Why Are the WNBA Playoffs Best-of-Three Series in the First Round?

The exciting 2024 WNBA regular season is winding down, as the league's 12 teams battle for eight spots in the playoff bracket.

The New York Liberty and the Minnesota Lynx have proven to be the class of the WNBA this season, while the back-to-back champion Las Vegas Aces—led by MVP front-runner center A'ja Wilson

remain a big threat. Guard Caitlin Clark, the No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft, has the Indiana Fever playing their best basketball at the right time, while fellow rookie phenom Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky are trying to stay in the hunt.

The final regular-season games are scheduled for Sept. 19, making way for the playoffs to launch three days later on Sept. 23.

The first round of the playoffs will begin Sept. 22 with four best-of-three series between the eight teams in the field. Winners advance to the semifinals—a best-of-five series—and then to the 2024 WNBA Finals, another best-of-five series.

In the first round of the playoffs, the higher seed hosts the first two games of the series. If it goes to a decisive third game, the home-court advantage flips to the lower seed. In the final two rounds, the higher seed hosts Games 1, 2 and 5, while the lower seed hosts Games 3 and 4.

The WNBA playoffs involved just four teams in 1997 and '98, with single-elimination games in '97 and best-of-three series in '98.

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