The WNBA Playoffs start on Sunday with four first-round series going with the best of three series to make it a faster round than most leagues. Minnesota Lynx fans are hoping this is the year they can win the WNBA Championship with the current core as a top seed. The Las Vegas Aces are hoping to repeat and win their fourth WNBA Championship in five years.
Young teams are hoping to make their big push with the Indiana Fever having a stellar “big three” led by Caitlin Clark. The Atlanta Dream and Golden State Valkyries will hope to win with defense as two of the tougher defensive rosters in the league.
New York Liberty fans will hope for an underdog run from the eighth seed with their championship core from two years ago still intact. The Dallas Wings and Washington Mystics also hope to make noise as lower seeds.
WNBA Playoffs Schedule & How To Watch For Each Series
Minnesota Lynx (1) vs New York Liberty (8)
Game 1: New York at Minnesota, Sunday, 2 p.m. ET, ABC
Game 2: Minnesota at New York, Tuesday, 8:30 p.m. ET, USA/CNBC
Game 3*: New York at Minnesota, Thursday, TBD
Golden State Valkyries (2) vs Dallas Wings (7)
Game 1: Dallas at Golden State, Sunday, 9 p.m. ET, USA/CNBC
Game 2: Golden State at Dallas, Wednesday, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN
Game 3*: Dallas at Golden State, Friday, TBD
Las Vegas Aces (3) vs Indiana Fever (6)
Game 1: Indiana at Las Vegas, Sunday, 4 p.m. ET, ABC
Game 2: Las Vegas at Indiana, Tuesday, 6:30 p.m. ET, Amazon Prime
Game 3*: Indiana at Las Vegas, Thursday, TBD
Atlanta Dream (4) vs Washington Mystics (5)
Game 1: Washington at Atlanta, Sunday, 7 p.m. ET, Amazon Prime
Game 2: Atlanta at Washington, Wednesday, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN
Game 3*: Washington at Atlanta, Friday, TBD
The times for Game 3 have yet to be listed since the league will wait to see which series need a deciding game. Some series will likely end in 2 games to remove them from the schedule of planning. The WNBA semi-finals will start on Sunday October 4th just one week after the first round starts.
Which WNBA Teams Are Most Spotlighted?
Much like the NBA, the WNBA has to plan for the bigger games getting the biggest national television spots. Sunday’s lineup of four Game 1s will see two games getting the special treatment of the ABC television spots.
Indiana vs Las Vegas will get the coveted 4PM ABC spot for the star power of Clark vs A’ja Wilson as arguably the two top MVP candidates. Minnesota vs New York gets the other ABC slot at 2PM to start the day thanks to their established rivalry coming off the intense 2024 WNBA Finals matchup.
The week will see the four series split into doubleheaders on every other night from Tuesday through Friday. Paige Bueckers helps Dallas get the primetime spot for the weeknight lineups of the Wings vs Valkyries and Mystics vs Dream. All eight teams have realistic goals to win their series to make this the most exciting WNB postseason in years.
Full WNBA First Round Playoffs Schedule & How To Watch