2013 WNBA playoffs
 | |
| Dates | September 19 – October 10, 2013 |
|---|---|
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Minnesota Lynx (Finals Champion) |
| East champion | Atlanta Dream (Coach: Fred Williams) |
| West champion | Minnesota Lynx (Coach: Cheryl Reeve) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Attendance | 7,575 per game |
The 2013 WNBA Playoffs is the postseason for the Women's National Basketball Association's 2013 season. Four teams from each of the league's two conferences will qualify for the playoffs, seeded 1 to 4 in a tournament bracket, with the two opening rounds in a best-of-three format, and the final in a best-of-five format.
The Minnesota Lynx won the 2013 WNBA Finals, sweeping the Atlanta Dream in three games. The Lynx became the second WNBA team to sweep through the playoffs since the WNBA adopted the best-of-five format for the finals. The Lynx defeated the Phoenix Mercury in the Western Conference Finals, and the Seattle Storm in the conference semifinals. The Mercury had reached the Finals by defeating the Los Angeles Sparks in three games.
The Atlanta Dream won the Eastern Conference sweeping the defending WNBA champion Indiana Fever in two games. The Dream had defeated the Washington Mystics in the conference semifinals. The Fever had reached the Eastern Conference Finals by upsetting the top-seeded Chicago Sky.
The Lynx won their third straight Western Conference Championship and second WNBA title in three years. The Dream, meanwhile, failed to win a title despite making their third trip to the finals in four years.[1]
Tiebreak procedures
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 | W | L | Tiebreaker | Clinched | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Playoff berth | Conference homecourt | |||||||
| 1 | Chicago Sky | 24 | 10 | August 23 | August 31 | |||
| 2 | Atlanta Dream | 17 | 17 | 3-2 vs. WAS | September 4 | |||
| 3 | Washington Mystics | 17 | 17 | 2-3 vs. ATL | September 10 | |||
| 4 | Indiana Fever | 16 | 18 | September 7 | ||||
Western Conference
| Seed | Team | W | L | Tiebreaker | Clinched | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Playoff berth | Conference homecourt | League homecourt | ||||||||
| 1 | Minnesota Lynx | 26 | 8 | August 22 | September 10 | September 14 | ||||
| 2 | Los Angeles Sparks | 24 | 10 | August 23 | ||||||
| 3 | Phoenix Mercury | 19 | 15 | September 6 | ||||||
| 4 | Seattle Storm | 17 | 17 | August 31 | ||||||
Bracket
| Conference Semi-Finals Best-of-3 | Conference Finals Best-of-3 | WNBA Finals Best-of-5 | ||||||||||||
| E1 | Chicago | 0 | ||||||||||||
| E4 | Indiana | 2 | ||||||||||||
| E4 | Indiana | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Eastern Conference | ||||||||||||||
| E2 | Atlanta | 2 | ||||||||||||
| E2 | Atlanta | 2 | ||||||||||||
| E3 | Washington | 1 | ||||||||||||
| E2 | Atlanta | 0 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Minnesota | 3 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Minnesota | 2 | ||||||||||||
| W4 | Seattle | 0 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Minnesota | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Western Conference | ||||||||||||||
| W3 | Phoenix | 0 | ||||||||||||
| W2 | Los Angeles | 1 | ||||||||||||
| W3 | Phoenix | 2 | ||||||||||||
- Bold – Series winner
- Italics – Team with home-court advantage
Eastern Conference
Conference semifinals
(1) Chicago Sky vs. (4) Indiana Fever
September 20 7:00 pm |
| Indiana Fever 85, Chicago Sky 72 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 25–22, 25–15, 22–21, 13–14 | ||
| Pts: Shavonte Zellous 20 Rebs: Erlana Larkins 11 Asts: Briann January 6 |
Pts: Elena Delle Donne 20 Rebs: Sylvia Fowles 10 Asts: Courtney Vandersloot 7 | |
September 22 3:00 pm |
| Chicago Sky 57, Indiana Fever 79 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 14–22, 13–25, 16–20, 14–12 | ||
| Pts: Sylvia Fowles 14 Rebs: Sylvia Fowles 14 Asts: Vandersloot and Delle Donne 2 |
Pts: Tamika Catchings 18 Rebs: Tamika Catchings 12 Asts: Briann January 4 | |
| Indiana wins series, 2–0 | ||
Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN Attendance: 7144 Referees: Lamont Simpson, Cameron Inouye, Tony Dawkins |
- Regular-season series
Indiana won the regular-season series 3–1:
(2) Atlanta Dream vs. (3) Washington Mystics
September 19 8:00 pm |
| Washington Mystics 71, Atlanta Dream 56 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 16–12, 15–12, 26–13, 14–19 | ||
| Pts: Ivory Latta 14 Rebs: Crystal Langhorne 15 Asts: Ivory Latta 7 |
Pts: Angel McCoughtry 20 Rebs: Erika de Souza 12 Asts: Angel McCoughtry 3 | |
September 21 7:00 pm |
| Atlanta Dream 63, Washington Mystics 45 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 17–9, 19–12, 10–15, 17–9 | ||
| Pts: Angel McCoughtry 20 Rebs: Erika de Souza 15 Asts: Jasmine Thomas 6 |
Pts: Tayler Hill 11 Rebs: Vaughn, Snow 6 Asts: Nadirah McKenith 3 | |
Verizon Center, Washington, D.C. Attendance: 7,065 Referees: Kurt Walker, Lauren Holtkamp, Billy Smith |
September 23 8:00 pm |
| Washington Mystics 72, Atlanta Dream 80 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 22–20, 19, 14, 17–27 | ||
| Pts: Monique Currie 22 Rebs: Crystal Langhorne 6 Asts: Matee Ajavon 5 |
Pts: de Souza, Hayes 18 Rebs: Erika de Souza 14 Asts: Angel McCoughtry 7 | |
| Atlanta wins series, 2–1 | ||
- Regular-season series
Atlanta won the regular season series 3–2:
Conference finals
(2) Atlanta Dream vs. (4) Indiana Fever
September 26 7:00 pm |
| Indiana Fever 79, Atlanta Dream 84 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 26–27, 14–15, 16–20, 23–22 | ||
| Pts: Tamika Catchings 21 Rebs: Erlana Larkins 12 Asts: Christmas, Clarendon 4 |
Pts: Tiffany Hayes 23 Rebs: Armintie Herrington 7 Asts: Herrington, McCoughtry 5 | |
September 29 4:00pm ET |
| Atlanta Dream 67, Indiana Fever 53 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 19-19, 15-14, 18-9, 17-11 | ||
| Pts: Angel McCoughtry 27 Rebs: Armintie Herrington 9 Asts: Angel McCoughtry 3 |
Pts: Tamika Catchings 24 Rebs: Erlana Larkins 7 Asts: Shavonte Zellous | |
| Atlanta wins series, 2–0 | ||
Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN Attendance: 7051 Referees: Lamont Simpson, Roy Gulbeyan, Brenda Pantoja |
- Regular-season series
Atlanta won the regular season series 3–1:
Western Conference
Conference semifinals
(1) Minnesota Lynx vs. (4) Seattle Storm
September 20 9:00pm ET |
| Seattle Storm 64, Minnesota Lynx 80 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 15-16, 21-24, 12-22, 16-18 | ||
| Pts: Temeka Johnson 14 Rebs: Tina Thompson 8 Asts: Johnson and T. Wright 4 |
Pts: Seimone Augustus 19 Rebs: Rebekkah Brunson 9 Asts: Maya Moore 6 | |
September 22 5:00pm ET |
| Minnesota Lynx 58, Seattle Storm 55 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 20-16, 8-12, 14-11, 16-16 | ||
| Pts: Maya Moore 22 Rebs: Rebekkah Brunson 13 Asts: Janel McCarville 5 |
Pts: Tanisha Wright 16 Rebs: Clark and Thompson 9 Asts: Johnson, Stricklen and Wright 2 | |
| Minnesota wins series, 2–0 | ||
- Regular-season series
Minnesota won the regular season series 4–0:
(2) Los Angeles Sparks vs. (3) Phoenix Mercury
September 19 10:00 pm |
| Phoenix Mercury 86, Los Angeles Sparks 75 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 20–26, 18–17, 27–17, 21–15 | ||
| Pts: Diana Taurasi 30 Rebs: Candice Dupree 7 Asts: Diana Taurasi 7 |
Pts: Candace Parker 28 Rebs: Nneka Ogwumike 14 Asts: Lindsey Harding 5 | |
Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA Attendance: 8,500 Referees: Lamont Simpson, Kurt Walker, Cameron Inouye |
September 21 10:00 pm |
| Los Angeles Sparks 82, Phoenix Mercury 73 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 17–13, 27–17, 21–25, 17–18 | ||
| Pts: Candace Parker 31 Rebs: Ogwumike, Parker 11 Asts: Lindsey Harding 4 |
Pts: Diana Taurasi 20 Rebs: Candice Dupree 9 Asts: Diana Taurasi 5 | |
US Airways Center, Phoenix, AZ Attendance: 11,110 Referees: Daryl Humphrey, Michael Price, Brenda Pantoja |
September 23 10:00 pm |
| Phoenix Mercury 78, Los Angeles Sparks 77 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 19–19, 23–21, 24–24, 12–13 | ||
| Pts: Candice Dupree 22 Rebs: Bonner, Gilbreath 6 Asts: Diana Taurasi 10 |
Pts: Kristi Toliver 22 Rebs: Nneka Ogwumike 10 Asts: Toliver, Coleman 3 | |
| Phoenix wins series, 2–1 | ||
- Regular-season series
Regular season series tied 2-2:
Conference finals
(1) Minnesota Lynx vs. (3) Phoenix Mercury
September 26 9:00pm ET |
| Phoenix Mercury 62, Minnesota Lynx 85 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 16-24, 6-21, 20-22, 20-18 | ||
| Pts: Diana Taurasi 15 Rebs: Brittney Griner 6 Asts: Bonner and Dupree 3 |
Pts: M. Moore and Whalen 20 Rebs: Lindsay Whalen 6 Asts: Lindsay Whalen 5 | |
September 29 5:00pm ET |
| Minnesota Lynx 72, Phoenix Mercury 65 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 19-21, 19-14, 15-10, 19-20 | ||
| Pts: Maya Moore 27 Rebs: Rebekkah Brunson 14 Asts: Lindsay Whalen 7 |
Pts: Diana Taurasi 21 Rebs: Brittney Griner 10 Asts: Diana Taurasi 6 | |
| Minnesota wins series, 2–0 | ||
- Regular-season series
Minnesota won the regular-season series 5-0:
WNBA Finals
Minnesota Lynx vs. Atlanta Dream
October 6 8:30pm ET |
| Atlanta Dream 59, Minnesota Lynx 84 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 16-24, 9-20, 18-24, 16-16 | ||
| Pts: Angel McCoughtry 17 Rebs: Aneika Henry 14 Asts: Armintie Herrington 3 |
Pts: Maya Moore 23 Rebs: Rebekkah Brunson 8 Asts: Lindsay Whalen 5 | |
Target Center, Minneapolis, MN Attendance: 13,804 Referees: Michael Price, Cameron Inouye, Kurt Walker |
October 8 8:00pm ET |
| Atlanta Dream 63, Minnesota Lynx 88 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 16-27, 20-24, 16-17, 11-20 | ||
| Pts: Angel McCoughtry 15 Rebs: Aneika Henry 6 Asts: Angel McCoughtry 4 |
Pts: Seimone Augustus 20 Rebs: Rebekkah Brunson 10 Asts: Lindsay Whalen 5 | |
October 10 8:30pm ET |
| Minnesota Lynx 86, Atlanta Dream 77 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 25-17, 15-20, 26-19, 20-21 | ||
| Pts: Maya Moore 23 Rebs: Rebekkah Brunson 12 Asts: Lindsay Whalen 6 |
Pts: Tiffany Hayes 20 Rebs: Érika de Souza 9 Asts: Alex Bentley 6 | |
| Minnesota Wins Series 3-0 | ||
Arena at Gwinnett Center, Duluth, GA Attendance: 5,040 Referees: Lamont Simpson, Denise Brooks, Brenda Pantoja |
- Regular Season Series
The season series was tied, 1-1:
References
- ^ "Minnesota at Atlanta, October 10, 2013". Archived from the original on October 11, 2013. Retrieved October 11, 2013.