# 2009 WNBA playoffs

The 2009 WNBA Playoffs is the postseason for the Women's National Basketball Association's 2009 season.

## Format

* The top 4 teams from each conference qualify for the playoffs.
** All 4 teams are seeded based on their standings.
* For rounds one and two, the teams compete in a best-of-three format with Games 2 and 3 on the home court of the team with the higher seed.
* 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.

## Playoff qualifying
### Eastern Conference

The following teams clinched a playoff berth in the East:
* Indiana Fever (22–12)
* Atlanta Dream (18–16)
* Detroit Shock (18–16)
* Washington Mystics (16–18)

### Western Conference

The following teams clinched a playoff berth in the West:
* Phoenix Mercury (23–11)
* Seattle Storm (20–14)
* Los Angeles Sparks (18–16)
* San Antonio Silver Stars (15–19)

## Bracket

This was the outlook for the 2009 WNBA playoffs. Teams in italics had home court advantage. Teams in bold advanced to the next round. Numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's original playoffs seeding in their respective conferences. Numbers to the right of each team indicate the number of games the team won in that round.
| Conference Semi-Finals Best-of-3 | Conference Semi-Finals Best-of-3 | Conference Semi-Finals Best-of-3 | Conference Finals Best-of-3 | Conference Finals Best-of-3 | Conference Finals Best-of-3 | WNBA Finals Best-of-5 | WNBA Finals Best-of-5 | WNBA Finals Best-of-5 |
| E1 | Indiana | 2 | | | | | | |
| E4 | Washington | 0 | | | | | | |
| E4 | Washington | 0 | E1 | Indiana | 2 | | | |
| Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | E1 | Indiana | 2 | | | |
| Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | E3 | Detroit | 1 | | | |
| E2 | Atlanta | 0 | E3 | Detroit | 1 | | | |
| E3 | Detroit | 2 | | | | | | |
| E3 | Detroit | 2 | | | | E1 | Indiana | 2 |
| | | | | | | W1 | Phoenix | 3 |
| W1 | Phoenix | 2 | | | | | | | W1 | Phoenix | 3 |
| W4 | San Antonio | 1 | | | | | | |
| W4 | San Antonio | 1 | W1 | Phoenix | 2 | | | |
| Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | W1 | Phoenix | 2 | | | |
| Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | W3 | Los Angeles | 1 | | | |
| W2 | Seattle | 1 | W3 | Los Angeles | 1 | | | |
| W3 | Los Angeles | 2 | | | | | | |

## Eastern Conference
### First round
#### (1) Indiana Fever vs. (4) Washington Mystics

* ESPN2HD
* September 17 8:00 p.m.
* Game 1
Indiana Fever 88, Washington Mystics 79 :
| Pts: Catchings (26) Rebs: Catchings (12) | Pts: Langhorne (18) Rebs: Langhorne (10) |
* Comcast Center, College Park, MD Attendance: 6,332
* NBA TV
* September 19 7:00 p.m.
* Game 2
Washington Mystics 74, Indiana Fever 81 (OT) :
| Pts: Langhorne (15) Rebs: Currie (14) | Pts: Catchings (24) Rebs: Catchings (16) |
| Indiana won the series 2–0 |||
* Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN Attendance: 9,655

#### (2) Atlanta Dream vs. (3) Detroit Shock

* ESPN2HD
* September 16 8:00 p.m.
* Game 1
Atlanta Dream 89, Detroit Shock 94 :
| Pts: Castro Marques (25) Rebs: Lyttle (9) | Pts: Nolan (25) Rebs: Ford (10) |
* The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills, MI Attendance: 6,122
* NBA TV
* September 18 7:30 p.m.
* Game 2
Detroit Shock 94, Atlanta Dream 79 :
| Pts: Nolan (22) Rebs: Braxton, Hornbuckle (8) | Pts: Latta (21) Rebs: de Souza (7) |
| Detroit won the series 2–0 |||
* Arena at Gwinnett Center, Duluth, GA Attendance: 4,780

### Conference Finals: (1) Indiana Fever vs. (3) Detroit Shock

* ESPN2HD
* September 23 8:00 p.m.
* Game 1
Indiana Fever 56, Detroit Shock 72 :
| Pts: Douglas (16) Rebs: Catchings (11) | Pts: Zellous (23) Rebs: Braxton, Ford (9) |
* The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills, MI Attendance: 7,214
* NBA TV
* September 25 7:00 p.m.
* Game 2
Detroit Shock 75, Indiana Fever 79 :
| Pts: Nolan (23) Rebs: Ford (13) | Pts: Catchings (22) Rebs: Catchings (9) |
* Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN Attendance: 9,210
* NBA TV
* September 26 7:00 p.m.
* Game 3
Detroit Shock 67, Indiana Fever 72 :
| Pts: Nolan (16) Rebs: Ford (11) | Pts: Sutton-Brown (17) Rebs: Catchings (8) |
| Indiana won the series 2–1 |||
* Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN Attendance: 18,165

## Western Conference
### First round
#### (1) Phoenix Mercury vs. (4) San Antonio Silver Stars

* ESPN2HD
* September 17 10:00 p.m.
* Game 1
Phoenix Mercury 91, San Antonio Silver Stars 92 :
| Pts: Taylor (18) Rebs: Taurasi (7) | Pts: Young (24) Rebs: Wauters (11) |
* AT&T Center, San Antonio, TX Attendance: 5,721
* NBA TV
* September 19 10:00 p.m.
* Game 2
San Antonio Silver Stars 78, Phoenix Mercury 106 :
| Pts: Young (19) Rebs: Wauters (5) | Pts: Taurasi (24) Rebs: Bonner (13) |
* US Airways Center, Phoenix, AZ Attendance: 7,267
* ESPN2HD
* September 21 10:00 p.m.
* Game 3
San Antonio Silver Stars 92, Phoenix Mercury 100 :
| Pts: Hammon (29) Rebs: Young (8) | Pts: Taurasi (30) Rebs: T. Smith (8) |
| Phoenix won the series 2–1 |||
* US Airways Center, Phoenix, AZ Attendance: 6,896

#### (2) Seattle Storm vs. (3) Los Angeles Sparks

* ESPN2HD
* September 16 10:00 p.m.
* Game 1
Seattle Storm 63, Los Angeles Sparks 70 :
| Pts: Cash (24) Rebs: Batkovic-Brown (7) | Pts: Thompson (16) Rebs: Leslie, Parker (10) |
* Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA Attendance: 7,919
* NBA TV
* September 18 10:00 p.m.
* Game 2
Los Angeles Sparks 74, Seattle Storm 75 :
| Pts: Lennox (17) Rebs: Leslie (14) | Pts: Cash (18) Rebs: Wright (6) |
* KeyArena, Seattle, WA Attendance: 8,854
* ESPN2HD
* September 20 5:00 p.m.
* Game 3
Los Angeles Sparks 75, Seattle Storm 64 :
| Pts: Parker (22) Rebs: Milton-Jones (9) | Pts: Cash (21) Rebs: Cash (10) |
| Los Angeles won the series 2–1 |||
* KeyArena, Seattle, WA Attendance: 8,159

### Conference Finals: (1) Phoenix Mercury vs. (3) Los Angeles Sparks

* ESPN2HD
* September 23 10:00 p.m.
* Game 1
Phoenix Mercury 103, Los Angeles Sparks 94 :
| Pts: Taurasi (28) Rebs: T. Smith (6) | Pts: Parker (28) Rebs: Parker (10) |
* Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, CA Attendance: 6,389
* NBA TV
* September 25 10:00 p.m.
* Game 2
Los Angeles Sparks 87, Phoenix Mercury 76 :
| Pts: Parker (24) Rebs: Parker (18) | Pts: Taurasi (25) Rebs: Pondexter (7) |
* US Airways Center, Phoenix, AZ Attendance: 7,628
* NBA TV
* September 26 10:00 p.m.
* Game 3
Los Angeles Sparks 74, Phoenix Mercury 85 :
| Pts: Leslie (22) Rebs: Thompson (11) | Pts: Taurasi (21) Rebs: Taurasi (7) |
| Phoenix won the series 2–1 |||
* US Airways Center, Phoenix, AZ Attendance: 7,226

## WNBA Finals
### Phoenix Mercury vs. Indiana Fever

* ESPN2HD
* September 29 9:00 p.m.
* Game 1
Indiana Fever 116, Phoenix Mercury 120 (OT) :
| Pts: Douglas (30) Rebs: Hoffman (8) | Pts: Pondexter, Taylor (23) Rebs: Taurasi (9) |
* US Airways Center, Phoenix, AZ Attendance: 11,617
* ESPN2HD
* October 1 9:00 p.m.
* Game 2
Indiana Fever 93, Phoenix Mercury 84 :
| Pts: Catchings (19) Rebs: Catchings (9) | Pts: Taurasi (20) Rebs: Taurasi (7) |
* US Airways Center, Phoenix, AZ Attendance: 16,758
* ESPN2HD
* October 4 4:00 p.m.
* Game 3
Phoenix Mercury 85, Indiana Fever 86 :
| Pts: Pondexter (23) Rebs: T. Smith (10) | Pts: Hoffman (18) Rebs: Catchings (12) |
* Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN Attendance: 18,165
* ESPN2HD
* October 7 7:30 p.m.
* Game 4
Phoenix Mercury 90, Indiana Fever 77 :
| Pts: Pondexter (22) Rebs: Willingham (8) | Pts: Catchings (24) Rebs: Catchings (12) |
* Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN Attendance: 18,165
* ESPN2HD
* October 9 9:00 p.m.
* Game 5
Indiana Fever 86, Phoenix Mercury 94 :
| Pts: Sutton-Brown (22) Rebs: Catchings (9) | Pts: Taurasi (26) Rebs: Smith (8) |
| Phoenix won the series 3-2 |||
* US Airways Center, Phoenix, AZ Attendance: 17,313
* All times Eastern