The first round of the 2025 WNBA playoffs continues Wednesday night, and the New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx will try to become the first two teams to reach the second round. They have 1-0 leads against the Phoenix Mercury and Golden State Valkyries, respectively, and will try to close out the best-of-three series in Game 2.
The Seattle Storm and Indiana Fever kept their seasons alive with Game 2 home wins on Tuesday night. The Storm snapped the Las Vegas Aces’ 17-game winning streak with a comeback victory. The seventh-seeded Storm used a strong fourth quarter to force a decisive Game 3, getting a combined 50 points from Skylar Diggins and Nneka Ogwumike.
The Fever, meanwhile, staved off elimination against the Atlanta Dream. The Fever won at home to keep their injury-plagued season going, forcing a decisive Game 3 back in Atlanta on Thursday night.
The best-of-three first round will wrap up on Friday or earlier, and the best-of-five semifinals will begin on Sunday (Sept. 21).
The Lynx entered the playoffs as the No. 1 seed after being the WNBA’s most dominant team throughout the 44-game regular season. The Lynx, looking for the fifth championship in team history and their first since 2017, will have home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.
Below is a look at the first-round matchups and the full schedule for the 2025 playoffs.
WNBA playoff bracket
Keytron Jordan, CBS Sports
Here are the four first-round matchups and seeding:
- No. 1 Lynx vs. No. 8 Valkyries
- No. 2 Aces vs. No. 7 Storm
- No. 3 Dream vs. No. 6 Fever
- No. 4 Mercury vs. No. 5 Liberty
Teams will play a best-of-three series in the first round, a best-of-five series in the semifinals, and — in a new change this year — a best-of-seven affair in the Finals.
In 2024, the first round had a 2-1 format, which meant the higher seed got the first two games at home, while the lower seed only got to host if they made it to Game 3. This year it will be a 1-1-1 format, with Games 1 and 3 hosted by the higher seed while the lower seed hosts Game 2.
All games on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 are streaming on fubo (Try for free).
First-round schedule, scores (best-of-three)
All times Eastern
Sunday, Sept. 14
Tuesday, Sept. 16
Wednesday, Sept. 17
- Game 2: No. 4 Mercury at No. 5 Liberty, 8:00 p.m. — ESPN/fubo
- Game 2: No. 1 Lynx at No. 8 Valkyries, 10:00 p.m. — ESPN/fubo
Thursday, Sept. 18
- Game 3: No. 6 Fever at No. 3 Dream, 7:30 p.m. — ESPN2/fubo
- Game 3: No. 7 Storm at No. 2 Aces, 9:30 p.m. — ESPN2/fubo
Friday, Sept. 19
- *Game 3: No. 8 Valkyries at No. 1 Lynx, TBD — ESPN2/fubo
- *Game 3: No. 5 Liberty at No. 4 Mercury, TBD — ESPN2/fubo
Semifinals schedule (best-of-five)
Sunday, Sept. 21
Tuesday, Sept. 23
Friday, Sept. 26
Sunday, Sept. 28
Tuesday, Sept. 30
- *Game 5: TBD vs. TBD, TBD
- *Game 5: TBD vs. TBD, TBD
Finals schedule (best-of-seven)
Friday, Oct. 3
- Game 1, 8 p.m. — ESPN/fubo
Sunday, Oct. 5
- Game 2, 3 p.m. — ABC/fubo
Wednesday, Oct. 8
- Game 3, 8 p.m. — ESPN/fubo
Friday, Oct. 10
- Game 4, 8 p.m. — ESPN/fubo
Sunday, Oct. 12
- *Game 5, 3 p.m. — ABC/fubo
Wednesday, Oct. 15
- *Game 6, 8 p.m. — ESPN/fubo
Friday, Oct. 17
- *Game 7, 8 p.m. — ESPN/fubo
* If necessary
