The WNBA playoffs are here, and all eyes are on two franchises.
The Las Vegas Aces and New York Liberty were the runaway top two seeds and split their season series 2-2. With stars like A’Ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, Chelsea Gray, Sabrina Ionescu, Kelsey Plum and Jonquel Jones sharing the floor in those matchups, the league could be in for an epic 2023 WNBA Finals.
While the Aces and Liberty are seemingly on a collision course for the WNBA Finals, there are two full rounds to go before those regular season juggernauts could meet again. With the first round being best-of-three series, there is also little room for error on the road to a championship.
Here is a look at the first round of the 2023 WNBA playoffs.
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2023 WNBA regular season standings
The Aces secured the No. 1 seed for the second straight season and set a WNBA wins record with 34 victories, five more than the previous record.
The Liberty snagged the No. 2 seed, while the No. 3 Connecticut Sun and No. 4 Dallas Wings were the only other WNBA teams with above-.500 records.
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The final four seeds came down to the wire, with Nos. 5-9 in the standings separated by just two games. In the end, the Los Angeles Sparks were the odd team out and will turn their attention to the draft lottery instead of the postseason.
Here is where all 12 WNBA teams landed in the 2023 regular season standings:
1. Las Vegas Aces, 34-6
2. New York Liberty, 32-8
3. Connecticut Sun, 27-13
4. Dallas Wings, 22-18
5. Atlanta Dream, 19-21
6. Minnesota Lynx, 19-21
7. Washington Mystics, 19-21
8. Chicago Sky, 18-22
9. Los Angeles Sparks, 17-23
10. Indiana Fever, 13-27
11. Seattle Storm, 11-29
12. Phoenix Mercury, 9-31
2023 WNBA playoff matchups
Here are the four first-round series for this year’s playoffs:
- No. 1 Las Vegas vs. No. 8 Chicago Sky
- No. 2 New York Liberty vs. No. 7 Washington Mystics
- No. 3 Connecticut Sun vs. No. 6 Minnesota Lynx
- No. 4 Dallas Wings vs. No. 5 Atlanta Dream
2023 WNBA first-round schedule
The WNBA has released the dates for each first-round game. The higher seed will host the first two games in each series, and the lower seed will get home court if it forces a winner-take-all Game 3.
No. 1 Las Vegas vs. No. 8 Chicago Sky
- Game 1: Wednesday, Sept. 13, 10 p.m. ET, ESPN
- Game 2: Sunday, Sept. 17, 3 p.m. ET, ABC
- Game 3: Wednesday, Sept. 20, TBD, ESPN
No. 2 New York Liberty vs. No. 7 Washington Mystics
- Game 1: Friday, Sept. 15, 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2
- Game 2: Monday, Sept. 18, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN
- Game 3: Friday, Sept. 22, TBD, ESPN2
No. 3 Connecticut Sun vs. No. 6 Minnesota Lynx
- Game 1: Wednesday, Sept. 13, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN2
- Game 2: Sunday, Sept. 17, 1 p.m. ET, ESPN
- Game 3: Wednesday, Sept. 20, TBD, ESPN
No. 4 Dallas Wings vs. No. 5 Atlanta Dream
- Game 1: Friday, Sept. 15, 9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2
- Game 2: Monday, Sept. 18, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN
- Game 3: Friday, Sept. 22, TBD, ESPN2
