The W spoiled us this year with a sensationally climactic regular season stretch. The remainder of the season came down to the wire last night with the New York Liberty waiting in limbo to see if they’d snag the eight seed. With the losses of the Washington Mystics and Los Angeles Sparks, the Liberty slid into the final seed for the 2021 WNBA Playoffs.
The #WNBAPlayoffs bracket is set ✅
— WNBA (@WNBA) September 19, 2021
Single elimination games start this THURSDAY at 8pm/ET on ESPN2 😈 @Google pic.twitter.com/r73XQ99Sx4
The first and second rounds of the playoffs will be single elimination, tipping off on Thursday evening. Round one will pit the No. 8 seed Liberty against the No. 5 seed Phoenix Mercury and on the opposite side of the bracket, the No. 6 seed Chicago Sky against the No. 7 seed Dallas Wings.
The winner of the contest in Arizona will get a shot at the No. 4 seed Seattle Storm where the winner of the Chicago-Dallas elimination game will face the No. 3 seed Minnesota Lynx in the second round.
The two best records in the league, held by the Las Vegas Aces and the Connecticut Sun, have both earned a bye to the semi-finals as well as home-court advantage throughout the 2021 playoffs.
After dueling it out in the second round, the lowest seeded team will play the top seeded Sun while the remaining highest seed will face off against the No. 2 Aces. After each round, the remaining teams are to be reseeded.
