2011 WNBA Playoffs
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| Dates: | September 15 – October 7 | |||||||||
| Finals Champion: | Minnesota Lynx | |||||||||
| Attendance: | 9,232 per game | |||||||||
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| Eastern Conference | Western Conference | |||||||||
| 1st Indiana | 1st Minnesota | |||||||||
| 2nd Connecticut | 2nd Seattle | |||||||||
| 3rd Atlanta | 3rd Phoenix | |||||||||
| 4th New York | 4th San Antonio | |||||||||
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The 2011 WNBA Playoffs was the postseason for the Women's National Basketball Association's 2011 season. Four teams from each of the league's two conferences qualified 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 finals were won by the Minnesota Lynx who defeated the defending Eastern Conference Champion Atlanta Dream.
The Minnesota Lynx was the top overall seed in the tournament, having finished 27-7 in the regular season, the best record in franchise history. The team was appearing in its first playoffs since 2004. Prior to the 2011 playoffs, the Lynx had not won a playoff series in franchise history. This changed in the 2011 playoffs, as the Lynx won their first two playoff series to advance to the WNBA Finals.
The Atlanta Dream had reached the 2010 WNBA Finals, losing in three games to the Seattle Storm. Despite a slow start to the 2011 season, the Dream rebounded to finish with a 20-14 record, good for the third seed in the Eastern Conference. The Dream upset two higher-seeded teams to reach the WNBA finals for the second straight year.
After earning the third seed in the West, the Phoenix Mercury reached their third straight conference finals after upsetting the defending WNBA Champion Seattle Storm in the opening round. They ultimately lost to Minnesota in the conference final.
The Indiana Fever was the top seed in the Eastern Conference, and dispatched the New York Liberty in the opening round. They ultimately fell short to Atlanta in the conference final after WNBA MVP Tamika Catchings tore her plantar fascia in game two of the series, limiting her in the decisive game.
The Seattle Storm earned the West's second seed, and were attempting to repeat as WNBA champions. They took a 1-0 lead in the conference semifinals, but then dropped the next two, losing to Phoenix.
The Connecticut Sun earned the second seed in the East, but were swept in the opening round by the Dream, the eventual East champs.
The San Antonio Silver Stars were the lowest overall seed in the West and the tournament, and drew the unenviable task of playing the Minnesota Lynx. Despite the apparent mismatch, the Silver Stars lost by only one point in game one of the opening round, and won game two. They could not keep up with the Lynx in game three, however, and lost in the opening round.
Contents
Format
- The top 4 teams from each conference qualify for the playoffs.
- All 4 teams are seeded by basis of their standings.
- The series for rounds one and two are in a best-of-three format with Games 1 and 3 on the home court of the team with the higher seed. In previous years, the higher seed would play the first game on the road, then games 2 and (if needed) 3 at home.
- The series for the WNBA Finals is in a best-of-five format with Games 1, 2 and 5 on the home court of the team with the higher seed.
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 | Conf. homecourt | |||||||
| 1 | Indiana Fever | 21 | 13 | 3–2 vs. CON | August 30 | September 7 | ||
| 2 | Connecticut Sun | 21 | 13 | 2–3 vs. IND | August 30 | — | ||
| 3 | Atlanta Dream | 20 | 14 | — | September 4 | — | ||
| 4 | New York Liberty | 19 | 15 | — | September 2 | — | ||
Western Conference
| Seed | Team | W | L | Tiebreaker | Clinched | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Playoff berth | Playoffs homecourt | |||||||
| 1 | Minnesota Lynx | 27 | 7 | — | August 20 | September 2 | ||
| 2 | Seattle Storm | 21 | 13 | — | September 2 | — | ||
| 3 | Phoenix Mercury | 19 | 15 | — | September 3 | — | ||
| 4 | San Antonio Silver Stars | 18 | 16 | — | September 6 | — | ||
Bracket
| Conference Semi-Finals Best-of-3 |
Conference Finals Best-of-3 |
WNBA Finals Best-of-5 |
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| E1 | Indiana | 2 | ||||||||||||
| E4 | New York | 1 | ||||||||||||
| E1 | Indiana | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Eastern Conference | ||||||||||||||
| E3 | Atlanta | 2 | ||||||||||||
| E2 | Connecticut | 0 | ||||||||||||
| E3 | Atlanta | 2 | ||||||||||||
| E3 | Atlanta | 0 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Minnesota | 3 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Minnesota | 2 | ||||||||||||
| W4 | San Antonio | 1 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Minnesota | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Western Conference | ||||||||||||||
| W3 | Phoenix | 0 | ||||||||||||
| W2 | Seattle | 1 | ||||||||||||
| W3 | Phoenix | 2 | ||||||||||||
Note: italics denote home-court advantage; bold denotes series winner.
Eastern Conference
Conference Semifinals
(2) Connecticut Sun vs. (3) Atlanta Dream
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September 16
7:00pm ET |
| Atlanta Dream 89, Connecticut Sun 84 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 18–20, 21–21, 22–25, 28–18 | ||
| Pts: Harding (21) Rebs: Lyttle (11) Asts: Harding (5) |
Pts: Jones, Montgomery (16) Rebs: McCray (8) Asts: Lawson (4) |
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Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, CT
Attendance: 7,373 Referees: Michael Price, Clarke Stevens, Maj Forsberg |
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September 18
3:00pm ET |
| Connecticut Sun 64, Atlanta Dream 69 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 11–16, 25–15, 15–13, 13–25 | ||
| Pts: Jones (15) Rebs: Charles (17) Asts: Montgomery (6) |
Pts: de Souza, Harding, Lyttle, McCoughtry (12) Rebs: de Souza (10) Asts: Harding (6) |
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| Atlanta won the series, 2–0 | ||
- Regular-season series
The teams were tied 2–2 in the regular-season series:
(1) Indiana Fever vs. (4) New York Liberty
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September 15
8:00pm ET |
| New York Liberty 72, Indiana Fever 74 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 16–28, 18–16, 24–18, 14–12 | ||
| Pts: Pondexter (18) Rebs: Powell (8) Asts: Pondexter (6) |
Pts: Douglas (25) Rebs: Sutton-Brown (7) Asts: Bobbitt, Phillips (3) |
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Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
Attendance: 7,608 Referees: Denise Brooks, Lamont Simpson, Roy Gulbeyan |
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September 17
4:00pm ET |
| Indiana Fever 72, New York Liberty 87 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 23–20, 18–30, 9–12, 22–25 | ||
| Pts: Douglas (20) Rebs: Catchings (9) Asts: Bobbitt, Phillips (4) |
Pts: Powell (19) Rebs: Pondexter, Powell, Vaughn (5) Asts: Pondexter (5) |
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September 19
8:00pm ET |
| New York Liberty 62, Indiana Fever 72 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 17–17, 19–23, 12–14, 14–18 | ||
| Pts: Powell (19) Rebs: Vaughn (7) Asts: Pondexter (5) |
Pts: Douglas (21) Rebs: Catchings (8) Asts: Catchings (4) |
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| Indiana won the series, 2–1 | ||
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Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
Attendance: 7,368 Referees: Sue Blauch, Tom Mauer, Daryl Humphrey |
- Regular-season series
The teams were tied 2–2 in the regular-season series:
Conference Finals
(1) Indiana Fever vs. (3) Atlanta Dream
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September 22
7:00pm ET |
| Atlanta Dream 74, Indiana Fever 82 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 24–21, 16–21, 17–15, 17–25 | ||
| Pts: Harding (17) Rebs: de Souza (13) Asts: Harding (7) |
Pts: Smith (25) Rebs: Catchings (13) Asts: Catchings, Douglas, Zellous (3) |
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Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
Attendance: 8,253 Referees: Denise Brooks, Amy Bonner, Michael Price |
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September 25
3:00pm ET |
| Indiana Fever 77, Atlanta Dream 94 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 25–34, 26–21, 14–18, 12–21 | ||
| Pts: Douglas (25) Rebs: Catchings (9) Asts: Douglas (6) |
Pts: Castro Marques (30) Rebs: Lyttle, Price (7) Asts: Harding (7) |
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September 27
8:00pm ET |
| Atlanta Dream 83, Indiana Fever 67 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 28–23, 11–12, 22–12, 22–20 | ||
| Pts: McCoughtry (26) Rebs: Lyttle (11) Asts: Harding (6) |
Pts: Douglas (16) Rebs: Douglas, Sutton-Brown (9) Asts: Catchings, Phillips (3) |
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| Atlanta won the series, 2–1 | ||
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Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
Attendance: 9,036 Referees: Sue Blauch, Kurt Walker, Lamont Simpson |
- Regular-season series
The Atlanta Dream won 4–0 in the regular season series:
Western Conference
Conference Semifinals
(1) Minnesota Lynx vs. (4) San Antonio Silver Stars
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September 16
9:00pm ET |
| San Antonio Silver Stars 65, Minnesota Lynx 66 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 16–11, 19–21, 16–21, 14–13 | ||
| Pts: Adams, Hammon (16) Rebs: Young (9) Asts: Young (6) |
Pts: Whalen (20) Rebs: Brunson (14) Asts: Whalen (5) |
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September 18
5:00pm ET |
| Minnesota Lynx 75, San Antonio Silver Stars 84 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 14–18, 23–22, 13–24, 25–20 | ||
| Pts: Augustus (24) Rebs: Brunson (16) Asts: Whalen (3) |
Pts: Perkins (24) Rebs: Adams, Perkins (6) Asts: Hammon (6) |
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AT&T Center, San Antonio, TX
Attendance: 7,023 Referees: Denise Brooks, Cameron Inouye, Lamont Simpson |
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September 20
8:00pm ET |
| San Antonio Silver Stars 67, Minnesota Lynx 85 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 19–18, 17–26, 20–22, 11–19 | ||
| Pts: Young (17) Rebs: Riley (6) Asts: Hammon (5) |
Pts: Augustus (22) Rebs: Brunson (9) Asts: Augustus, McWilliams-Franklin, Moore (4) |
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| Minnesota won the series, 2–1 | ||
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Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
Attendance: 8,734 Referees: Eric Brewton, Roy Gulbeyan, Felicia Grinter |
- Regular-season series
The Minnesota Lynx won 4–0 in the regular season series:
(2) Seattle Storm vs. (3) Phoenix Mercury
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September 15
10:00pm ET |
| Phoenix Mercury 61, Seattle Storm 80 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 19–19, 12–21, 11–29, 19–11 | ||
| Pts: Taylor (13) Rebs: Bonner (8) Asts: Johnson, Swanier, Taylor (3) |
Pts: Wright (21) Rebs: Cash, Little (11) Asts: Little (4) |
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September 17
10:00pm ET |
| Seattle Storm 83, Phoenix Mercury 92 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 18–23, 22–28, 22–20, 21–21 | ||
| Pts: Wright (18) Rebs: Cash (5) Asts: Bird (4) |
Pts: Dupree (29) Rebs: Dupree (13) Asts: Johnson (9) |
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US Airways Center, Phoenix, AZ
Attendance: 9,356 Referees: Scott Twardoski, Kurt Walker, Felicia Grinter |
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September 19
10:00pm ET |
| Phoenix Mercury 77, Seattle Storm 75 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 9–20, 21–19, 24–18, 23–18 | ||
| Pts: Dupree (20) Rebs: Taylor (17) Asts: Johnson, Taurasi (3) |
Pts: Bird (22) Rebs: Cash (10) Asts: Smith, Wright (4) |
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| Phoenix won the series, 2–1 | ||
- Regular-season series
The Seattle Storm won 3–1 in the regular-season series:
Conference Finals
(1) Minnesota Lynx vs. (3) Phoenix Mercury
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September 22
9:00pm ET |
| Phoenix Mercury 67, Minnesota Lynx 95 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 11–28, 25–19, 19–27, 12–21 | ||
| Pts: Taurasi (22) Rebs: Bonner (8) Asts: Johnson (4) |
Pts: Augustus (21) Rebs: Brunson (13) Asts: Augustus (7) |
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September 25
5:00pm ET |
| Minnesota Lynx 103, Phoenix Mercury 86 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 24–20, 19–25, 27–20, 33–21 | ||
| Pts: McWilliams-Franklin, Moore (21) Rebs: Brunson (9) Asts: McWilliams-Franklin (7) |
Pts: Bonner, Taurasi (22) Rebs: Dupree (11) Asts: Johnson (6) |
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| Minnesota won the series, 2–0 | ||
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US Airways Center, Phoenix, AZ
Attendance: 8,617 Referees: Michael Price, Daryl Humphrey, Denise Brooks |
- Regular-season series
The Minnesota Lynx won 3–2 in the regular season series:
WNBA Finals
Minnesota Lynx vs. Atlanta Dream
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October 2
8:30pm ET |
| Atlanta Dream 74, Minnesota Lynx 88 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 18–14, 21–22, 23–26, 12–26 | ||
| Pts: McCoughtry (33) Rebs: Bales (9) Asts: Harding (5) |
Pts: Brunson (26) Rebs: Brunson (11) Asts: Augustus (7) |
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Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
Attendance: 15,258 Referees: Eric Brewton, Denise Brooks, Roy Gulbeyan |
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October 5
8:00 PM ET |
| Atlanta Dream 95, Minnesota Lynx 101 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 28–22, 30–28, 16–19, 21–32 | ||
| Pts: McCoughtry (38) Rebs: de Souza (10) Asts: Harding (7) |
Pts: Augustus (36) Rebs: Augustus (8) Asts: Whalen (4) |
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October 7
8:00pm ET |
| Minnesota Lynx 73, Atlanta Dream 67 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 17–20, 16–17, 19–8, 21–22 | ||
| Pts: Augustus (16) Rebs: Brunson (9) Asts: Augustus, McWilliams-Franklin (4) |
Pts: McCoughtry (22) Rebs: de Souza (15) Asts: Harding (7) |
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| Minnesota won the series, 3–0 | ||
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Philips Arena, Atlanta, GA
Attendance: 11,543 Referees: Michael Price, Daryl Humphrey, Cameron Inouye |
- Regular-season series
The Minnesota Lynx won the season series 2-0:
