2026 WNBA playoffs
Women's professional basketball tournament
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The 2026 WNBA playoffs is the postseason tournament of the Women's National Basketball Association's 2026 season. The playoffs will begin on September 27, 2026.
| Dates | September 27 – October 2026 |
|---|---|
Overview
Updates to postseason appearances
- The Las Vegas Aces will enter the postseason for their eighth consecutive season, the longest active postseason appearance streak in the WNBA.
- The New York Liberty will enter the postseason for the sixth consecutive season.
- The Atlanta Dream and Minnesota Lynx will enter the postseason for their fourth consecutive season.
- The Indiana Fever will enter the postseason for their third consecutive season.
- The Golden State Valkyries will enter the postseason for their second consecutive season.
- The Dallas Wings and Washington Mystics will enter the postseason for the first time since 2023.
- The Chicago Sky will miss the postseason for the third consecutive season.
- The Connecticut Sun will miss the postseason for the second consecutive season.
- The Phoenix Mercury and Seattle Storm will miss the postseason, ending a two-season postseason streak.
- The Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo will miss the postseason.
- The Los Angeles Sparks will miss the postseason for the sixth consecutive season, the longest active postseason drought in the WNBA.
Format
The first round of the WNBA playoffs consists of a best-of-three series, with the following matchups: No. 1 vs. No. 8, No. 2 vs. No. 7, No. 3 vs. No. 6, and No. 4 vs. No. 5. The higher seed in the first round had home-court advantage in Games 1 and, if necessary, 3.
In the semifinals of the postseason, a best-of-five series, the higher seed hosted Games 1, 2 and, if necessary, 5. Additionally, the WNBA Finals will be a best-of-seven format for the second time in the league's history. Games 1 and 2, as well as Games 5 and 7, if necessary, was hosted by the higher seed.[1]
Playoff qualifying
| Seed | Team | Record | Clinched |
|---|---|---|---|
| Playoff berth | |||
| 1 | Minnesota Lynx | 32–10 | August 9[2] |
| 2 | Golden State Valkyries | 31–11 | August 17[3] |
| 3 | Las Vegas Aces | 29–13 | August 13[4] |
| 4 | Atlanta Dream | 29–14 | August 22[5] |
| 5 | Indiana Fever | 27–15 | August 21[6] |
| 6 | Washington Mystics | 26–16 | August 23[7] |
| 7 | Dallas Wings | 26–17 | August 25[8] |
| 8 | New York Liberty | 26–17 | August 23[9] |
Bracket
| First round Best-of-3 | Semifinals Best-of-5 | Finals Best-of-7 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 8 | ||||||||||||||
| 4 | ||||||||||||||
| 5 | ||||||||||||||
| 2 | ||||||||||||||
| 7 | ||||||||||||||
| ' | ||||||||||||||
| 3 | ||||||||||||||
| 6 | ||||||||||||||
- Bold – Series winner
- Italic – Team with home-court-advantage