As a historic WNBA regular season closes, the focus shifts to a potentially epic postseason.
While A'ja Wilson and the Aces are back-to-back defending champions, the Liberty have sat atop the standings for the majority of the 2024 season. In addition to veteran-laden teams like the Lynx, Sun and Storm, the playoffs will feature the Caitlin Clark-led Fever, who have snapped an eight-year playoff drought.
With teams seeded regardless of conference and first-round series decided as a best-of-three, the intensity immediately ramps up several notches when the postseason begins.
Here is everything you need to know about the WNBA playoffs in 2024, including when they begin, format and a snapshot of potential matchups.
MORE: WNBA national TV schedule 2024: Complete list of games
When do the WNBA playoffs start in 2024?
- First round: Sept. 22-27
- Semifinals: Sept. 29-Oct. 8
- Finals: Oct. 10-20
The WNBA playoffs begin on Sunday, Sept. 22. Eight of the league's 12 teams advance to the postseason and are seeded regardless of conference.
While the first round is a best-of-three series, the semifinals and WNBA Finals are best-of-five. A potential decisive Game 5 of the 2024 WNBA Finals would be played on Oct. 20, 2024.
MORE: WNBA playoff picture: Updated standings as Fever, Sky battle for postseason
WNBA playoff bracket
Here's a current look at the WNBA playoff bracket if the season were to end today:
- 1. New York Liberty vs. 8. Chicago Sky
- 2. Minnesota Lynx vs. 7. Phoenix Mercury
- 3. Connecticut Sun vs. 6. Indiana Fever
- 4. Las Vegas Aces vs. 5. Seattle Storm
WNBA playoff schedule 2024
The schedule for the 2024 WNBA playoffs has not yet been released. All four first-round series will begin on Sunday, Sept. 22.
How do the WNBA playoffs work?
The WNBA playoffs consist of the top eight teams from the regular season.
Teams are seeded one through eight based on their regular-season records. In the first round, the No. 1 seed faces the No. 8 seed, the No. 2 seed takes on the No. 7 seed, the No. 3 seed goes against the No. 6 seed and seeds Nos. 4 and 5 go head-to-head.
The first round of the WNBA playoffs is a best-of-three series. The higher-seeded team hosts Games 1 and 2. If necessary, Game 3 is hosted by the lower-seeded team.
In the semifinals, the winner of the 1-8 matchup faces the winner of the 4-5 matchup while the winner of the 2-7 series faces the winner of the 3-6 series. The semifinals are a best-of-five, with the higher-seeded team hosting Games 1 and 2 as well as a potential Game 5, if necessary.
The WNBA Finals are also a best-of-five series and the higher-seeded team has home-court advantage.
MORE: Angel Reese announces her rookie season is over due to injury
WNBA playoff tiebreakers
The WNBA has five playoff seeding tiebreakers in place if two teams finish with the same record:
- Better record in head-to-head games
- Better winning percentage within own conference
- Better winning percentage against all teams with .500 or better record at the end of the season
- Better point differential in head-to-head games
- Coin toss
If there are more than two teams tied for the same seed, the tiebreakers are similar but have a slightly different twist:
- Better winning percentage among all head-to-head games involving tied teams
- Better winning percentage against teams within the conference (if all teams are from the same conference) or better record against teams in the opposite conference (if one or more teams are in different conferences)
- 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
Current WNBA playoff picture
With just over a week remaining in the 2024 WNBA season, seven of eight playoff spots have been claimed while two teams have been eliminated from WNBA playoff contention. The Sky, Dream and Mystics are battling for the league's final playoff spot.
| Rank | Team | W-L | Win Pct. | GB |
| 1. | x - New York Liberty | 29-6 | .829 | — |
| 2. | x - Minnesota Lynx | 26-9 | .743 | 3 |
| 3. | x - Connecticut Sun | 25-10 | .714 | 4 |
| 4. | x - Las Vegas Aces | 22-13 | .629 | 7 |
| 5. | x - Seattle Storm | 21-14 | .600 | 8 |
| 6. | x - Indiana Fever | 19-17 | .528 | 10.5 |
| 7. | x - Phoenix Mercury | 17-19 | .472 | 12.5 |
| 8. | Chicago Sky | 13-22 | .371 | 16 |
| — | Atlanta Dream | 12-23 | .343 | 17 |
| — | Washington Mystics | 11-24 | .314 | 18 |
X: Clinched playoff berth
Eliminated from WNBA playoff contention: Sparks, Wings
