The Liberty of New York clash with the Chicago Sky at 8 p.m. Eastern Time
The Mercury of Phoenix take on the Dallas Wings at 8 p.m. Eastern Time
The Golden State Valkyries meet the Minnesota Lynx at 8 p.m. Eastern Time
The Las Vegas Aces battle the Los Angeles Sparks at 10 p.m. Eastern Time
For determining playoff spots, expect potential tiebreaking scenarios. The initial tiebreaker involves the head-to-head record between the tied teams, followed by consideration of conference winning percentages.
Teams will be seeded based on their overall record and applicable tiebreakers; conference affiliation does not factor into seeding.
Upon the commencement of the tournament, the initial phase will feature best-of-three series, with the top four seeds securing home-court advantage. The schedule for the higher seeds will now be home, away, home, shifting from the previous home, home, away arrangement.
“The revised 1-1-1 structure for the First Round of the WNBA Playoffs presented by Google will assure each team in a series gets a home game, a key consideration resulting from talks with team presidents, head coaches, general managers and the Competition Committee,” stated Bethany Donaphin, WNBA Head of League Operations, during the initial announcement of the playoff format changes last October.
The semifinal round will be composed of best-of-five series, and the WNBA Finals will, for the first time, be a best-of-seven series. The series will adopt a 2-2-1-1-1 format, akin to that of the NBA Finals.
The first round is scheduled to commence on Sunday, September 14. The Finals are slated to conclude no later than Sunday, October 19.
