Sep 19, 2025
Minnesota Lynx ahead Jessica Shepard (15) and Golden State Valkyries ahead Monique Billings (25) compete for possession of the ball in the course of the first half of Sport 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 most of the opening spherical playoff collection are going the gap after the balanced common season the WNBA had.
There might be three decisive Sport 3s over the subsequent 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 yr 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 night time. “This yr there was a lot motion and it got here right 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 group a minimum of one residence recreation within the opening spherical which in all probability has helped. Prior to now few years, the higher seeded group would have the primary two video games at residence. Indiana and Seattle evened up their collection on their residence court docket Tuesday night time and Golden State got here inside a basket of beating No. 1 seed Minnesota on Wednesday night time to make it 4 for 4 on collection going the gap.
“I believe it’s tremendous intense. I believe numbers don’t matter no extra. Everybody’s 0-0,” Minnesota guard Courtney Williams mentioned. “You possibly can’t take no group evenly. You noticed that tonight. These people 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 recreation 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 group win video games on their residence court docket, Phoenix and New York bucked the pattern. Each have been victorious on one another’s residence court docket to drive the third recreation.
“It didn’t assist us since we misplaced the primary recreation at residence,” Thomas mentioned laughing. “It’s simply good for everybody to get a house recreation. Two residence video games (in a row) final yr is unprecedented in a three-game collection. In an effort to win a collection, you bought to win on the street. Tonight we gained 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 enjoying 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 yr later.
“You see how aggressive, how balanced that is,” mentioned New York ahead Breanna Stewart. “How vital it’s for these type of collection, you already know, to be going forwards and backwards. It’s type of loopy. … Hopefully for the followers and people individuals watching, they simply get to get pleasure from it extra. They get to see basketball extra typically.”
All of the gamers and coaches wouldn’t thoughts an additional day or two earlier than the decisive video games. The format although is just like the NBA, which mainly performed each different day within the first spherical this previous season.
“I believe that’s a tricky factor as at all times, you see how aggressive this league is speaking about these turnarounds,” Stewart mentioned of the 48 hours between Sport 2 and three that each one the collection face.
Whoever wins Friday night time’s recreation between Phoenix and New York can even have a fast turnaround with Sport 1 of the semifinals in Minnesota on Sunday.
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