Every 2021 WNBA playoff series, three ways: the season race carried on into the postseason, who beat their seeding, and the bracket.
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The same race these clubs ran all season, carried on through the postseason on one scale and on real dates.
Where each club finished the season against how far it went, ranked on record rather than seed.
Who played whom, round by round, which no line chart can say.
Chicago Sky won the 2021 title from a regular season record of 16-16. 8 teams reached the playoffs and the bracket ran 4 rounds. Every series below is taken from NBA.com's WNBA statistics; nothing on this page is estimated.
| Round | Won by | Result | Opponent | Played |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First round | Phoenix Mercury | 1-0 in games | New York Liberty | September 23, 2021 |
| First round | Chicago Sky | 1-0 in games | Dallas Wings | September 23, 2021 |
| Second round | Chicago Sky | 1-0 in games | Minnesota Lynx | September 26, 2021 |
| Second round | Phoenix Mercury | 1-0 in games | Seattle Storm | September 26, 2021 |
| Semifinals | Chicago Sky | 3-1 in games | Connecticut Sun | September 28 to October 6, 2021 |
| Semifinals | Phoenix Mercury | 3-2 in games | Las Vegas Aces | September 28 to October 8, 2021 |
| The Finals | Chicago Sky | 3-1 in games | Phoenix Mercury | October 10 to October 17, 2021 |
The left column ranks this field by regular season record, not by seed number: seeding rules differ by era, so this site uses records everywhere instead. The right column groups clubs by the round they went out in, which is not the same as the number of rounds they won, because a bye carries a club further without it winning anything. The figure beside a name is places moved between the two columns, and part of it is only where a club sat inside its band. Nothing here is a prediction. The data notes carry the whole method.
The races that filled this bracket: Playoff Race