2022 WNBA playoffs
The 2022 WNBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the WNBA's 2022 season. This postseason ended with the Las Vegas Aces winning their first championship.Format
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, will begin postseason play in the first round. Since 2016, seeds 3 and 4 received a bye to the second round and seeds 1 and 2 received a bye to the semifinals. 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 5 while the lower seeded team hosts games 3 and 4.Broadcast
All games were aired across the ESPN family of networks, which includes ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, and ESPNU.Playoff qualifying
Las Vegas earned the first seed by virtue of its superior head-to-head record against Chicago.
Seattle earned the fourth seed by virtue of its superior head-to-head record against Washington.
For the first time since 2016, four teams from each conference qualified for the playoffs. For the previous five straight years, one extra Western Conference team qualified for the playoffs. Seven of the eight playoff teams were the same as in 2021. The only difference was the Washington Mystics qualifying this year instead of the Minnesota Lynx.Bracket
First round
The first seed Las Vegas Aces played the eight seed Phoenix Mercury. Las Vegas entered the series having won eight of its last ten games, including a Commissioner's Cup victory. Las Vegas secured the first seed on the last day of the season and defeated second seed Chicago in their penultimate game of the season. Phoenix entered the series having won five of its last ten games and lost on the final day of the season. Phoenix secured the eighth and final playoff spot due to other results on the last day of the season. The Aces won the season series 3–0. The Aces continued their regular season dominance of the Mercury and won the series two games to zero.Game 1
Game one started off as a close affair with the Aces winning the first quarter 21–20. They continued to build a slight lead and won the second quarter 21–17 to take a five point lead into halftime. Both teams struggled to score points with the quarter finishing 9–9. However, the Aces accelerated in the fourth quarter winning the quarter 28–17 to win the game by a comfortable sixteen points. The Aces were led in scoring by Kelsey Plum who had twenty two points. Chelsea Gray scored seventeen points and Jackie Young added sixteen points to round out the Aces' double digit point scorers. The Aces also had two players with double digit rebounds: Kiah Stokes with thirteen and A'ja Wilson with twelve. The Mercury had three players score in double figures, led by Diamond DeShields with eighteen points. Megan Gustafson and Sophie Cunningham added twelve each. Only Brianna Turner had double digit rebounds with sixteen.Game 2
Both teams started game two hot, and the first quarter finished 34–30 in favor of Las Vegas. The 64 points in the quarter were the most in the series. However, Phoenix cooled off in the second quarter, only scoring 14 points and allowing Las Vegas to win the quarter 29–14. Las Vegas' nineteen-point halftime lead would only grow in the third quarter, as they won the quarter 30–15. Despite taking a thirty four point lead into the fourth quarter, Las Vegas did not let up and continued to grow their lead, winning the fourth quarter 24–21 and the game by thirty seven points. The Aces had six players score in double digits, led by Chelsea Gray with twenty seven points. Kelsey Plum added twenty two points, A'ja Wilson scored seventeen points, Jackie Young scored fifteen points, and both Riquna Williams and Kierstan Bell added eleven points from the bench. The Mercury only had two players score in double digits: Kaela Davis led the team with twenty three points off the bench, and Diamond DeShields scored twenty one points.The second seed Chicago Sky played the seventh seed New York Liberty. Chicago entered the series having won seven of its last ten regular season games. Chicago lost to Las Vegas in their penultimate game of the season to fall to the second seed in the playoffs. New York entered the series having also won seven of their last ten regular season games. Their final day victory over Atlanta secured them the seventh seed in the playoffs. Chicago won the regular season series 3–1.Game 1
Game one of the series started was a back and forth affair, with Chicago taking the first quarter 24–20. New York stormed back to take the second quarter 28–21, which gave them a three point halftime lead. Chicago came out of halftime strong, winning the third quarter 29–25 and taking a one point lead into the final period. Chicago had a six point lead with 6:36 left in the game, but failed to score another point. New York went on a 13–0 run to win the fourth quarter 25–17 and the game by seven points. The win was New York's first playoff win since 2015. The Liberty were lead in scoring by Natasha Howard and Sabrina Ionescu who both scored twenty two points. Betnijah Laney added seventeen and Stefanie Dolson scored thirteen to round out the double digit scorers. No player for the Liberty finished with double digit rebounds. The Sky were lead in scoring by Kahleah Copper with twenty one points. Allie Quigley scored eighteen, Candace Parker scored seventeen, Azurá Stevens added sixteen, and Courtney Vandersloot scored thirteen to round out the double digit scorers. Parker and Vandersloot recorded double-doubles by adding ten rebounds and ten assists, respectively.Game 2
Chicago got off to an early lead in Game two of the series, winning the first quarter 31–10. They would continue to build their lead in the second quarter, with the quarter finishing 21–18. The Sky would build on that twenty four point halftime lead in the third quarter winning, 31–16. Their thirty nine point lead would prove in surmountable. New York did win the fourth quarter 18–17, but that left the Sky winning the game by thirty eight points to force a game three of the series. Chicago had five players score in double figures, led by Kahleah Copper with twenty points. Candace Parker recorded a double-double by adding twelve points and twelve rebounds. Courtney Vandersloot scored sixteen points, Azurá Stevens scored fourteen points, and Rebekah Gardner rounded out the double digit scorers with eleven points. The Liberty only had two double digit scorers, Michaela Onyenwere and Han Xu scored ten points.Game 3
The deciding game three of the series began fairly evenly, with Chicago winning the first quarter 25–20. Chicago continue to build a lead throughout the second quarter and won 29–22, to take a twelve-point lead into halftime. The Liberty rebounded after halftime to win the third quarter by two points, cutting the Sky's lead to ten. However, the Sky won the fourth quarter 22–14 to win the game by eighteen points and to clinch a 2–1 series victory. The Sky had six players score in double figures and two players record double-doubles. Their leading scorers were Kahleah Copper and Allie Quigley who both scored fifteen points. Candace Parker and Courtney Vandersloot recorded double doubles with fourteen points and thirteen rebounds, and fourteen points and ten assists, respectively. Emma Meesseman and Azurá Stevens rounded out the double digit scorers with twelve points each. The Liberty had three players finish in double scoring figures, led by Betnijah Laney with fifteen points. Natasha Howard and Sabrina Ionescu added fourteen each to round out the double digit scorers.The third seed Connecticut Sun played the sixth seed Dallas Wings. Connecticut entered the series having won eight of their last ten games, with their only two losses during that time frame coming to the second seeded Chicago Sky. Dallas entered the series having won seven of their last ten games, including wins over top playoff seeds Las Vegas and Chicago. Dallas won the regular season series 2–1.Game 1
Game one started as a tight affair with Connecticut winning the first quarter 22–19. Connecticut continued to build a lead throughout the second quarter and won it 25–18, taking a ten point lead into halftime. Their dominance continued in the third quarter, with a final score of 21–13 in favor of the Sun. They did not rest on their lead in the fourth, winning the quarter 25–18 and the game by twenty five points. The Sun had five players finish scoring in double figures, led by Jonquel Jones with nineteen points. Alyssa Thomas had fifteen points and recorded double-double by virtue of adding ten rebounds. Other double-digit point scorers included rookie DiJonai Carrington with thirteen points, DeWanna Bonner with twelve points, and Courtney Williams with ten points. The Wings had four double-digit points scorers and no double-digit rebounders. They were led by Allisha Gray who scored seventeen points, while Tyasha Harris added thirteen, Marina Mabrey scored eleven and Satou Sabally finished with ten points.Game 2
Game two began with a blowout first quarter win for Dallas with the quarter finishing 22–7. The second quarter was more even, but Dallas still won by a point, 24–23. Dallas expanded its halftime lead in the third quarter, winning 30–17. Connecticut made an effort to come back from the twenty nine point deficit the Sun faced entering the fourth quarter. They won the fourth quarter 32–13, but the effort was not enough to erase the lead and Dallas forced a game three. Dallas had four players score in double digits, led by Kayla Thornton with twenty points. Teaira McCowan recorded a double-double from the bench, scoring seventeen points and recording eleven rebounds. Allisha Gray scored fifteen points, and Marina Mabrey rounded out the double figures scorers with fourteen. The Sun had three players score in double figures, with Jonquel Jones and Brionna Jones both scoring twenty points. The other double digit scorer was DiJonai Carrington with thirteen points.