{"id":68693,"date":"2025-09-18T20:42:54","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T23:42:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ubirataonline.com.br\/wnba-playoffs-new-first-round-format-already-paying-dividends-for-teams-league-as-3-series-head-to-game-3\/"},"modified":"2025-09-18T20:42:54","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T23:42:54","slug":"wnba-playoffs-new-first-round-format-already-paying-dividends-for-teams-league-as-3-series-head-to-game-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ubirataonline.com.br\/en\/wnba-playoffs-new-first-round-format-already-paying-dividends-for-teams-league-as-3-series-head-to-game-3\/","title":{"rendered":"WNBA playoffs: New first-round format already paying dividends for teams, league as 3 series head to Game 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

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NEW YORK \u2014 These days, 1-1-1 is adding up to 100.<\/p>\n

The WNBA\u2019s new format<\/a> in the best-of-three first round is delivering the excitement, high stakes and extra basketball the league intended by giving every team at least one home game.<\/p>\n

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And the nail-biting stress is hitting hard for fans with a dog in the fight. Three of the four first-round series are going to a winner-take-all Game 3, beginning with two games on Thursday night. The No. 3 Dream host No. 6 Indiana, and No. 2 Aces host the No. 7 Storm. The No. 5 Liberty and No. 4 Mercury conclude the first round on Friday with their Game 3 in Phoenix.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of crazy,\u201d veteran Liberty forward Breanna Stewart said. \u201cHopefully for the fans and those people watching, they just get to enjoy it more. They get to see basketball more often.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fourth series missed a pivotal third game by one bucket when No. 1 Minnesota edged No. 8 Golden State, 75-74<\/a>, on Wednesday night to book the first berth to the semifinals.<\/p>\n

Count veteran Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve as surprised as we all were.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAt no point in time did we think this was going to be a two-game series, at no point in time,\u201d Reeve said. \u201cThey played well enough to win. Obviously we hung in there and made one more basket than they did.\u201d<\/p>\n

The switch of venues evens the tables more than keeping the first two games at the better seed\u2019s house. Previously, the deciding Game 3 went to the lower-seeded team\u2019s court, an issue in its own right. All four best-of-three series were sweeps in 2024, and only a couple of the eight games delivered close battles late. One game went to Game 3 in 2023 and two in 2022, the first year after the WNBA did away with single elimination.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it kind of balances,\u201d second-year Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts said ahead of Game 1. \u201cIt gives both teams a real chance, and both fan bases a chance to root for their team in the playoffs.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Five of the eight teams won on their home court in these playoffs. The Mercury were the only team not to defend their home court in Game 1. Despite dropping the ball, Aces head coach Becky Hammon used them as an example on the other side of the argument.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t like it,\u201d Aces head coach Becky Hammon, a former player, said after Las Vegas won its opener. \u201cYou look at a team like Phoenix, dropping that one, they’re gonna have all the pressure. I mean, unbelievably tough to now have to fly to New York.\u201d<\/p>\n

But that is what the playoffs are about. There is no easy setting. These aren’t the days of the top two seeds earning automatic byes to the semifinals. \u201cPressure is a privilege,\u201d isn\u2019t that what they always say?<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo home games [to start] last year is unheard of in a three-game series,\u201d Alyssa Thomas said on Wednesday. \u201cIn order to win a series, you got to win on the road. Tonight we won on the road. It\u2019s been a competitive couple of games.\u201d<\/p>\n

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