2017 WNBA Playoffs
The 2017 WNBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the WNBA's 2017 season.
 | |
| Dates | September 6 - October 4 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Minnesota Lynx (Finals champion) |
| Higher seed finalist | Minnesota Lynx (Coach: Cheryl Reeve) |
| Lower seed finalist | Los 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 | |
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
- 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 | 27–7 |  | | |
| 2 | Los Angeles Sparks | 26–8 | | |  |
| 3 | New York Liberty | 22–12 | | | |
| 4 | Connecticut Sun | 21–13 | | | |
| 5 | Phoenix Mercury | 18–16 | | | |
| 6 | Washington Mystics | 18–16 | | | |
| 7 | Dallas Wings | 16–18 | | | |
| 8 | Seattle Storm | 15–19 | | | |
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) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Los Angeles Sparks | 79 | 86 | 89 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Connecticut Sun | 83 | 5 | Phoenix Mercury | 66 | 72 | 87 | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Phoenix Mercury | 79 | 5 | Phoenix Mercury | 88 | 1 | Minnesota Lynx | 84 | 70 | 64 | 80 | 85 | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Seattle Storm | 69 | 2 | Los Angeles Sparks | 85 | 68 | 75 | 69 | 76 | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | Minnesota Lynx | 101 | 93 | 81 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | New York Liberty | 68 | 6 | Washington Mystics | 81 | 83 | 70 | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Washington Mystics | 86 | 6 | Washington Mystics | 82 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Dallas Wings | 76 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Note: Teams re-seeded after second round and semi-finals.
First round
- All times are in Eastern Daylight Time (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 | ||
| Pts: Powers 21 Rebs: Johnson 14 Asts: four tied 3 |
Pts: Delle Donne 25 Rebs: Thomas 17 Asts: Meesseman 5 | |
| Washington wins series 1-0 | ||
| Dallas won 2–1 in the regular-season series |
|---|
(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 | ||
| Pts: Stewart 23 Rebs: Stewart 8 Asts: Bird 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 |
| Phoenix won 2–1 in the regular-season series |
|---|
Second round
- All times are in Eastern Daylight Time (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 | ||
| Pts: Griner 26 Rebs: Griner 9 Asts: Mitchell 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 |
| Connecticut won 2–1 in the regular-season series |
|---|
(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 | ||
| Pts: Toliver 32 Rebs: Delle Donne 10 Asts: Ruffin-Pratt & Toliver 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 |
| New York won 2–1 in the regular-season series |
|---|
Semifinals
- All times are in Eastern Daylight Time (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 | ||
| Pts: Delle Donne 17 Rebs: Delle Donne 6 Asts: Toliver 6 |
Pts: Augustus 24 Rebs: Fowles 7 Asts: Moore 4 | |
September 14 8:00 PM |
| Washington Mystics 83, Minnesota Lynx 93 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 29–19, 18-26, 17–24, 19–24 | ||
| Pts: Delle Donne & Toliver 25 Rebs: Thomas 7 Asts: Toliver 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 | ||
| Pts: Moore 21 Rebs: Fowles 14 Asts: Moore & Whalen 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 |
| Minnesota won 3–0 in the regular-season series |
|---|
(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 | ||
| Pts: Mitchell 19 Rebs: Little 11 Asts: Mitchell 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 | ||
| Pts: Taurasi 21 Rebs: Mitchell 6 Asts: Taurasi 4 |
Pts: Parker 24 Rebs: Parker 13 Asts: Gray & Parker 6 | |
September 17 5:00 PM |
| Los Angeles Sparks 89, Phoenix Mercury 87 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 21–25, 24–13, 18–24, 26–25 | ||
| Pts: Sims 22 Rebs: Ogwumike 12 Asts: Parker 11 |
Pts: Taurasi 22 Rebs: Griner & Little 8 Asts: Mitchell & Taurasi 5 | |
| Los Angeles wins series 3-0 | ||
Talking Stick Resort Arena Phoenix, AZ Attendance: 12,043 Referees: Sue Blauch, Eric Brewton, Billy Smith |
| Los Angeles won 3–0 in the regular-season series |
|---|
Finals
- All times are in Eastern Daylight Time (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 | |
September 26 8:00pm ET |
| Los Angeles Sparks 68, Minnesota Lynx 70 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 10–28, 16–17, 24–15, 18–10 | ||
| Pts: Parker 17 Rebs: Ogwumike 13 Asts: Parker 6 |
Pts: Whalen 14 Rebs: Fowles 17 Asts: Brunson, Whalen 3 | |
September 29 9:00pm ET |
| Minnesota Lynx 64, Los Angeles Sparks 75 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 8–17, 18–15, 22–24, 16–19 | ||
| Pts: Moore 16 Rebs: Fowles 11 Asts: Jones 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 | ||
| Pts: Fowles 22 Rebs: Fowles 14 Asts: Whalen 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 | ||
| Pts: Parker 19 Rebs: Parker 15 Asts: Gray 8 |
Pts: Moore 18 Rebs: Fowles 20 Asts: Whalen 8 | |
| Minnesota wins series 3-2 | ||
| Los Angeles won 2–1 in the regular-season series |
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References
- "WNBA Playoff Picture 2017". WNBA.com. Retrieved 2021-03-06.
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