2016 WNBA Playoffs

The 2016 WNBA Playoffs is the postseason tournament of the WNBA's 2016 season.

2016 WNBA Playoffs
DatesSeptember 21 - October 20
ChampionsLos Angeles Sparks (Finals champion)
Higher seed finalistMinnesota Lynx (Coach: Cheryl Reeve)
Lower seed finalistLos Angeles Sparks (Coach: Brian Agler)
Attendance8,719 per game
Standings
Eastern Conference Western Conference
3rd New York Liberty 1st Minnesota Lynx
4th Chicago Sky 2nd Los Angeles Sparks
5th Indiana Fever 7th Seattle Storm
6th Atlanta Dream 8th Phoenix Mercury

Format

The WNBA changed its playoff format in 2016.[1] Following the WNBA regular season, eight teams in the entire league qualified for the playoffs and were seeded one to eight.

Regular season records determined the seedings of the teams. The team with the best record received seed one, the team with the next best record received seed two, and so on. The top two seeds get double byes, while the next two seeds get first-round byes.

These seedings were used to create a bracket that determines the match-ups throughout the playoffs. The first round of the playoffs consisted of two match-ups based on the seedings (5-8 and 6-7). The two winners advanced to the second round with a match-up between the number 3 seed and the lower of the advancing seeds and another match-up between the number 4 seed and the other first round winner. The winners of the first two rounds advanced to the semifinals, where the lower ranked seed of the winners faced the number 1 seed, while the other remaining team faced the number 2 seed.

The first two rounds are single elimination games played on the higher ranking seed's home court. The semifinals and WNBA Finals are best-of-five series played in a 2-2-1 format, meaning the team with home-court advantage (better record) hosts games 1, 2, and 5 while their opponent hosts games 3 and 4.

Tiebreak procedures

  1. Better winning percentage among all head-to-head games involving tied teams.
  2. Better winning percentage against teams within conference (for Finals only: better record against teams in # the opposite conference).
  3. Better winning percentage against all teams with a .500 or better record at the end of the season.
  4. Better point differential in games involving tied teams.
  5. Coin toss (or draw of lots, if at least 3 teams are still tied after the first 4 tiebreakers fail).

Playoff qualifying

SeedTeamRecordClinched
Playoff berthBye to SemisTop Record
1Minnesota Lynx28–6July 25September 6September 12
2Los Angeles Sparks26–8July 25September 6
3New York Liberty21–13September 7
4Chicago Sky18–16September 10
5Indiana Fever17–17[lower-alpha 1]September 10
6Atlanta Dream17–17[lower-alpha 1]September 10
7Seattle Storm16–18[lower-alpha 2]September 11
8Phoenix Mercury16–18[lower-alpha 2]September 14
Notes
  1. Indiana Fever clinched #5 seed over Atlanta Dream based on a 2–1 regular season series record.
  2. Seattle Storm clinched #7 seed over Phoenix Mercury based on a 2–1 regular season series record.

Playoffs and Finals

Bracket

 
First round:
Single elimination
(Sept. 21)
Second round:
Single elimination
(Sept. 24 and 25)
Semifinals:
Best-of-five
(Sept. 28 – Oct. 6)
WNBA Finals:
Best-of-five
(Oct. 9 – 20)
 
              
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1
Minnesota Lynx
3
 
 
8
Phoenix Mercury
0
 
 
 
 
 
3
New York Liberty
94
 
 
 
8
Phoenix Mercury
101
 
5
Indiana Fever
78
 
 
 
8
Phoenix Mercury
89
 
1
Minnesota Lynx
2
 
 
 
2
Los Angeles Sparks
3
 
6
Atlanta Dream
94
 
 
 
7
Seattle Storm
85
 
4
Chicago Sky
108
 
 
6
Atlanta Dream
98
 
 
 
 
 
2
Los Angeles Sparks
3
 
 
4
Chicago Sky
1
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Note: Teams re-seeded after second round and semi-finals.

Semifinals
Team123
1
Minnesota Lynx
1139682
8
Phoenix Mercury
958667
Team1234
2
Los Angeles Sparks
95996695
4
Chicago Sky
75847075
WNBA Finals
Team12345
1
Minnesota Lynx
7679758576
2
Los Angeles Sparks
7860927977

First Round

All times are in Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4)

(5) Indiana Fever vs. (8) Phoenix Mercury

September 21
6:00 PM
Phoenix Mercury 89, Indiana Fever 78
Scoring by quarter: 18-18, 17-20, 24-19, 30-21
Pts: Taurasi 20
Rebs: Griner 9
Asts: Taylor 4
Pts: Coleman & Catchings 13
Rebs: Catchings 10
Asts: January 9
Phoenix wins series 1-0
Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
Attendance: 6,282
Referees: Tom Nunez, Byron Jarrett, Maj Forsberg

(6) Atlanta Dream vs. (7) Seattle Storm

September 21
8:00 PM
Seattle Storm 85, Atlanta Dream 94
Scoring by quarter: 18–19, 27–18, 21–29, 19-28
Pts: Loyd 24
Rebs: Steward & Langhorne 7
Asts: Bird 7
Pts: McCoughtry 37
Rebs: Williams 16
Asts: McCoughtry & Clarendon 7
Atlanta wins series 1-0
Hank McCamish Pavilion, Atlanta, Georgia
Attendance: 2,553
Referees: Eric Brewton, Amy Bonner, Jeff Wooten

Second Round

All times are in Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4)

(3) New York Liberty vs. (8) Phoenix Mercury

September 24
7:00 PM
Phoenix Mercury 101, New York Liberty 94
Scoring by quarter: 25-25, 27–16, 16–26, 33-27
Pts: Taurasi 30
Rebs: Griner 10
Asts: Griner 5
Pts: Wright 21
Rebs: Charles 9
Asts: Wright & Charles 5
Phoenix wins series 1-0
Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
Attendance: 10,227
Referees: Michael Price, Jeff Smith, Tom Mauer, Cheryl Flores

(4) Chicago Sky vs. (6) Atlanta Dream

September 25
12:00 PM
Atlanta Dream 98, Chicago Sky 108
Scoring by quarter: 25-37, 25–19, 20–31, 28-21
Pts: Hayes 30
Rebs: Williams 9
Asts: McCoughtry 9
Pts: Vandersloot 21
Rebs: Breland 16
Asts: Vandersloot 13
Chicago wins series 1-0
Allstate Arena Rosemont, Illinois
Attendance: 3,922
Referees: Roy Gulbeyan, Sue Blauch, Kurt Walker

Semifinals

All times are in Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4)

(1) Minnesota Lynx vs. (8) Phoenix Mercury

September 28
8:00 PM
Phoenix Mercury 95, Minnesota Lynx 113
Scoring by quarter: 23–24, 15-31, 34-36, 23–22
Pts: Taurasi 25
Rebs: Taylor 5
Asts: Dupree & Harding 5
Pts: Moore 31
Rebs: Fowles 10
Asts: Augustus & Whalen 7
Xcel Energy Center, Saint Paul, Minnesota
Attendance: 9,013
Referees: Roy Gulbeyan, Eric Brewton, Tiffany Bird
September 30
8:00 PM
Phoenix Mercury 86, Minnesota Lynx 96
Scoring by quarter: 24–35, 23-20, 18–22, 21–19
Pts: Taurasi 31
Rebs: Harrison 9
Asts: Taylor 5
Pts: Moore 26
Rebs: Brunson 11
Asts: Moore 5
Xcel Energy Center, Saint Paul, Minnesota
Attendance: 11,923
Referees: Byron Jarrett Jeff Smith, Maj Forsberg
October 2
5:00 PM
Minnesota Lynx 82, Phoenix Mercury 67
Scoring by quarter: 18–23, 21–15, 26–15, 17–14
Pts: Moore 20
Rebs: Brunson 9
Asts: Whalen 5
Pts: Taurasi & Bonner 12
Rebs: Griner & Harrison 7
Asts: Xargay 5
Minnesota wins series 3-0
Talking Stick Resort Arena, Phoenix, AZ
Attendance: 9,631
Referees: Sue Blauch, Kurt Walker, Michael Price

(2) Los Angeles Sparks vs. (4) Chicago Sky

September 28
9:00 PM
Chicago Sky 75, Los Angeles Sparks 95
Scoring by quarter: 20–22, 15-30, 26-23, 14-20
Pts: Faulkner 13
Rebs: Breland 7
Asts: Vandersloot 5
Pts: Parker 30
Rebs: Ogwumike 10
Asts: Ogwumike 6
Walter Pyramid, Long Beach, CA
Attendance: 3,894
Referees: Michael Price, Cheryl Flores, Tom Mauer
September 30
9:00 PM
Chicago Sky 84, Los Angeles Sparks 99
Scoring by quarter: 27–28, 15-29, 17-21, 25–21
Pts: Dos Santos 15
Rebs: Breland 9
Asts: Quigley 5
Pts: Parker, Lavender 20
Rebs: Parker 12
Asts: Parker 8
Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
Attendance: 7,855
Referees: Eric Brewton, Amy Bonner, Billy Smith
October 2
3:00 PM
Los Angeles Sparks 66, Chicago Sky 70
Scoring by quarter: 23–14, 16–16, 8–19, 19–21
Pts: Ogwumike 22
Rebs: Parker 15
Asts: Parker 6
Pts: Vandersloot 17
Rebs: Boyette 11
Asts: Faulkner & Vandersloot 5
Allstate Arena Rosemont, Illinois
Attendance: 5,018
Referees: Maj Forsberg, Tom Nunez, Jeff Wooten
October 4
8:00 PM
Los Angeles Sparks 95, Chicago Sky 75
Scoring by quarter: 23–11, 32–20, 14–28, 26–16
Pts: Parker 29
Rebs: Ogwumike 9
Asts: Gray 7
Pts: Pondexter 19
Rebs: Boyette 10
Asts: Young 6
Los Angeles wins series 3-1
Allstate Arena Rosemont, Illinois
Attendance: 3,841
Referees: Sue Blauch, Tiffany Bird, Roy Gulbeyan

Finals

All times are in Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4)

(1) Minnesota Lynx vs. (2) Los Angeles Sparks

October 9
3:00 PM
Los Angeles Sparks 78, Minnesota Lynx 76
Scoring by quarter: 21–18, 13–18, 22–24, 22–16
Pts: Toliver & Ogwumike 19
Rebs: Parker & Ogwumike 9
Asts: Gray 4
Pts: three tied 18
Rebs: Fowles 13
Asts: Whalen 6
Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
Attendance: 12,113
Referees: Maj Forsberg, Jeff Wooten, Tom Nunez
October 11
8:00 PM
Los Angeles Sparks 60, Minnesota Lynx 79
Scoring by quarter: 14–18, 11–21, 21–15, 14–25
Pts: Ogwumike 14
Rebs: Ogwumike 12
Asts: three tied 3
Pts: Moore 21
Rebs: Fowles 15
Asts: Fowles 4
Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
Attendance: 12,832
Referees: Roy Gulbeyan, Michael Price, Billy Smith
October 14
9:00 PM
Minnesota Lynx 75, Los Angeles Sparks 92
Scoring by quarter: 17–32, 23–16, 18–22, 17–22
Pts: Fowles, Brunson 14
Rebs: Moore 7
Asts: Moore 5
Pts: Parker 24
Rebs: Parker, Ogwumike 9
Asts: Beard 7
Galen Center, Los Angeles, CA
Attendance: 8,093
Referees: Tom Mauer, Eric Brewton, Amy Bonner
October 16
8:30 PM
Minnesota Lynx 85, Los Angeles Sparks 79
Scoring by quarter: 22–20, 24–20, 19–19, 20–20
Pts: Moore 31
Rebs: Fowles 13
Asts: Augustus, Moore 5
Pts: Gray 20
Rebs: Ogwumike 8
Asts: Beard 4
Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
Attendance: 12,885
Referees: Roy Gulbeyan, Maj Forsberg, Kurt Walker
October 20
8:00 PM
Los Angeles Sparks 77, Minnesota Lynx 76
Scoring by quarter: 17–18, 11–16, 26–21, 23–21
Pts: Parker 28
Rebs: Parker, Ogwumike 12
Asts: Beard 6
Pts: Moore 23
Rebs: Brunson, Fowles 9
Asts: Moore 11
Los Angeles wins series 3–2
Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
Attendance: 19,423
Referees: Amy Bonner, Eric Brewton, Thomas Nunez

References

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