffs, the four teams with the best record in each conference are seeded one to four.

Conference Semi-Finals Best-of-3

Conference Finals Best-of-3

WNBA Finals Best-of-5

E1

Indiana

2

E4

Washington

0

E1

Indiana

2

Eastern Conference

E3

Detroit

1

E2

Atlanta

0

E3

Detroit

2

E1

Indiana

2

W1

Phoenix

3

W1

Phoenix

2

W4

San Antonio

1

W1

Phoenix

2

Western Conference

W3

Los Angeles

1

W2

Seattle

1

W3

Los Angeles

2

2008 season

Main article: 2008 WNBA Playoffs

Further information: 2008 WNBA season and 2008 WNBA Finals

There were 14 teams in the league. For the playoffs, the four teams with the best record in each conference were seeded one to four.

Conference Semi-Finals Best-of-3

Conference Finals Best-of-3

WNBA Finals Best-of-5

E1

Detroit

2

E4

Indiana

1

E1

Detroit

2

E3

New York

1

E2

Connecticut

1

E3

New York

2

E1

Detroit

3

W1

San Antonio

0

W1

San Antonio

2

W4

Sacramento

1

W1

San Antonio

2

W3

Los Angeles

1

W2

Seattle

1

W3

Los Angeles

2

2007 season

Main article: 2007 WNBA Playoffs

Further information: 2007 WNBA season and 2007 WNBA Finals

There were 13 teams in the league. For the playoffs, the four teams with the best record in each conference were seeded one to four.

Conference Semi-Finals Best-of-3

Conference Finals Best-of-3

WNBA Finals Best-of-5

E1

Detroit

2

E4

New York

1

E1

Detroit

2

E2

Indiana

1

E2

Indiana

2

E3

Connecticut

1

E1

Detroit

2

W1

Phoenix

3

W1

Phoenix

2

W4

Seattle

0

W1

Phoenix

2

W2

San Antonio

0

W2

San Antonio

2

W3

Sacramento

1

2006 season

Main article: 2006 WNBA Playoffs

Further information: 2006 WNBA season

There were 14 teams in the league. For the playoffs, the four teams with the best record in each conference were seeded one to four.

Conference Semi-Finals Best-of-3

Conference Finals Best-of-3

WNBA Finals Best-of-5

E1

Connecticut

2

E4

Washington

0

E1

Connecticut

1

E2

Detroit

2

E2

Detroit

2

E3

Indiana

0

E2

Detroit

3

W2

Sacramento

2

W1

Los Angeles

2

W4

Seattle

1

W1

Los Angeles

0

W2

Sacramento

2

W2

Sacramento

2

W3

Houston

0

2005 season

Further information: 2005 WNBA season

There were 13 teams in the league. For the playoffs, the four teams with the best record in each conference were seeded one to four.

Conference Semi-Finals Best-of-3

Conference Finals Best-of-3

WNBA Finals Best-of-5

E1

Connecticut

2

E4

Detroit

0

E1

Connecticut

2

E2

Indiana

0

E2

Indiana

2

E3

New York

0

E1

Connecticut

1

W1

Sacramento

3

W1

Sacramento

2

W4

Los Angeles

0

W1

Sacramento

2

W3

Houston

0

W2

Seattle

1

W3

Houston

2

2004 season

Further information: 2004 WNBA season

There were 13 teams in the league. For the playoffs, the four teams with the best record in each conference were seeded one to four.

Conference Semi-Finals Best-of-3

Conference Finals Best-of-3

WNBA Finals Best-of-3

E1

Connecticut

2

E4

Washington

1

E1

Connecticut

2

E2

New York

0

E2

New York

2

E3

Detroit

1

E1

Connecticut

1

W2

Seattle

2

W1

Los Angeles

1

W4

Sacramento

2

W4

Sacramento

1

W2

Seattle

2

W2

Seattle

2

W3

Minnesota

0

2003 season

Further information: 2003 WNBA season

There were 14 teams in the league. For the playoffs, the four teams with the best record in each conference were seeded one to four.

Conference Semi-Finals Best-of-3

Conference Finals Best-of-3

WNBA Finals Best-of-3

E1

Detroit

2

E4

Cleveland

1

E1

Detroit

2

E3

Connecticut

0

E2

Charlotte

0

E3

Connecticut

2

E1

Detroit

2

W1

Los Angeles

1

W1

Los Angeles

2

W4

Minnesota

1

W1

Los Angeles

2

W3

Sacramento

1

W2

Houston

1

W3

Sacramento

2

2002 season

Further information: 2002 WNBA season

There were 16 teams in the league. For the playoffs, the four teams with the best record in each conference were seeded one to four.

Conference Semi-Finals Best-of-3

Conference Finals Best-of-3

WNBA Finals Best-of-3

E1

New York

2

E4

Indiana

1

E1

New York

2

E3

Washington

0

E2

Charlotte

0

E3

Washington

2

E1

New York

0

W1

Los Angeles

2

W1

Los Angeles

2

W4

Seattle

0

W1

Los Angeles

2

W3

Utah

0

W2

Houston

1

W3

Utah

2

2001 season

Further information: 2001 WNBA season

There were 16 teams in the league. For the playoffs, the four teams with the best record in each conference were seeded one to four.

Conference Semi-Finals Best-of-3

Conference Finals Best-of-3

WNBA Finals Best-of-3

E1

Cleveland

1

E4

Charlotte

2

E4

Charlotte

2

E2

New York

1

E2

New York

2

E3

Miami

1

E4

Charlotte

0

W1

Los Angeles

2

W1

Los Angeles

2

W4

Houston

0

W1

Los Angeles

2

W2

Sacramento

1

W2

Sacramento

2

W3

Utah

0

2000 season

Further information: 2000 WNBA season

There were 16 teams in the league. For the playoffs, the four teams with the best record in each conference were seeded one to four.

Conference Semi-Finals Best-of-3

Conference Finals Best-of-3

WNBA Finals Best-of-3

E1

New York

2

E4

Washington

0

E1

New York

2

E2

Cleveland

1

E2

Cleveland

2

E3

Orlando

1

E1

New York

0

W2

Houston

2

W1

Los Angeles

2

W4

Phoenix

0

W1

Los Angeles

0

W2

Houston

2

W2

Houston

2

W3

Sacramento

0

1999 season

Further information: 1999 WNBA season

There were 12 teams in the league. For the playoffs, the three teams with the best record in each conference were seeded one to three. The top seeded team in each conference got a bye for the first round.

Conference Semi-Finals Single Game

Conference Finals Best-of-3

WNBA Finals Best-of-3

E1

New York

2

E3

Charlotte

1

E2

Detroit

54

E3

Charlotte

60

E1

New York

1

W1

Houston

2

W1

Houston

2

W2

Los Angeles

1

W2

Los Angeles

71

W3

Sacramento

58

1998 season

Further information: 1998 WNBA season

There were 10 teams in the league. For the playoffs, the four teams with the best record in the league were seeded one to four. Houston was switched to the Western Conference in 1998 so two Western Conference teams matched up in the WNBA Finals.

	Playoff Semi-Finals Best-of-3					WNBA Finals Best-of-3
	W1	Houston	2
	E2	Charlotte	0
						W1	Houston	2
						W2	Phoenix	1
	W2	Phoenix	2
	E1	Cleveland	1

1997 season

Further information: 1997 WNBA season

This was the first year of existence for the WNBA. There were only 8 teams in the league. For the playoffs, the four teams with the best record in the league were seeded one to four. Houston was in the Eastern Conference in 1997 so two Eastern Conference teams matched up in the WNBA Championship.

	Playoff Semi-Finals Single Game					WNBA Championship Single Game
	E1	Houston	70
	E4	Charlotte	54
						E1	Houston	65
						E2	New York	51
	W3	Phoenix	41
	E2	New York	59

See also

• Women's National Basketball Association
• WNBA Finals

External links

• WNBA Playoff History