The Indiana Fever are moving on in the 2025 WNBA playoffs. The shorthanded and sixth-seeded Fever — who are missing multiple players due to season-ending injuries, including Caitlin Clark — upset and eliminated the third-seeded Atlanta Dream on Thursday night in a decisive first-round Game 3. The Fever join the Lynx in the semifinals, and two more Game 3s will decide the final two spots: Aces vs. Storm on Thursday night and Mercury vs. Liberty on Friday.
The best-of-three first round will wrap up Friday or and the best-of-five semifinals will begin Sunday (Sept. 21).
The Lynx, who knocked out the eighth-seeded Golden State Valkyries in the first round, entered the playoffs as the No. 1 seed after being the WNBA’s most dominant team throughout the 44-game regular season. The Lynx, looking for the fifth championship in team history and their first since 2017, will have home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.
Below is a look at the first-round matchups and the full schedule for the 2025 playoffs.
WNBA playoff bracket
Keytron Jordan, CBS Sports
Here are the four first-round matchups and seeding:
- No. 1 Lynx vs. No. 8 Valkyries (Minnesota wins, 2-0)
- No. 2 Aces vs. No. 7 Storm (Series tied, 1-1)
- No. 3 Dream vs. No. 6 Fever (Indiana wins, 2-1)
- No. 4 Mercury vs. No. 5 Liberty (Series tied, 1-1)
Teams will play a best-of-three series in the first round, a best-of-five series in the semifinals, and — in a new change this year — a best-of-seven affair in the Finals.
In 2024, the first round had a 2-1 format, which meant the higher seed got the first two games at home, while the lower seed only got to host if they made it to Game 3. This year it will be a 1-1-1 format, with Games 1 and 3 hosted by the higher seed while the lower seed hosts Game 2.
All games on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 are streaming on fubo (Try for free).
First-round schedule, scores (best-of-three)
All times Eastern
Sunday, Sept. 14
Tuesday, Sept. 16
Wednesday, Sept. 17
Thursday, Sept. 18
- Game 3: Fever 87, Dream 85 (Indiana wins, 2-1)
- Game 3: No. 7 Storm at No. 2 Aces, 9:30 p.m. — ESPN2/fubo
Friday, Sept. 19
- Game 3: No. 5 Liberty at No. 4 Mercury, 9 p.m. — ESPN2/fubo
Semifinals schedule (best-of-five)
Sunday, Sept. 21
- Game 1: TBD vs. TBD, 3 p.m. — ABC/fubo
- Game 1: TBD vs. TBD, 5 p.m. — ESPN/fubo
Tuesday, Sept. 23
- Game 2: TBD vs. TBD, 7:30 p.m. — ESPN/fubo
- Game 2: TBD vs. TBD, 9:30 p.m. — ESPN/fubo
Friday, Sept. 26
- Game 3: TBD vs. TBD, 7:30 p.m. — ESPN2/fubo
- Game 3: TBD vs. TBD, 9:30 p.m. — ESPN2/fubo
Sunday, Sept. 28
- *Game 4: TBD vs. TBD, 1 or 5 p.m. — ESPN/fubo
- *Game 4: TBD vs. TBD, 3 p.m. — ABC/fubo
Tuesday, Sept. 30
- *Game 5: TBD vs. TBD, TBD
- *Game 5: TBD vs. TBD, TBD
Finals schedule (best-of-seven)
Friday, Oct. 3
- Game 1, 8 p.m. — ESPN/fubo
Sunday, Oct. 5
- Game 2, 3 p.m. — ABC/fubo
Wednesday, Oct. 8
- Game 3, 8 p.m. — ESPN/fubo
Friday, Oct. 10
- Game 4, 8 p.m. — ESPN/fubo
Sunday, Oct. 12
- *Game 5, 3 p.m. — ABC/fubo
Wednesday, Oct. 15
- *Game 6, 8 p.m. — ESPN/fubo
Friday, Oct. 17
- *Game 7, 8 p.m. — ESPN/fubo
* If necessary