The 2017 WNBA Finals was the best-of-five championship series for the 2017 season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), tipping off on September 24.[1] It was a rematch of the previous year's finals matchup. The top-seeded Minnesota Lynx held home court advantage in the Finals, and won three games to two against the second-seeded Los Angeles Sparks. The Sparks won a semifinal series against the Phoenix Mercury to determine one of the Finals berths; the first-seeded Lynx defeated the Washington Mystics to earn the other. Sylvia Fowles was named the 2017 WNBA Finals MVP.
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Dates | September 24–October 4 | |||||||||
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MVP | Sylvia Fowles (Minnesota Lynx) | |||||||||
Hall of Famers | Lynx: Seimone Augustus (2024) Lindsay Whalen (2022) | |||||||||
Eastern finals | Los Angeles Sparks defeated Phoenix Mercury, 3–0 (Note: the semifinal rounds as of 2016 were not divided by conference) | |||||||||
Western finals | Minnesota Lynx defeated Washington Mystics, 3–0 | |||||||||
Road to the Finals
editStandings and playoffs
edit# | Western Conference | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Conf. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Minnesota Lynx - (1) | 27 | 7 | .794 | – | 15–2 | 12–5 | 13–3 |
2 | Los Angeles Sparks - (2) | 26 | 8 | .765 | 1 | 16–1 | 10–7 | 12–4 |
3 | Phoenix Mercury - (5) | 18 | 16 | .529 | 9 | 9–8 | 9–8 | 7–9 |
4 | Dallas Wings - (7) | 16 | 18 | .471 | 11 | 10–7 | 6–11 | 7–9 |
5 | Seattle Storm - (8) | 15 | 19 | .441 | 12 | 10–7 | 5–12 | 8–8 |
6 | San Antonio Stars - e | 8 | 26 | .235 | 19 | 6–11 | 2–15 | 1–15 |
# | Eastern Conference | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Conf. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | New York Liberty - (3) | 22 | 12 | .647 | - | 13–4 | 9–8 | 10–6 |
2 | Connecticut Sun - (4) | 21 | 13 | .636 | 1 | 12–5 | 9–6 | 10–6 |
3 | Washington Mystics - (6) | 18 | 16 | .529 | 4 | 11–6 | 7–10 | 12-4 |
4 | Chicago Sky - e | 12 | 22 | .353 | 10 | 4–13 | 8–9 | 6–10 |
5 | Atlanta Dream - e | 12 | 22 | .353 | 10 | 9–8 | 3–14 | 5–11 |
6 | Indiana Fever - e | 9 | 25 | .265 | 13 | 6–11 | 3–14 | 4–12 |
First round: Single elimination (Sept. 6) | Second round: Single elimination (Sept. 10) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 12 – Sept. 17) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 24 – Oct. 4) | |||||||||||||||||||||
2 | Los Angeles Sparks | 79 | 86 | 89 | ||||||||||||||||||||
4 | Connecticut Sun | 83 | 5 | Phoenix Mercury | 66 | 72 | 87 | |||||||||||||||||
5 | Phoenix Mercury | 79 | 5 | Phoenix Mercury | 88 | 1 | Minnesota Lynx | 84 | 70 | 64 | 80 | 85 | ||||||||||||
8 | Seattle Storm | 69 | 2 | Los Angeles Sparks | 85 | 68 | 75 | 69 | 76 | |||||||||||||||
1 | Minnesota Lynx | 101 | 93 | 81 | ||||||||||||||||||||
3 | New York Liberty | 68 | 6 | Washington Mystics | 81 | 83 | 70 | |||||||||||||||||
6 | Washington Mystics | 86 | 6 | Washington Mystics | 82 | |||||||||||||||||||
7 | Dallas Wings | 76 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Note: Teams re-seeded after second round and semi-finals.
Series summary
edit- All times are in Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4).
Game 1
editSeptember 24
3:30pm ET |
Los Angeles Sparks 85, Minnesota Lynx 84 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 32–11, 11–22, 25–23, 17–28 | ||
Pts: Gray 27 Rebs: Parker 12 Asts: Gray 6 |
Pts: Moore 27 Rebs: Fowles 13 Asts: Whalen 6 | |
Los Angeles leads series 1-0 |
Game 2
editSeptember 26
8:00pm ET |
Los Angeles Sparks 68, Minnesota Lynx 70 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 10–28, 16–17, 24–15, 18–10 | ||
Pts: Parker 17 Rebs: Ogwumike 13 Asts: Parker 6 |
Pts: Whalen 14 Rebs: Fowles 17 Asts: Brunson, Whalen 3 | |
Series tied 1-1 |
Game 3
editSeptember 29
9:00pm ET |
Minnesota Lynx 64, Los Angeles Sparks 75 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 8–17, 18–15, 22–24, 16–19 | ||
Pts: Moore 16 Rebs: Fowles 11 Asts: Jones 4 |
Pts: Ogwumike, Sims 16 Rebs: Ogwumike 10 Asts: Gray 7 | |
Los Angeles leads series 2-1 |
Game 4
editOctober 1
8:30pm ET |
Minnesota Lynx 80, Los Angeles Sparks 69 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 21–16, 22–15, 18–13, 19–25 | ||
Pts: Fowles 22 Rebs: Fowles 14 Asts: Whalen 8 |
Pts: Sims 18 Rebs: Ogwumike, Parker 8 Asts: Gray 9 | |
Series tied 2-2 |