WNBA playoff bracket set, Mercury to visit Lynx on Sunday

The WNBA regular season is over, the playoff bracket is set and the Phoenix Mercury will begin their run on Sunday at the Minnesota Lynx.

First-round series are best-of-three, and Minnesota will host the first two games against Phoenix. The Mercury would host Game 3 if necessary.

Phoenix is the No. 7 seed after finishing the regular season with a 19-21 record. The Mercury dropped their finale to the Seattle Storm 89-70 on Thursday, a game that doubled as a celebration for legend Diana Taurasi in what may have been her final regular season contest — she has yet to say definitively if she will retire.

The No. 2 seed, Minnesota went 30-10 this season led by All-Star and Olympian Napheesa Collier. The Lynx went 3-1 this season against Phoenix.

When are the Mercury’s playoff games?

The WNBA released its playoff schedule.

Game 1 between the Mercury and Lynx is set for 2 p.m. Sunday on ESPN.

Game 2 is scheduled for Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN.

Game 3 would be Friday, Sept. 27, at a time to be determined on ESPN2.

We have 2024 WNBA playoff games, times and TV designations for the first round pic.twitter.com/lBHYLgx5sM

— Alexa Philippou (@alexaphilippou) September 20, 2024

What are the WNBA playoff matchups?

The No. 8 Atlanta Dream face the top-seeded New York Liberty. The No. 3 Connecticut Sun will welcome the No. 6 seed Indiana Fever and sensational rookie Caitlin Clark.

The final opening round matchup is the two-time defending champion Las Vegas Aces, the No. 4 seed, hosting the fifth-seeded Seattle Storm.

Las Vegas is trying to become the first team to win three titles in a row since Houston won four straight in the first four seasons of the WNBA — from 1997 to 2000.

The final playoff spot came down to the last day of the regular season. Atlanta needed a victory to clinch a spot and the Dream did just that by beating New York 78-67. The Liberty had already clinched the top seed.

All seeds and playoff spots are locked 🔒

Take a look at the official bracket for the 2024 #WNBAPlayoffs presented by @Google ⬇️

First Round begins Sunday September 22nd at 1pm/ET on ESPN#WelcometotheW pic.twitter.com/QWsC3NF7qj

— WNBA (@WNBA) September 20, 2024

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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