WNBA Playoff Picture 2025, Updated Bracket Scenarios and Standings Before Final Games
Only one day of the 2025 WNBA season remains, and while all eight playoff spots have been clinched, the postseason field has yet to be fully decided.
The Seattle Storm clinched the final spot with their 74-73 win over the Golden State Valkyries on Tuesday. The Storm had been battling the Los Angeles Sparks, who held a 3-1 head-to-head record against Seattle, but managed to lock things up with Tuesday's victory.
While no more playoff berths are up for grabs, Thursday's slate carries plenty of weight. The Atlanta Dream certainly made things interesting with Wednesday's win over the Connecticut Sun.
Updated WNBA Playoff Standings
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- Minnesota Lynx (33-10)
- Atlanta Dream (30-14)
- Las Vegas Aces (29-14)
- Phoenix Mercury (27-16)
- New York Liberty (26-17)
- Indiana Fever (24-20)
- Golden State Valkyries (23-20)
- Seattle Storm (23-21)
Coming into Wednesday, the Las Vegas Aces held the No. 2 seed via tiebreakers. They're also on a 15-game winning streak and can still clinch the second seed by running that streak to 15 games.
For the time being, however, Atlanta has taken a half-game lead for the No. 2 seed with its 88-72 win on Wednesday. That victory also extended the Dream's franchise record for wins in a season to 30, double last year's win total.
The Dream will keep that slot if the Aces lose on Thursday but fall to No. 3 with a Las Vegas Win.
The Phoenix Mercury were in the running for the No. 3 seed. However, the Sparks played spoiler on Tuesday, locking Phoenix into the fourth seed with an 88-83 victory.
This means that three playoff seeds and one matchup are settled. The New York Liberty will battle the Mercury in the opening round. The Minnesota Lynx have secured the No. seed.
The Aces and Valkyries can essentially settle the playoff field with their games on Thursday.
Remaining Schedule and Playoff Format
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New York Liberty at Chicago Sky at 8 p.m. ET
Phoenix Mercury at Dallas Wings at 8 p.m. ET
Golden State Valkyries at Minnesota Lynx at 8 p.m. ET
Las Vegas Aces at Los Angeles Sparks at 10 p.m. ET
For playoff seeding, tiebreakers are likely to come into play. Head-to-head records serve as the first tiebreaker, while conference winning percentage will be considered next.
Teams are seeded exclusively by record and relevant tiebreakers, not by conference.
Once the tournament gets underway, the opening round will consist of best-of-three series with the top four seeds holding the home-court advantage. The higher seeds will now see a home, away, home schedule, which is a departure from the previous home, home, away setup.
"The new 1-1-1 structure for the First Round of the WNBA Playoffs presented by Google will guarantee a home game for both teams in a series, which was a priority based on discussions with the WNBA's team presidents, head coaches, general managers and the Competition Committee," WNBA Head of League Operations. Bethany Donaphin said in a statement last October when changes to the playoff format were first announced.
The semifinal round will include best-of-five series, while the WNBA Finals will, for the first time, feature a best-of-seven series. The series will follow a 2-2-1-1-1 format that mirrors that of the NBA Finals.
The opening round is set to begin on Sunday, September 14. The Finals will conclude on Sunday, October 19 at the latest.
