Sep 19, 2025
Minnesota Lynx ahead Jessica Shepard (15) and Golden State Valkyries ahead Monique Billings (25) compete for possession of the ball throughout the first half of Recreation 2 within the first spherical of the WNBA basketball playoffs Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, in San Jose, Calif. (AP Photograph/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
NEW YORK (AP) — It’s becoming that lots of the opening spherical playoff collection are going the gap after the balanced common season the WNBA had.
There will probably be three decisive Recreation 3s over the following two days. That’s the primary time that’s occurred since 2015. Final season all 4 opening spherical collection have been sweeps.
“You have a look at the standings this 12 months how shut it was, often up to now it was clear lower who the highest three have been,” Phoenix ahead Alyssa Thomas mentioned after the Mercury routed New York on Wednesday evening. “This 12 months there was a lot motion and it got here all the way down to the wire who was going to be the eight within the playoffs. Credit score to how the league is rising and the way balanced groups are. It continues to get higher.”
The WNBA modified its playoff format this season giving every crew at the least one house sport within the opening spherical which in all probability has helped. Previously few years, the higher seeded crew would have the primary two video games at house. Indiana and Seattle evened up their collection on their house court docket Tuesday evening and Golden State got here inside a basket of beating No. 1 seed Minnesota on Wednesday evening to make it 4 for 4 on collection going the gap.
“I feel it’s tremendous intense. I feel numbers don’t matter no extra. Everybody’s 0-0,” Minnesota guard Courtney Williams mentioned. “You’ll be able to’t take no crew frivolously. You noticed that tonight. These of us got here out and gave us a run for our cash.”
Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve mentioned that she anticipated her collection to go a 3rd sport too.
“At no time limit did we predict this was going to be a two-game collection, at no time limit,” she mentioned. “They performed properly sufficient to win clearly we hung in there and made yet one more basket then they did.”
Whereas the Indiana-Atlanta and Seattle-Las Vegas collection noticed every crew win video games on their house court docket, Phoenix and New York bucked the development. Each have been victorious on one another’s house court docket to pressure the third sport.
“It didn’t assist us since we misplaced the primary sport at house,” Thomas mentioned laughing. “It’s simply good for everybody to get a house sport. Two house video games (in a row) final 12 months is remarkable in a three-game collection. With the intention to win a collection, you bought to win on the street. Tonight we received on the street. It’s been a aggressive couple of video games.”
Again when the playoffs had East and West matchups as a substitute of the highest eight taking part in one another no matter convention, opening collection going the gap was extra widespread.
In 2003 and 2004, three of the 4 opening collection went three video games. In 2008 all 4 went the gap.
The league went to a single-game elimination format within the first spherical from 2016-2021 earlier than going again to best-of-three a 12 months later.
“You see how aggressive, how balanced that is,” mentioned New York ahead Breanna Stewart. “How essential it’s for these sort of collection, you already know, to be going backwards and forwards. It’s sort of loopy. … Hopefully for the followers and people folks watching, they only get to get pleasure from it extra. They get to see basketball extra usually.”
All of the gamers and coaches wouldn’t thoughts an additional day or two earlier than the decisive video games. The format although is much like the NBA, which principally performed each different day within the first spherical this previous season.
“I feel that’s a tricky factor as all the time, you see how aggressive this league is speaking about these turnarounds,” Stewart mentioned of the 48 hours between Recreation 2 and three that each one the collection face.
Whoever wins Friday evening’s sport between Phoenix and New York may even have a fast turnaround with Recreation 1 of the semifinals in Minnesota on Sunday.
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