2015 WNBA Playoffs
The 2015 WNBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the WNBA's 2015 season.
| Dates | September 17–October 14 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Champions | Minnesota Lynx (Finals Champion) | ||
| East champion | Indiana Fever (Coach: Stephanie White) | ||
| West champion | Minnesota Lynx (Coach: Cheryl Reeve) | ||
| Attendance | 8,799 per game | ||
| |||
| Standings | |
|---|---|
| Eastern Conference | Western Conference |
| 1st New York Liberty | 1st Minnesota Lynx |
| 2nd Chicago Sky | 2nd Phoenix Mercury |
| 3rd Indiana Fever | 3rd Tulsa Shock |
| 4th Washington Mystics | 4th Los Angeles Sparks |
Format
Following the WNBA regular season, four teams in each conference qualified for the playoffs and are seeded one to four based on their regular season record.
The first round of the playoffs, or Conference Semi-Finals, consisted of two match-ups in each conference based on the seedings (1-4 and 2-3). The two winners advanced to the second round, or Conference Finals, with a match-up between the 1-4 and 2-3 winners. At the conclusion of the Conference Finals, the winners of these series advanced to the WNBA Finals.
The Conference Semi-Finals and the Conference Finals are each best-of-three series. Series are played in a 1-1-1 format, meaning the team with home-court advantage (better record) hosts games 1 and 3, while their opponent hosts game 2. The WNBA Finals are a best-of-five series played in a 2-2-1 format, meaning the team with home-court advantage hosts games 1, 2, and 5 while their opponent hosts games 3 and 4.
Two-team tie
- Better record in head-to-head games.
- Better winning percentage within own conference.
- Better winning percentage against all teams with .500 or better record at the end of the season.
- Better point differential in games head-to-head.
- Coin toss.
Three or more-team tie
- Better winning percentage among all head-to-head games involving tied teams.
- Better winning percentage against teams within conference (for first two rounds of playoffs) or better record against teams in the opposite conference (for Finals).
- Better winning percentage against all teams with a .500 or better record at the end of the season.
- Better point differential in games involving tied teams.
- Coin toss.
Playoff qualifying
Eastern Conference
| Seed | Team | Record | Clinched | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Playoff berth | Best record in Conference | Best record in WNBA | |||
| 1 | New York Liberty | 23–11 | August 28 | September 6 | September 9 |
| 2 | Chicago Sky | 21–13 | August 29 | — | — |
| 3 | Indiana Fever | 20–14 | September 1 | — | — |
| 4 | Washington Mystics | 18–16 | September 8 | — | — |
Western Conference
| Seed | Team | Record | Clinched | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Playoff berth | Best record in Conference | Best record in WNBA | |||
| 1 | Minnesota Lynx | 22–12 | August 11 | September 8 | — |
| 2 | Phoenix Mercury | 20–14 | August 21 | — | — |
| 3 | Tulsa Shock | 18–16 | August 30 | — | — |
| 4 | Los Angeles Sparks | 14–20 | September 6 | — | — |
Playoffs and Finals
| Conference Semi-Finals: Best-of-3 | Conference Finals: Best-of-3 | WNBA Finals: Best-of-5 | ||||||||||||
| E1 | New York | 2 | ||||||||||||
| E4 | Washington | 1 | ||||||||||||
| E1 | New York | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Eastern Conference | ||||||||||||||
| E3 | Indiana | 2 | ||||||||||||
| E2 | Chicago | 1 | ||||||||||||
| E3 | Indiana | 2 | ||||||||||||
| E3 | Indiana | 2 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Minnesota | 3 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Minnesota | 2 | ||||||||||||
| W4 | Los Angeles | 1 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Minnesota | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Western Conference | ||||||||||||||
| W2 | Phoenix | 0 | ||||||||||||
| W2 | Phoenix | 2 | ||||||||||||
| W3 | Tulsa | 0 | ||||||||||||
Bold Series winner
italics Team with home-court advantage
Eastern Conference
- All times are in Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4)
(1) New York Liberty vs. (4) Washington Mystics
September 18 7:00 PM |
| Washington Mystics 86, New York Liberty 83 (2OT) | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 14–21, 22–15, 19–20, 14–13, Overtime: 7–7, 10–7 | ||
| Pts: Latta 15 Rebs: Meesseman 10 Asts: three tied 3 |
Pts: Prince 26 Rebs: Swords 9 Asts: Charles 5 | |
Madison Square Garden, New York, NY Attendance: 10,120 Referees: Michael Price, Cheryl Flores, Tom Mauer |
September 20 1:00 PM |
| New York Liberty 86, Washington Mystics 68 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 23–15, 21–22, 26–15, 16–16 | ||
| Pts: Charles 22 Rebs: Stokes 7 | ||