Mercury-Liberty series schedule announced, 2025 WNBA 1st round playoff bracket set

Though the Phoenix Mercury closed the 2025 regular season on a sour note with three straight losses, including a 97-76 loss to the Dallas Wings on Thursday, their playoff picture just got a little clearer as the team announced its first round schedule.

The Mercury were locked into the No. 4-seed in the eight-team playoff bracket on Tuesday. They square off with the No. 5-seed New York Liberty in a best-of-three series.

Postseason festivities will kick off in Phoenix on Sunday at 2 p.m. with the game telecast on ESPN. The series will then shift to New York on Wednesday with tipoff scheduled for 5 p.m. on ESPN.

An “if necessary” Game 3 will be played in Phoenix on Sept. 19, with the time to be determined on ESPN2.

A series win would set up the Mercury to face the winner of the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx and Golden State Valkyries.

Mercury-Liberty First Round Schedule (Day/Time/Channel)

Game 1: Liberty at Mercury (Sunday/2 p.m./ESPN)

Game 2: Mercury at Liberty (Wednesday/5 p.m./ESPN)

Game 3 (if necessary): Liberty at Mercury (Friday/TBD/ESPN2)

Full 2025 WNBA Playoffs bracket

Left side of bracket (winners play each other)

No. 1-seed Minnesota Lynx vs. No. 8-seed Golden State Valkyries

No. 4-seed Phoenix Mercury vs. No. 5-seed New York Liberty

Right side of bracket (winners play each other)

No. 2-seed Las Vegas Aces vs. No. 7-seed Seattle Storm

No. 3-seed Atlanta Dream vs. No. 6-seed Indiana Fever

The semifinals round will follow with a best-of-five format that begins on Sept. 21.

For the first time in league history, the finals will be a best-of-seven series. It will follow the NBA’s home-and-away schedule, with two games at the higher seed first before two at the lower seed and alternating as necessary from there.

Game 1 of the WNBA Finals is slated for Oct. 3, and Oct. 17 is the latest the championship can run if it goes a full seven games.

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