2025 WNBA playoffs


The 2025 WNBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the Women's National Basketball Association's 2025 season. The playoffs began on September 14 and ended on October 10, 2025, with the Las Vegas Aces winning their third championship.

Overview

Updates to postseason appearances

The first round of the WNBA playoffs consists of a best-of-three series, with the following matchups: No. 1 vs. No. 8, No. 2 vs. No. 7, No. 3 vs. No. 6, and No. 4 vs. No. 5. The higher seed in the first round has home-court advantage in Games 1 and, if necessary, 3.
In the semifinals of the postseason, a best-of-five series, the higher seed hosts Games 1, 2 and, if necessary, 5. Additionally, the WNBA Finals will be a best-of-seven format for the first time in the league's history. Games 1 and 2, as well as Games 5 and 7, if necessary, will be hosted by the higher seed.

Broadcast

All games are being 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.
All games can be watched outside USA & Canada via the WNBA League Pass.

Playoff qualifying

The Las Vegas Aces earned the second seed by virtue of the first tiebreaker, head-to-head record between the teams, as the Aces won all three regular season match-ups with the Dream.
The Phoenix Mercury earned the fourth seed by virtue of the first tiebreaker, head-to-head record between the teams, as the Mercury won three of the four regular season match-ups with the Liberty.
The Seattle Storm and Golden State Valkyries tied their regular season series two games a piece, so a second tiebreaker was required. The second tiebreaker was record against teams with a.500+ winning percentage. The Storm finished 10–13 in this category, while the Valkyries finished 10–18. Therefore, the Storm earned the seventh seed, and the Valkyries were the eighth seed.

Bracket

First round

(1) Minnesota Lynx vs. (8) Golden State Valkyries

The top-seeded Minnesota Lynx played the eighth-seeded Golden State Valkyries in the first playoff series. The Lynx entered the post-season as the top overall seed after finishing four games ahead of the Las Vegas Aces and Atlanta Dream. The Lynx finished 6–4 in their final ten games of the regular season. The Golden State Valkyries entered the series as the first expansion team to qualify for the playoffs in their first season. They finished the regular season 5–5 in their final ten games. The regular season series between the two teams finished 4–0 in favor of the Lynx, with two of the games coming in the final three games of the season.

Game 1

Golden State started game one of the series strongly, winning the first quarter 28–21. However, they could not sustain their performance, and Minnesota won the second quarter 26–12. Minnesota took a seven-point lead into halftime and did not look back. Minnesota came out of the break and won the third quarter 32–18 and won the fourth quarter 22–14. Minnesota went on to win game one at home by twenty-nine points and improve to 5–0 against Golden State for the season. The Lynx had five players score in double figures and were led by Napheesa Collier, who scored twenty points. Natisha Hiedeman scored eighteen, Kayla McBride scored seventeen, Jessica Shepard scored twelve, and Courtney Williams scored eleven. The Valkyries also had five players score in double figures, and they were led by Veronica Burton and Cecilia Zandalasini who both scored fourteen points. Janelle Salaün added thirteen points, Temi Fagbenle scored twelve, and Kate Martin added eleven points.

Game 2

Game two saw the series move to California where the Valkyries took advantage of their home court, winning the first quarter 27–19. The second quarter was much lower scoring, with the Valkyries prevailing 14–9. Golden State took a thirteen-point lead into halftime of their first home playoff game in franchise history. The third quarter was the closest of the game, and the Valkyries prevailed 22–21 to lead by fourteen-points heading into the final frame. However, the Lynx mounted an epic comeback and won the final quarter 26–11. Their fifteen-point fourth quarter victory gave them a one-point win in the game. Minnesota trailed by as many as seventeen points during the third quarter and took the lead with just 1:24 left. They secured the series victory 2–0 and advanced to the Semifinals.
The Lynx had four players score in double-figures and were led by Napheesa Collier with twenty-four points. Kayla McBride scored eighteen points, Bridget Carleton added twelve, and DiJonai Carrington scored eleven from the bench. The Valkyries also had four players score in double-digits and were led by Monique Billings who scored fifteen points. Both Janelle Salaün and Cecilia Zandalasini scored fourteen points, and Veronica Burton rounded out the double-digits scorers with thirteen points.

(2) Las Vegas Aces vs. (7) Seattle Storm

In the second playoff series, the second-seed Las Vegas Aces will play the seventh-seed Seattle Storm. Las Vegas finished four games out of first place during the regular season, and earned the second seed by winning a tiebreaker over Atlanta. Las Vegas enters the series after going 10–0 in their last ten games and having not lost in fourteen games. Seattle finished only one game out of being the sixth seed and won a tiebreaker with Golden State to earn the seventh seed. The Storm finished the regular season 6–4 in their final ten games. The Western Conference teams played four times in the regular season, with the teams splitting the series two games each.

Game 1

The Aces used home court to their advantage to begin the game well, winning the first quarter 22–12. The game followed a similar trajectory in the second quarter, as the Aces won the quarter 23–13. The Aces took a twenty-point lead into halftime. The game became closer in the third quarter, but the Aces prevailed again, winning the quarter 31–27. The Aces again won the fourth quarter, 26–25 and won the game by twenty-five points. Five Aces scored in double figures, lead by A'ja Wilson who had twenty-nine points. Jackie Young scored eighteen points, Jewell Loyd scored fourteen, Dana Evans scored thirteen, and NaLyssa Smith added eleven points. The Storm also had five players reach double-figures in points, and were led by Gabby Williams with sixteen points. Both Skylar Diggins and Dominique Malonga scored twelve, Nneka Ogwumike scored eleven, and Erica Wheeler added ten. Malonga added eleven rebounds to record a double-double.

Game 2

Game two started as a close contest, with Las Vegas barely edging out the first quarter 22–21. The second quarter played out similarly, and ended tied 23–23. The Aces held a one-point halftime lead and came out of the break strongly. The Aces locked down on the defensive end, limiting the Storm to seventeen points, and won the quarter 24–17. Las Vegas led by eight points going into the final quarter, but the Storm staged a comeback. They held the Aces to just fourteen points in the fourth, and won the quarter 25–14. Their nine-point quarter win saw them win the game by three points to force a third game in the series. Four Storm players finished scoring double figures, and they were led by Skylar Diggins, who scored twenty-six points. Nneka Ogwumike scored twenty-four points, and both Dominique Malonga and Erica Wheeler added eleven points. The Aces saw three players score in double figures, and were led by Jackie Young with twenty-five points. A'ja Wilson scored twenty-one points, and Jewell Loyd added thirteen. Three players recorded double-doubles in the game. The Storm saw Malonga record her second of the series as she added ten rebounds to her eleven points. Ogwumike also recorded ten rebounds. Wilson had thirteen rebounds for the Aces to complete her double-double.

Game 3

Game three started with Seattle winning the first quarter 19–14. However, the Aces played much better in the second quarter and held the Storm to just seven points. The Aces won the quarter 19–7 and took a seven-point lead into halftime. Seattle came out of the break as the stronger team and won the third quarter 22–19 to leave the Aces with just a four-point lead heading into the final quarter. The Storm won the fourth quarter to win three of the four quarters of the game. However, their 25–22 margin in the fourth was not enough to erase the deficit and the Aces won the game by one point. The Aces secured the series victory 2–1 and advanced to the Semifinals.
The Aces had three players score in double-figures and were led by A'ja Wilson who scored thirty-eight points. Jackie Young scored fourteen points and Chelsea Gray added twelve points. The Storm also had three players score in double-digits, and were led by both Nneka Ogwumike and Erica Wheeler, who each scored sixteen points. Skylar Diggins scored thirteen points.