WNBA playoff race: Who qualifies in case of a tie? The tie-breaker between the Sky, Dream and Mystics explained

As the regular season comes to an end, the race for the final playoff spot in the division is intensifying. It is currently a close battle between the Chicago Sky, Atlanta Dream, and Washington Mystics to secure the 8th spot in the division.

If any of these three teams end up tied at the end of the season, here is what will happen:

Let’s take a quick look at the current standings:

The New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx have already secured the top 2 seeds, while the Atlanta Dream currently holds the 8th seed after defeating the Chicago Sky in a recent match.

How do the WNBA playoffs work?

In the WNBA playoffs, teams are seeded in a traditional bracket format. The No. 1 seed plays the No. 8 seed, No. 2 plays No. 7, and so on for the first round. The first round is a best-of-three series, while the semi-finals and finals are best-of-five. The higher seed hosts the first two games in the first round, and the format changes for the rest of the tournament.

How is the WNBA table decided if there is a tie?

In case of a tie, two-team ties are resolved based on head-to-head records. If needed, other tiebreakers like record against .500+ teams are considered.

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In the event of a tie involving multiple teams, the tiebreaker is determined by the combined head-to-head records against other teams.

The WNBA playoffs kick off on September 22 and culminate with the WNBA Finals on October 20. While we know the general format of the playoffs, specific matchups are yet to be announced.