The 2024 WNBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the Women's National Basketball Association's 2024 season. The playoffs began on September 22, 2024, and ended on October 20, 2024 with the New York Liberty winning their first championship.
Overview Updates to postseason appearances
The Connecticut Sun entered the postseason for the eighth consecutive season, the longest active postseason appearance streak in the WNBA. The Las Vegas Aces entered the postseason for the sixth consecutive season. The New York Liberty entered the postseason for the fourth consecutive season. The Atlanta Dream entered the post season for the second consecutive season. The Minnesota Lynx entered the postseason for the second consecutive season. The Phoenix Mercury returned to the postseason after missing the postseason in 2023. The Seattle Storm returned to the postseason after missing the postseason in 2023. The Indiana Fever entered the postseason for the first time since 2016, breaking their seven-season playoff drought.
The Chicago Sky missed the postseason, ending a five-season postseason streak. The Dallas Wings missed the postseason, ending a three-season postseason streak. The Washington Mystics missed the postseason, ending a two-season postseason streak. The Los Angeles Sparks missed the postseason for the fourth consecutive season, the longest active postseason drought in the WNBA.
Notable occurrences The Indiana Fever broke their playoff drought, which was the longest in the WNBA, at seven seasons. An even number of Eastern Conference and Western Conference teams qualified for the playoffs.
Format The 2024 playoffs will be the final season to use the format that the WNBA Board of Governors approved prior to the 2022 season (starting in 2025, a best of seven WNBA finals will be adopted). In November 2021, the WNBA Board of Governors formalized a new playoff system that will structure the 2022 playoffs onward. The new playoff format scraps the single-elimination games of the first two rounds in favor of a best-of-3 quarterfinal round. As a result, all eight playoff teams, seeded according to overall regular season record regardless of conference (1 vs. 8, 2 vs. 7, 3 vs. 6, 4 vs. 5), will begin postseason play in the first round. In the first round series, the higher seeded team will host games 1 and 2, and the lower seeded team will host game 3 if necessary. In the semifinal round, no reseeding will take place, which means the winners of the 1 vs. 8 series will be paired with the winner of the 4 vs. 5 series as will the winners of the 2 vs. 7 and 3 vs. 6 series. The semifinal and final rounds will remain best-of-5 series in which the higher seeded team hosts games 1, 2 and (if necessary) 5 while the lower seeded team hosts games 3 and (if necessary) 4.
Broadcast All games will be aired across the ESPN family of networks, which includes ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, and ABC in the US and on TSN, Sportsnet, and NBA TV Canada in Canada.
Playoff qualifying Seed Team Record ClinchedPlayoff berth Top record 1 New York Liberty 32–8 2 Minnesota Lynx 30–10 3 Connecticut Sun 28–12 4 Las Vegas Aces 27–13 5 Seattle Storm 25–15 6 Indiana Fever 20–20 7 Phoenix Mercury 19–21 8 Atlanta Dream 15–25
Bracket
First round (1) New York Liberty vs. (8) Atlanta Dream
The top-seeded New York Liberty played the eighth-seeded Atlanta Dream in the first playoff series. The Liberty entered the post-season as the top overall seed after finishing two games ahead of the Minnesota Lynx during the regular season. The Liberty finished 7–3 in their final ten games of the season. The Dream secured a playoff spot after defeating the Liberty on the last day of the season. The Dream finished 5–5 in their final ten games of the season. During the regular season, the teams played four times, with the Liberty winning three times. Their last meeting was an Atlanta win on the final day of the season.
Game 1
In game one of the series, the Liberty got off to a hot start at home, winning the first quarter 29–16. They did not let up in the second quarter, winning 19–14 and taking a fifteen-point lead into halftime. The Liberty continued their winning ways in the third quarter, taking the frame 21–19. The Dream mounted a comeback in the fourth quarter, winning 20–14, but they were too far behind and the Liberty won game one by fourteen points. The Liberty had four players score in double figures, and were led by Leonie Fiebich with twenty-one points. Breanna Stewart was not far behind with twenty, Sabrina Ionescu added seventeen, and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton scored ten. Stewart added eleven rebounds to finish with a double-double. The Dream only had two players in double figures, led by Rhyne Howard with fourteen, and Tina Charles added twelve.
Game 2 Facing elimination, the Atlanta Dream started off Game Two well, winning the first quarter 28–19. However, the Liberty chipped away at the lead and won quarter two 24–20. The Dream took a five-point lead into halftime. The Liberty came out strong after the break and won the third quarter 22–16 to take a two-point lead into the final frame. There they continued their strong play and finished the game with a 26–18 win in the fourth quarter. The Liberty won the game by nine points and took the series two games to one. The Liberty had three players score in double figures, and were led by Sabrina Ionescu with thirty-six points. Jonquel Jones added twenty points and Breanna Stewart rounded out the double-digit scorers with thirteen. Jones recorded thirteen rebounds to have a double-double. The Dream also had three players in double figures, and were led by Allisha Gray with twenty-six points. Rhyne Howard added nineteen points and Tina Charles had fourteen points.
Regular-season seriesNew York won 3–1 in the regular-season series
(2) Minnesota Lynx vs. (7) Phoenix Mercury In the second playoff series, the second-seed Minnesota Lynx played the seventh-seed Phoenix Mercury. Minnesota finished two games out of first place during the regular season, and defeated eventual first seed New York on September 15. Minnesota enters the series after going 8–2 in their last ten games. Phoenix finished four games ahead of the eighth seed and only one game out of being the sixth seed. They struggled to end the season, finishing with a 3–7 record in their final ten games. The Western Conference teams played four times in the regular season, with Minnesota winning three times.
Game 1 The Minnesota Lynx started Game One at home in dominating fashion, winning the first quarter 32–19. The second quarter was much closer, but Minnesota again won, this time 24–23. Minnesota took a fourteen-point lead into halftime. The Mercury came out strong in the third quarter, winning 27–21. The Mercury won the fourth quarter 26–25, but their comeback was not enough to overcome the halftime defect and Minnesota won Game One by seven points. The Lynx had four players score in double figures and were led by Napheesa Collier who scored thirty-eight points. Kayla McBride scored twenty points, Bridget Carleton added twelve, and Myisha Hines-Allen finished with ten from the bench. Phoenix also had four players score in double digits and were led by Natasha Cloud with thirty-three points. Diana Taurasi scored twenty-one, Kahleah Copper added sixteen, and Brittney Griner had ten points. Cloud finished with ten assists to record a double-double.
Game 2 Facing elimination in Game Two, the Phoenix Mercury started strongly and won the first quarter 25–21. However, their run did not last long, as the Lynx came back to win quarter two 28–22 and take a two point lead into halftime. The Mercury struggled after half and lost quarter three 27–17. Quarter four was an even affair, finishing with the Lynx winning 25–24. The Lynx won the game by thirteen points and the series two games to zero. The Lynx had all five of their starters score in double figures and were led by Napheesa Collier who scored forty-two points to tie the WNBA playoff record for points in a game. Kayla McBride added fifteen points, Bridget Carleton and Alanna Smith both scored twelve points, and Courtney Williams added eleven. Phoenix also had five players score in double figures and were led by Brittney Griner with twenty-four points. Natasha Cloud scored sixteen points, Kahleah Copper scored thirteen points, Natasha Mack added twelve points from the bench, and Diana Taurasi scored ten points. Cloud finished with ten assists to record her second double-double in the series.
Regular-season seriesMinnesota won 3–1 in the regular-season series
(3) Connecticut Sun vs. (6) Indiana Fever The third-seed Connecticut Sun played the sixth-seed Indiana Fever in the third playoff series. The Sun entered the postseason as the third seed for the third straight season. They finished the regular season one game ahead of the fourth-seeded Aces and two games behind the second-seed Lynx. They finished the season 6–4 in their final ten games. The Fever entered the postseason for the first time in seven years. They were five games behind the fifth-seed Storm and one game ahead of the seventh-seed Mercury. They also finished the season 6–4 in their final 10 games. The two Eastern Conference foes played four times during the regular season with the Sun winning three times to the Fever's one win.
Game 1 Game One started off as a close affair, as Connecticut won the first quarter 23–20. Connecticut carried their momentum into the second quarter and won it 23–19, to take a seven-point lead into halftime. Connecticut proved the stronger team after halftime and won the third quarter 22–19. However, the most lopsided quarter was the fourth, which Connecticut won 25–12 to win Game One by a twenty-four point margin. Connecticut had four players score in double-digits and were led by Marina Mabrey with twenty-seven points. DeWanna Bonner was not far behind with twenty-two points, DiJonai Carrington scored fourteen, and ended with twelve. The Fever also had four players score in double digits and were led by Kelsey Mitchell with twenty-one points. Aliyah Boston scored seventeen points, Damiris Dantas added twelve points off the bench, and Caitlin Clark scored eleven. Thomas added ten rebound and thirteen assists to record her fourth playoff triple-double. Boston added eleven rebounds to record a double-double in her playoff debut.
Game 2 The first quarter of game two was a low scoring affair, with the Sun winning 17–14. Scoring picked up slightly in the second quarter and the Sun won the second frame 24–20, and took a seven-point lead into halftime. Quarter three was again a close affair, and the Sun came out on top 20–18. Facing elimination and a nine-point defect, the Fever won the final frame, but only 29–26, which was not enough to win the game. Connecticut won game two by six points and the series two games to zero. Five of the seven players who saw minutes in the game for the Sun scored in double figures. They were led by Alyssa Thomas who scored nineteen points. Marina Mabrey scored seventeen points, DeWanna Bonner added fifteen and DiJonai Carrington and Veronica Burton both added ten. Thomas had thirteen assists to record a double-double. The Fever had three players score in double figures and were led by Caitlin Clark who scored twenty-five points. Kelsey Mitchell scored seventeen points and Aliyah Boston scored sixteen points. Boston added nineteen rebounds for her second double-double in the series.
Regular-season seriesConnecticut won 3–1 in the regular-season series
(4) Las Vegas Aces vs. (5) Seattle Storm