# 2017 WNBA Finals

The 2017 WNBA Finals, officially the WNBA Finals 2017 presented by Verizon for sponsorship reasons, was the best-of-five championship series for the 2017 season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), tipping off on September 24. 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.

## Road to the Finals
### Standings and playoffs

| # | Western Conference vte | 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 vte | 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) | First round: Single elimination (Sept. 6) | First round: Single elimination (Sept. 6) | Second round: Single elimination (Sept. 10) | Second round: Single elimination (Sept. 10) | Second round: Single elimination (Sept. 10) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 12 – Sept. 17) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 12 – Sept. 17) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 12 – Sept. 17) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 12 – Sept. 17) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 12 – Sept. 17) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 24 – Oct. 4) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 24 – Oct. 4) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 24 – Oct. 4) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 24 – Oct. 4) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 24 – Oct. 4) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 24 – Oct. 4) | 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

    All times are in Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4).

### Game 1

* ABC
* September 24 3:30pm ET
* Game 1
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 |||
* Williams Arena, Minneapolis, MN Attendance: 11,823 Referees: Cheryl Flores, Kurt Walker, Jeff Wooten

### Game 2

* ESPN2
* September 26 8:00pm ET
* Game 2
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 |||
* Williams Arena, Minneapolis, MN Attendance: 11,434 Referees: Maj Forsberg, Bryon Jarrett, Billy Smith

### Game 3

* ESPN2
* September 29 9:00pm ET
* Game 3
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 |||
* Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA Attendance: 13,500 Referees: Sue Blauch, Eric Brewton, Roy Gulbeyan

### Game 4

* ESPN
* October 1 8:30pm ET
* Game 4
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 |||
* Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA Attendance: 13,500 Referees: Maj Forsberg, Billy Smith, Kurt Walker

### Game 5

* ESPN
* October 4 8:00pm ET
* Game 5
Los Angeles Sparks 76, Minnesota Lynx 85 :
| Scoring by quarter: 19–21, 16–20, 21–19, 20–25 |||
| Pts: Parker 19 Rebs: Parker 15 Asts: Gray 8 | Pts: Moore 18 Rebs: Fowles 20 Asts: Whalen 8 |
| Minnesota wins series 3-2 |||
* Williams Arena, Minneapolis, MN Attendance: 14,632 Referees: Sue Blauch, Roy Gulbeyan, Byron Jarrett