2023 WNBA playoffs


The 2023 WNBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the WNBA's 2023 season. The playoffs began on September 13, 2023, and culminated with the Las Vegas Aces successfully defending their WNBA title by defeating the New York Liberty three games to one in the finals.

Overview

Updates to postseason appearances

  • The Las Vegas Aces entered the postseason for the fifth consecutive season and also clinched the best record in the WNBA for the third time in the last four seasons.
  • The New York Liberty entered the postseason for the third consecutive season.
  • The Connecticut Sun entered the postseason for the seventh consecutive season, currently the longest streak in the WNBA.
  • The Dallas Wings entered the postseason for the third consecutive season.
  • The Minnesota Lynx entered the postseason for the first time since 2021.
  • The Washington Mystics entered the postseason for the second consecutive season.
  • The Atlanta Dream entered the postseason for the first time since 2018.
  • The Chicago Sky entered the postseason for the fifth consecutive season.
  • The Los Angeles Sparks missed the postseason for the third consecutive season.
  • The Phoenix Mercury missed the postseason for the first time since 2012.
  • The Seattle Storm missed the postseason for the first time since 2015.
  • The Indiana Fever missed the postseason for the seventh consecutive season, currently the longest active postseason drought in the WNBA.

    Notable occurrences

  • For the first time since the WNBA switched playoff formats in 2016, the Eastern Conference had more teams qualify for the playoffs than the Western Conference.
  • This season marked the first time since the 2021 season that the league's top scorer failed to reach the playoffs.
  • By winning the WNBA title, the Las Vegas Aces were the first team since the Los Angeles Sparks in 2002 to win back-to-back titles.

    Format

The 2023 Playoffs continued to use the format that the WNBA Board of Governors approved prior to the 2022 season. 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, and ABC in the US and on TSN, Sportsnet, and NBA TV Canada in Canada.

Playoff qualifying

Atlanta earned the fifth seed by virtue of its combined record against Minnesota and Washington, while Minnesota came in second place in the three-way tiebreak and earned the sixth seed by virtue of their record against Atlanta and Washington. By contrast, Washington's record against Atlanta and Minnesota put them at the seventh seed.
For the first time since eliminating conferences for the playoffs, the Eastern Conference qualified more teams than the Western Conference. Six of the eight playoff teams were the same as in 2022. The Atlanta Dream and Minnesota Lynx qualified this season, while the Seattle Storm and Phoenix Mercury did not.

Bracket

First round

(1) Las Vegas Aces vs. (8) Chicago Sky

The first seed Las Vegas Aces played the eighth seed Chicago Sky in the first playoff series. Las Vegas entered the series having won seven of their last ten games. Las Vegas secured the first seed on the last day of the season by virtue of defeating the Phoenix Mercury. The Chicago Sky entered the series having won six of their last ten games. Chicago secured the eighth and final playoff spot on the penultimate day of the season by defeating Minnesota. The teams played three times during the regular season, and Las Vegas won all three games.

Game 1

The Aces got out to a hot start in game one and never looked back. The Aces won the first quarter 27–15 and followed up with a second quarter victory 26–21. At half time the Aces lead 53–36, and they built on that seventeen point lead in the third quarter, which they won 17–10. The Sky ended up winning the fourth quarter, but the score of 25–23 was not enough to overcome the twenty-four point defect they faced entering the fourth quarter. The Aces had five players score in double-digits and were led by Chelsea Gray with twenty points. Jackie Young scored eighteen points, Kelsey Plum added sixteen, A'ja Wilson scored fourteen, and Alysha Clark rounded out the double digit scorers with thirteen points. The Sky only had a single double-digit scorer in Kahleah Copper who had fifteen points.

Game 2

The Aces got out to a hot start in game one and never looked back. The Aces won the first quarter 23–14 and followed up with a second quarter victory 21–15. At half time the Aces lead 44–29, and they built on that fifteen point lead in the third quarter, which they won 25–16. The Sky ended up winning the fourth quarter, but the score of 25–23 was not enough to overcome the twenty-four point defect they faced entering the fourth quarter. The Aces won game two and the series. The Aces had four players score in double-digits and were led by A'ja Wilson with thirty-eight points. Jackie Young scored fifteen points, Alysha Clark scored fourteen points, and Kelsey Plum added ten points. A'ja Wilson also recorded sixteen rebounds to have a double-double in the game. The Sky were lead again by Kahleah Copper with twenty five points. She also recorded a double-double with ten rebounds. The Sky had two other double-digit scorers in Dana Evans with twenty-two points and Marina Mabrey with twelve points.
Las Vegas won 3–0 in the regular-season series

(2) New York Liberty vs. (7) Washington Mystics

The second seed New York Liberty played the seventh seed Washington Mystics in the second playoff series. New York secured its playoff berth on August 11 with a victory over the Chicago Sky. Washington entered the series having won five of its last ten games. They secured a playoff berth with two games remaining in the season by defeating the Phoenix Mercury. The teams met four times during the regular season, with both teams winning two games. The regular season series included a final day of the regular season matchup, which Washington won 90–88.

Game 1

The Mystics started game one strongly and won the first quarter 29–23. The Liberty's defense improved in the second quarter and they won the quarter 23–13 to take a four-point lead into halftime. The Liberty built on that lead, winning the third quarter 23–15. The fourth quarter went to the Liberty, 21–18, and the Liberty came away with a fifteen-point game one win. Four Liberty starters scored in double-digits and were led by Sabrina Ionescu with twenty-nine points. Jonquel Jones added twenty points, Betnijah Laney had nineteen points, and Breanna Stewart finished with ten points on 3–16 shooting. Jones also recorded a double-double by recording twelve rebounds. The Mystics also had four startes score in double digits and were led by Myisha Hines-Allen with twenty-one points. Brittney Sykes added sixteen points, Ariel Atkins scored fourteen, and Elena Delle Donne was the final double-digit scorer with eleven points.

Game 2

Game two of the series started out as a closer affair than game one, with the Liberty taking the first quarter 21–18. The Liberty expanded on their lead in the second quarter, winning 25–17 and took an eleven-point lead into halftime. The Mystics turned the tied in the third quarter, winning 21–13 and cutting the Liberty's lead to only three points. The Mytics went on to win the fourth quarter 20–17 and the game headed to overtime. The Liberty won the overtime frame 14–9 to win the game and the series. This was the Liberty's first playoff series win since 2015. The Liberty had four players score in double-digits and were led by Breanna Stewart with twenty-seven points. Betnijah Laney and Jonquel Jones both scored nineteen points, while game one leading scorer Sabrina Ionescu scored eleven points. Jones also recorded a double-double by recording fourteen rebounds. The Mystics had all five starters score in double-digits and were led by Natasha Cloud with thirty-three points. Brittney Sykes scored fourteen points, Ariel Atkins added thirteen points, Elena Delle Donne scored eleven, and Myisha Hines-Allen rounded out the double-digit scorers with ten points. Sykes also recorded a double-double by recording twelve rebounds.
Tied 2–2 in the regular-season series

(3) Connecticut Sun vs. (6) Minnesota Lynx

The third seed Connecticut Sun played the sixth seed Minnesota Lynx in the third playoff series. The Connecticut Sun entered the series having won six of their last ten games. The Sun secured a playoff spot on August 20, with a victory over the Chicago Sky. The Minnesota Lynx entered the series having won four of their last ten games. The Lynx secured a playoff spot on September 3, with a victory over the Phoenix Mercury. The teams played four times during the regular season with Connecticut winning three of the games.