2017 WNBA playoffs

Last updated

2017 WNBA Playoffs
2017 WNBA Playoffs Logo.jpg
DatesSeptember 6 - October 4, 2017
Final positions
Champions Minnesota Lynx (Finals champion)
Higher seed finalist Minnesota Lynx (Coach: Cheryl Reeve)
Lower seed finalist Los Angeles Sparks (Coach: Brian Agler)
  2016
2018  

The 2017 WNBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the WNBA's 2017 season.

Contents

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

SeedTeamRecordClinched
Playoff berthBye to SemisTop Record
1 Minnesota Lynx 27–7Yes check.svgYes check.svgYes check.svg
2 Los Angeles Sparks 26–8Yes check.svgYes check.svgDark Red x.svg
3 New York Liberty 22–12Yes check.svgDark Red x.svgDark Red x.svg
4 Connecticut Sun 21–13Yes check.svgDark Red x.svgDark Red x.svg
5 Phoenix Mercury 18–16Yes check.svgDark Red x.svgDark Red x.svg
6 Washington Mystics 18–16Yes check.svgDark Red x.svgDark Red x.svg
7 Dallas Wings 16–18Yes check.svgDark Red x.svgDark Red x.svg
8 Seattle Storm 15–19Yes check.svgDark Red x.svgDark Red x.svg

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 798689
4 Connecticut Sun 835 Phoenix Mercury 667287
5 Phoenix Mercury 795 Phoenix Mercury 881 Minnesota Lynx 8470648085
8 Seattle Storm 692 Los Angeles Sparks 8568756976
1 Minnesota Lynx 1019381
3 New York Liberty 686 Washington Mystics 818370
6 Washington Mystics 866 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
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
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

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

(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

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
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
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

(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
Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
Attendance: 7,963
Referees: Tiffany Bird, Jeff Smith, Kurt Walker
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
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
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

Finals

All times are in Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4)

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

ABC
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
Pts: Parker 17
Rebs: Ogwumike 13
Asts: Parker 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
Pts: Moore 16
Rebs: Fowles 11
Asts: Jones 4
Pts: Ogwumike, Sims 16
Rebs: Ogwumike 10
Asts: Gray 7
Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
Attendance: 13,500
Referees: Sue Blauch, Eric Brewton, Roy Gulbeyan
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
Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
Attendance: 13,500
Referees: Maj Forsberg, Billy Smith, Kurt Walker
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
Williams Arena, Minneapolis, MN
Attendance: 14,632
Referees: Sue Blauch, Roy Gulbeyan, Byron Jarrett

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References

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