The second night of the 2023 WNBA playoffs was much more exciting than the first. In the opener on Friday, the New York Liberty pulled away from the Washington Mystics thanks to Sabrina Ionescu, who hit a franchise playoff record seven 3-pointers in their 90-75 win. Later on, the Dallas Wings pulled off an incredible 20-point comeback to beat the Atlanta Dream, 94-82, despite 36 points from Rhyne Howard, who set a WNBA record for points and 3-pointers (eight) in a playoff debut.
Play will resume on Sunday afternoon with a doubleheader featuring the Connecticut Sun versus the Minnesota Lynx and the Las Vegas Aces against the Chicago Sky. The Sun and Aces will both be able to advance to the semifinals with a win.
After last season’s format change, there are no longer any byes in the playoffs. The eight teams are placed in a standard bracket, with No. 1 vs. No. 8, No. 2 vs. No. 7, No. 3 vs. No. 6 and No. 4 vs. No. 5. The first-round series is best-of-three, while the semifinals and Finals are both best-of-five.
One important note is that the first round is played under a 2-1 format, which means the higher seed has Games 1 and 2 at home, while the lower seed has the deciding Game 3 at home, if necessary….
